Guns on a WWII fighter...

Cotton tail 215 wrote:
why fire a cannon at a figther ,you needed power to kill a big
bomber..a .50mm would shredd a zero so why would a P-38 jockey waste
20mm on one


I don't know this for a fact, but I would assume the outcome wasn't guaranteed
and the pilot would want to do anything he could to splash the other guy.
Plenty of P-38s got knocked down.



--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN


http://www.mortimerschnerd.com

"Cotton tail 215" wrote in message
...
why fire a cannon at a figther ,you needed power to kill a big bomber..a
..50mm
would shredd a zero so why would a P-38 jockey waste 20mm on one

Because he could

a) Shred it faster
b) Also take on a tougher opponent like a Bomber or FW-190
in the ETO
c) Do more damage when strafing ground targets

Keith

why fire a cannon at a figther ,you needed power to kill a big bomber..a .50mm
would shredd a zero so why would a P-38 jockey waste 20mm on one

It seems to me that four or six fifty-caliber guns was the perfect
armament for American fighters in the Pacific. Not only was the Zero
lightly timbered; so were Japanese bombers. The engines weren't all
that different (the Ki-44 Shoki/Tojo was basically a Ki-43 with a
bomber engine), and the gas tanks if anything were more vulnerable.

Most hits on a bomber just went right through--a Japanese "heavy" was
little more than a DC-3 with gun positions and bomb-bay doors.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email:

see the Warbird's Forum at www.warbirdforum.com
and the Piper Cub Forum at www.pipercubforum.com

On Thu, 11 Dec 2003 00:43:02 +0000, Cotton tail 215 wrote:

why fire a cannon at a figther ,you needed power to kill a big bomber..a .50mm
would shredd a zero so why would a P-38 jockey waste 20mm on one

Well, they were operational in other theatres.
May have had something to do with space available though.
1x20mm + 4x.50 is a pretty good throw weight for general
purposes.
Would it have been possible to add blister packs a la B25?
1 x20mm + 8x.50 would have been awesome.

IBM

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"ian maclure" wrote in message
news

1x20mm + 4x.50 is a pretty good throw weight for general
purposes.
Would it have been possible to add blister packs a la B25?
1 x20mm + 8x.50 would have been awesome.

If only the additional 4 machine guns and their ammo didn't add more
weight, thus reducing range, speed, and maneuvrability - things that
are kinda important for a fighter aircraft.