25.04.2009, 23:33
Yeah that chin scoop was lengthened and the frontal shape changed because the Merlin carburettor air intake was moved there from the Allison one. Early F had the E airframe, but very quickly the longer airframe in common with the M was used for better directional stability at take off.
The Merlin's biggest change is the two speed supercharger manually operated by the pilot. It has better performance than the E which was pretty much alongside it, but it's a pretty early Merlin and performance of the M with the more refined Allison (in common with the K) is about the same. The Merlin just really delivers the same performance at a slightly higher altitude than the M and has a slightly higher ceiling, so the F is a better fighter while the M is a better fighter-bomber.
If you really want to get a performance improvement do the L that was made for Northern Africa, it's the lightened F by less fuel store and fewer guns for improved initial climb rates, turn and acceleration. That's really the hotrod version. As an RAAF enthusiast though I would like to see the F for cosmetic purposes, we used a small number of them, just that its FM is going to be not very much different to the M (with the addition of that two speed supercharger). So it is mostly just a cosmetic change in mission building and a slight difference in pilot atmosphere (different engine sound, manual supercharger).
I would like to see new visual models for the existing P40E and M though, new slots if we have to. Like Bee said I cringe so much when I look at them I can barely stand flying them, even though I do rather like to make RAAF missions in the South Pacific...which relied almost entirely on the P40E and M for the bulk of the war (with a handful of F).
The Merlin's biggest change is the two speed supercharger manually operated by the pilot. It has better performance than the E which was pretty much alongside it, but it's a pretty early Merlin and performance of the M with the more refined Allison (in common with the K) is about the same. The Merlin just really delivers the same performance at a slightly higher altitude than the M and has a slightly higher ceiling, so the F is a better fighter while the M is a better fighter-bomber.
If you really want to get a performance improvement do the L that was made for Northern Africa, it's the lightened F by less fuel store and fewer guns for improved initial climb rates, turn and acceleration. That's really the hotrod version. As an RAAF enthusiast though I would like to see the F for cosmetic purposes, we used a small number of them, just that its FM is going to be not very much different to the M (with the addition of that two speed supercharger). So it is mostly just a cosmetic change in mission building and a slight difference in pilot atmosphere (different engine sound, manual supercharger).
I would like to see new visual models for the existing P40E and M though, new slots if we have to. Like Bee said I cringe so much when I look at them I can barely stand flying them, even though I do rather like to make RAAF missions in the South Pacific...which relied almost entirely on the P40E and M for the bulk of the war (with a handful of F).