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el cid again -> RE: japanese experimental aircraft (2/7/2015 11:36:58 PM)
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Many experimental aircraft are fully developed in terms of game data
in RHS "Japan Enhanced Scenarios" 105 and 99.
Some of the information related to this can be found in a relatively new
book -
Japanese Secret Projects: Experimental Aircraft of the IJA and IJN 1939-1945
Edwin M Dyer, III, Midland 2009, 2010, 2011 editions
ISBN 978 1 85780 317 4
Instead of using the book as a standalone source, I integrated it with others,
such as William Green's Warplanes of the Third Reich. That turned out to be the
most useful book source because many Japanese projects were derived from German
designs. Dyer's book contains fascinating stories of the details of some of these
design relationships. Others are found in Francillon's Japanese Aircraft of the
Pacific War and a book designed to compliment it with pre war planes by different
authors: Japanese Aircraft 1910-1941. In some cases, sample aircraft were actually
in Japan. In some cases entire factories were built, and even engines put in production,
for designs that in the end were not mass produced. You also see interesting cases
of wise decision making - both IJA and IJN designed variations of the He-188 - and
both wanted a heavy bomber - but neither liked the original German solution in terms
of engines (which reservations turned out to be more than justified). One devised
a four separate engine solution, the other simply waited until bigger radial engines
permitted a standard solution - in both cases it took too long and by the time it was
possible the need for bombers had been replaced by a need for fighters.
Besides book sources, I have a collection of other materials, many from my time stationed
in Japan, and my trips to the National Diet Library, Mitsubishi Aviation Museum, etc -
and various articles and papers collected over more than half a century - amounting to
thousands of pages of material in my files. When germane I integrated that information as well.
Something noted in Green's book but virtually nowhere else is that the Ju-88 was put into
production in Japan - as the Lorna! This at least explains why it was a dive bomber!
And what it looks like. But the choice of low powered engines reduced its performance
to the point it was difficult to deal with enemy fighters if they showed up. The head
of Hoenkel spent considerable time in Japan - promoting his aircraft - and supervising
construction of an engine factory and an aircraft factory. Ultimately they did not
adopt any of his designs for mass production - but the connection was much better than
is generally understood - not merely a matter of working from a few diagrams for example.
Having put in dozens of such aircraft (in Scenario 105, now in its tenth test series)
I am surprised to report experienced players ALMOST NEVER use them. They PREFER the planes
Japan itself designed (e.g. the Ki-44) - although often with different production priorities
(fewer Ki-43s more Ki-44s for example). Except for night fighter variants of the Ju-88,
no German designed aircraft seems better suited for the Pacific War than what was actually
used - in general for reasons of range. Possibly one might put a He-100 or a Me-109 into
production early - pending the availability of the Ki-44 - but ultimately no German fighter
(even the later FW-190) has the range required for PTO operations. The FW-200 bomber -
actually licensed for production by the IJN - is a lousy bomber, developed from an airliner -
and in its original bomber form - all its bombs are external - it has terrible defensive
and range performance (external = high drag). The He-177 inspired designs took too long to
get into production - both in terms of the direct "almost copies" and the more developed G7 series -
which itself had both two and four engine forms. Ultimately it was rejected in favor of the G8 -
but that probably was a mistake because it took to long and never reached service. The G7 series
is the nearest thing to a German inspired bomber that might have made a difference had it been
adopted.
You can see the developed payload/range/other characteristics in AE game terms by looking at RHS 105
aircraft data.
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