Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: witpqs
BTW, how for away from the target track would they have to launch? I'm wondering how long they would have flown low & slow.

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ORIGINAL: Tiornu

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ORIGINAL: witpqs
BTW, how for away from the target track would they have to launch? I'm wondering how long they would have flown low & slow.

That's a good question. Perhaps someone has Lamb handy and can find an answer. There's another Swordfish book out there by David Wragg, reputedly a good one. Anybody got it?

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ORIGINAL: Feinder

I gotta say, it's mildly amusing to see how often threads in this forum turn into squabbles about the Bismark.  Somebody ought to just add her into a Mod, and throw in Prinz Eugen while they're at it, and be done with it.

Let them survive the glorious WitP game engine, and resolve all these debates.

-F-

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ORIGINAL: witpqs

You mention that actual airspeed is a little higher than indicated airspeed. Why?

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Indicated airspeed (IAS) is the airspeed read directly from the airspeed indicator on an aircraft, driven by the pitot-static system. IAS is directly related to calibrated airspeed (CAS), but includes instrument errors and position error.

An aircraft's indicated airspeed in knots is typically abbreviated KIAS for "Knots-Indicated Air Speed" (vs. KCAS for calibrated airspeed and KTAS for true airspeed).

IAS and V speeds

Unless an aircraft is at sea level under International Standard Atmosphere conditions (15°C, 1013 hPa, 0% humidity) and no wind, the IAS bears little relation to how fast an aircraft is moving in reference to the ground; however, because the air pressure and density affect IAS/CAS and an aircraft's flight characteristics in exactly the same way, IAS and CAS are extremely useful for controlling an aircraft, and the critical V speeds are usually given as IAS.

In aneroid instruments the indicated airspeed drops-off with increasing altitude as air pressure decreases, and this leads to an apparent falling-off of airspeed at higher altitudes. For this reason never exceed speeds (abbreviated VNE) are often given at several differing altitudes in the aircraft's operating manual, the VNE IAS figure falling as height is increased, as shown in the sample table below.


Diving below mph IAS
30,000 ft 370
25,000 ft 410
20,000 ft 450
15,000 ft 490
10,000 ft 540

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ORIGINAL: Tiornu

Since there is no 320mm belt armor under the bulge, you know something's wrong.
Bill Jurens, who was the naval architecture expert on two Bismarck expeditions counted a few penetrations of the armor belt but found no signs of large shells failing against the belt.

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ORIGINAL: witpqs

Okay, I'm a non-pilot here. I have a question to test my understanding of things aeronautical and another general one.

The table you gave as an example, I assume that in addition to correcting for KIAS versus KTAS it would also include a correction for the fact that allowable diving speed might actually be different at different altitudes due to thinner versus thicker air?

Second, do modern flight instruments have some sort of cross-link between the altimeter and the flight speed indicator that does away with the need to make KIAS-KTAS conversions based upon altitude?

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ORIGINAL: witpqs

Okay, I'm a non-pilot here. I have a question to test my understanding of things aeronautical and another general one.

The table you gave as an example, I assume that in addition to correcting for KIAS versus KTAS it would also include a correction for the fact that allowable diving speed might actually be different at different altitudes due to thinner versus thicker air?

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Second, do modern flight instruments have some sort of cross-link between the altimeter and the flight speed indicator that does away with the need to make KIAS-KTAS conversions based upon altitude?

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Then again...Tiornu is a known troublemaker and party crasher who hogs the Kegger.

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ORIGINAL: rtrapasso


i think a lot of the modern flight instruments determine true speed based on radar determined speed over ground... ditto for altitude (radar determined height over ground, rather than aneroid barometric readings).

Of course, a lot of instruments still in use are not so fancy.

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ORIGINAL: witpqs

@Tiornu

I think the point is proved about the 200 mph dive. I sure am surprised.

BTW, how for away from the target track would they have to launch? I'm wondering how long they would have flown low & slow.


@Howard Mitchell

You mention that actual airspeed is a little higher than indicated airspeed. Why?

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ORIGINAL: Howard Mitchell

... he says that some approached to within 400-500m at 2m altitude.

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ORIGINAL: DaveB

They were probably flying a bit higher that day, to avoid swells....

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The fact is BBs were pretty vulnerable to air power of all types. They might not be easily sunk, but they could be rendered ineffective.

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ORIGINAL: mdiehl

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The fact is BBs were pretty vulnerable to air power of all types. They might not be easily sunk, but they could be rendered ineffective.

Exactly. And I would add:

They could be sunk by bombs. Most of the bomb hits on major BBs caused flooding because the shock alone could open hull plates or cause fires (in systems with flammable components) that necessitated flooding. Furthermore, there is compelling evidence from Yamato's final sortie that the first or second 1000lb to strike her started an uncontrollable fire in her secondary battery magazine, and this fire may have spread to a main magazine causing her subsequent explosion. Since her surviving crew have indicated that said fire "could not be put out" it is reasonable to surmise that Yamato would have been sunk by a bomb-induced magazine fire, had she not sunk due to torpedo-induced flooding first.

The plain fact is that any bomb of the 500-1000 pound type, even a GP one could mission-kill a BB, although probably multiple bomb hits would be required to mission-kill one. Multiple bombs of this kind could so attrit systems as to leave a BB fatally crippled and unable to escape subsequent attacks for ex by aerial or submarine launched torps, or shells from big guns.