Chapter 106 106 German Air Force
This new engine is simply a revolutionary invention of military weapons, this engine allows the ME-109 to fly at a super speed of 570 kilometers, which can throw off all fighters in service, and gives the ME-109 fighter an unparalleled rate of climb. So the commander of the Luftwaffe, Catherine, called his new weapon the King of Climbing, and no one thought his words were exaggerated, on the contrary, Colonel Dick had only four words about it: it was well deserved.
The more compact engine allows for a more advanced weapon, and the superfighter is equipped with a powerful 20mm cannon in the nose to ensure the penetration and destruction of heavy firepower. In addition, two 13 mm heavy machine guns were equipped to maintain the intensity and continuity of fire. These weapons ensure that the ME-109 fighter will not have any problems with firepower for the next five years.
Of course, there is another option, that is, the ME-109 fighter can add two additional 20mm cannons to the wings, this modification will give the aircraft a terrible firepower, but unfortunately the modified aircraft will lose some range and maneuverability. The worst thing is that the 20mm cannon on the wing can only hold 60 rounds, which is frankly very frustrating.
Even more trendy is also in the cockpit design of the ME-109, although for various reasons the cockpit of the ME-109 fighter has a very narrow field of vision, but this cockpit is indeed a fully enclosed pressurized cockpit. This ensured that the ME-109 could fly high enough for it to throw off opponents or attack enemy targets at a high level.
The biggest problem came from the reduced size of the landing gear, which made the landing of the ME-109 fighter the most dangerous maneuver, and the pilots had to go through a lot of training to master the habit of landing this aircraft. Even so, the operator's manual repeatedly stresses the need to avoid taking off and landing aircraft in strong windy weather as much as possible.
High-speed dives and climbs bring a slight loss of low-altitude performance of this aircraft, so the aircraft does not consider the mission of ground attack at all. This is also a small flaw of this aircraft. Even in the role of a cameo bomber, the ME-109 fighter looks very unqualified. This kind of aircraft can only carry one bomb without carrying a fuel tank, and cannot dive and drop bombs, but can only be dropped horizontally by the pilot in level flight - you can refer to driving with your eyes closed for accuracy.
Of course, this new aircraft was designed to dominate the skies, and it did so with its own excellent performance, and the moment the pilot of the test flight ME-109 disembarked from this plane, he swore to all the designers who shook his hand that it was the most powerful fighter he had ever flown on.
Showing that the aircraft could kill all fighters in service, whether it was speed, low-altitude turns or spiral climbs, the ME-109, which began mass production in 1931, outperformed its contemporaries in all respects. And only a few leading engineers at Messersmitt knew that the world speed record was completely broken in 1930.
In order to compensate for the lack of the ME-109 ground attack, under the auspices of Accardo, German aircraft manufacturers provided the Luftwaffe with a new type of equipment called the Stuka dive bomber. On the other hand, Germany designed a twin-engine long-range bomber, which would be the main ground attack model of the Luftwaffe in the future.
Accardo is now in a similar situation as Goering and Hitler, the Luftwaffe has been lacking in aircraft from scratch, and choosing to prioritize the development of fighter jets is undoubtedly the fastest move to catch up with the world's air force, but in doing so, it sacrifices the long-range attack of the air force, that is, it has become a rather regrettable short-legged air force in the previous life.
In order to avoid Germany's lack of long-range means of attack, Hitler's approach was to compensate for such impracticalities as the V2, and Accardo decided to improve the Luftwaffe's short-legged situation with long-range strategic bombers.
Although Accardo's family background was stronger than Hitler's, he found that it was still not enough to meet the simultaneous development of the Air Force's long-range bomber and air supremacy fighters, and from a practical point of view, Accardo still chose to give priority to the development of the ME-109 fighter project.
But the difference is that he reformulated an ambitious plan for the future air force strategic bomber at the design level: this plan is to use the current technology to design and develop an excellent four-engine large multi-role aircraft, and use this large aircraft for the development of civil aviation in Germany.
This design was then improved and developed, and the aircraft was transformed into a military transport aircraft, which served the German paratroopers and important military airlifts. In this way, Germany will not lag behind the world in terms of technology and experience in the design and production of large aircraft, and as long as it does not lag behind, it will not suffer in the near future because of lack of experience and technology.
