Re: MiG pilots got worse

[<AMPSOne@aol.com>]

Dan,

Whoa! 

The USAF saw the .50 caliber as the best combined weapon in WWII as it was (a) relatively fast firing at 850-1100 rpm in the M3 aerial model (b) had more than enough hitting power against either German or Japanese aircraft and (c) most important had a massive advantage as a strafing weapon against ground targets. With the exception of special purpose German weapons like the BK 3.7 and BK 5 none of their guns were as effective in dual purpose situations. 

The original idea behind the British .303 was its 1000-1200 rpm rate of fire, which put out 8000 to 14,400 rpm depending upon the fighter and installation, That worked out to 120 to 200+ bullets per second going downrange at the target. But the main problem was insufficient hitting power -- WWI thinking for WWII fighting didn't work. 

The F-86F-2 GUNVAL aircraft had a massive learning curve in Korea, although they eventually did score victories over MiGs. Some of them had the same basic problem as the F-104 did -- gas buildup in the gun bays and blowouts. They were also "let's stick a set of these babies in here and see what happens" installations with next to no ammunition capacity -- something like 4 seconds of ammunition versus around 12-15 for the .50 installation. 

The Sherman is loved and hated, but it was mechanically reliable and easy to fix and maintain, the same qualties it shared with the T-34. German tanks have often been described by no less an authority than Tom Jentz as overengineered, something like a Rolls Royce with attitude. The Panther is argueably the WORST tank of WWII, as it was so finicky and mechanically fragile it was nearly impossible to keep running correctly. They were virtually hand made and many parts were NOT interchangeable, which prevented field repairs. 

The British excoriate the Sherman as every bad thing in the world rolled into one, but according to no less an authority than David Fletcher of the Tank Museum at Bovington Field Marshal Montgomery said it was the only universal tank they had during WWII and performed yeoman work at that task, something NO British tank achieved. 

Cookie Sewell
AMPS