Of course, this large aircraft at the beginning took many detours that the Germans bypassed. For example, the request to connect engines in series in the hope that a large bomber could have the performance of a dive bomber was rejected by Accardo as soon as it was put forward, and Accardo put a big red X at the end of the Air Force report, and then wrote his own comment: the gains outweigh the losses.
So the German bomber from the beginning of the four-propeller design scheme similar to the American B-17, because when the actual Yàn flight, it was found that the design of the single vertical tail was not stable enough in flight, and the German designers stubbornly changed to the double vertical tail design at both ends of the tail.
Although the range of fire from the defensive machine guns behind the aircraft was slightly affected, this more stable design and the aesthetic of the Luftwaffe generals was retained. Because Accardo is not a professional aircraft designer after all, when faced with a lot of inquiries from engineers mixed with technical jargon, he had to cough and nod his head to hide his weakness.
In addition, Accardo did not give up the development and manufacture of air-cooled engines, on the contrary, he also supported the development of air-cooled engines for a variety of reasons, but in the German Navy's top secret files, Accardo mentioned some of the advantages of using air-cooled engines in naval aviation during a meeting with Raeder and others.
Designed specifically for the Navy, the FW-109 has about 15 percent of its parts that can be used in the Army-style ME-109, using air-cooled engines and a redesigned aerodynamic shape that looks a little bigger, but is more rugged and meets the demanding conditions of use on naval aircraft carriers.
Air-cooled engine carrier-based fighters can save valuable fresh water for aircraft carriers, and there is no need to worry about scrapping fighters due to slight combat damage to the coolant leakage, and aircraft carrier operations do not need high-altitude volley air defense, so a more suitable fighter design is used.
As a result, Germany alone has as many as four models of aircraft being designed and produced, including two types of fighters, a dive bomber, and a family of multi-purpose large aircraft. Although it seems to increase the burden on the aviation industry, in fact, most of these things are still in the verification and flight test stage.
Compared with the Luftwaffe, the development of the German Navy was even more blatant, and the agreement with Britain was very lenient on the tonnage control of destroyers and light cruisers in the German Navy, in other words, Germany could build many new destroyers and light cruisers.
In this context, the German Navy's X-class cruisers were added to active service, enhancing the strength of the German Navy, which now has 41 ocean-going destroyers, 5 cruisers, and 23 large submarines, and is fully equipped with coastal defense capabilities.
On the other hand, the aircraft carrier, codenamed "Blue Whale", is already on the drawings, and judging by the German ability to build battleships, such an aircraft carrier has no technical difficulties at all and can start construction as soon as it is needed. Moreover, one-tenth of the parts of this aircraft carrier can be used with the German Hercules-class transport ships, and German ship designers are very familiar with the entire construction process.
It can be said that as long as an order is given, the construction of German aircraft carriers can be started, and they can be easily launched within a year, and this kind of aircraft carrier is the main aircraft carrier that is enough to take off 60 fighters of all kinds.
The training of naval aviation has also been systematically carried out, and now the German pilot reserve has exceeded 1,100 people, and the naval aviation and air force can be expanded at any time. These men now serve in the aviation flying clubs scattered throughout Germany, with a unified militarized management and systematic military training.
In addition, Germany has also made achievements in radio technology, and the communication distance and call quality have made great progress, because of the late manufacturing, many Leopard tanks are still equipped with old radios, but the Wehrmacht Equipment Department is trying to increase the production of new radios to meet the needs of the army, navy and air force.
Near Berlin, the Wehrmacht secretly set up a base for a new type of equipment with a huge antenna array made of steel and a nice name called radar. Accardo's confidant Catherine, his chief of staff Weaver, and Air Force Deputy Commander Dick, are gradually improving the air defense radar system in Germany. Together with anti-aircraft guns and fighter jets, they were confident that the entire German airspace would be absolutely safe.
With this advanced electronic equipment, Germany's skies can be on 24-hour uninterrupted alert, and if we rely on this equipment to direct aircraft in combat, we can simply describe it as defying the sky.
Remembering all the good news, Accardo's mood calmed down a little, and he sat back in his chair with a tired expression on his face.
"Now we can only wait!Waiting for Streishmann to bring back good news from England!" Accardo said helplessly.