WesWorld

July 1, 1933 - Berlin

The opening of campaigning forthe Reichstag has arrived, and contrary to previous plans, Foreign Minister Stressemann WILL be standing for re-election. "I had hoped to retire this summer, but the world does not move as I will, the world moves as it does. So, I will stand for re-election, to try to help steer the Reich through the shoals that have appeared in the course of the ship of state."


July 5, 1933 - Berlin

The Luftwaffe has announced a surprise purchase: it will be ordering, subject to contract finalization, 60 modified T.V torpedo bombers from Fokker of the Netherlands. Sources in the RLM say that the purchase is driven by, in the main, availability: the Fokker aircraft is currently flying, while the Dornier model that was submitted was to be equipped with Jumo 211 engines that are not yet available. Modifications to the T.V for Luftwaffe service will include replacement of the British-built engines with BMW-132s and replacement of the 13.2mm MGs with a mix of 7.92mm and 15mm MGs.

So...will that be designated Fokker Fo 92?

I was thinking Fokker Fo 91, since the 91 isn't in use.

That makes sense, just wasn't sure you'd want the "first unavailable number" in that block.

Might as well use it, I'm not really saving it for a rainy day.

July 20, 1933 - Berlin

The Heere has announced the standardization of Heinrich Vollmer's machinegun as the MG-33 and the ordering of 5,000 MG-33s from MauserWerke. Deliveries are expected to begin next year. It is expected that the first weapons delivered will be issued to the infantry squads, with later weapons to replace the long-serving MG-08s in the machinegun platoon at the battalion level.


July 23, 1933 - Warnemunde

First flight of the new He-111 mail and passenger plane, a twin-engined aircraft designed along the same lines as the He-70 high-speed mail plane.

August 1, 1933 - Berlin

The Luftwaffe has released three different requests for proposals:

1st, a request for a long range interceptor or destroyer, expected to be powered by 2 engines and required to have a maxium speed of at least 400 km/h;

2nd, a request for a tactical support aircraft, capable of carrying up to 400 kg of ordnance and tasked with the close support of ground troops (this request is for an aircraft that can go into production immediately); and

3rd, a request for a tactical support aircraft capable of carrying up to 1000 kg of ordnance and tasked with the close support of ground troops.


August 14, 1933 - Berlin

The Reichstag elections are to be held tomorrow, and if the polls are to be believed, the faces of the new government may be different after the votes are counted. The addition of the provinces of Austria have, seemingly at least, tilted the electoral playing field to the right, potentially giving the DNVP of Dr. Jarres a boost towards being the largest party in the Reichstag. It is not, however, expected that any party will poll an outright majority, necessitating the sort of coalition govnerments that the Reich has seen since the new constitution was enacted. Whether the current grand coalition of most major parties (excepting the Communists) will survive remains to be seen.


August 15, 1933 - Berlin

The elections have been held, with a high turnout reported, particularly in the industrial centers. This bodes well for the the Left, as those areas are their strongholds, but only the counting to be completed tomorrow will tell the tale.

Quoted

1st, a request for a long range interceptor or destroyer, expected to be powered by 2 engines and required to have a maxium speed of at least 400 km/h;

2nd, a request for a tactical support aircraft, capable of carrying up to 400 kg of ordnance and tasked with the close support of ground troops (this request is for an aircraft that can go into production immediately); and

3rd, a request for a tactical support aircraft capable of carrying up to 1000 kg of ordnance and tasked with the close support of ground troops.

Guessing:

1st - Bf 110/Fw 187/Hs 124

2nd - Hs 123

3rd - ?

Fw 187 not 189 probably. The Hs 124 is too ugly and too down on performance to win. The Fw 187 is really just too small, especially for holding two crew and fuel - but is better on performance than the Bf 110

Then again we're not going to see historical aircraft.

Quoted

3rd - ?

Ju-87.

Quoted

Fw 187 not 189 probably. The Hs 124 is too ugly and too down on performance to win. The Fw 187 is really just too small, especially for holding two crew and fuel - but is better on performance than the Bf 110

The specification does not require a second crewman and a rear-firing machinegun, so the Fw 187 won't be graded down on those grounds.

Its still small and cramped with gun muzzles right next to the pilots ears and instruments on the engine nacelles as there's no room inside the cockpit.

It IS fairly cramped, but the MG muzzles are down near the pilot's knees, not near his ears, and the cannon muzzles are below this and in front of his feet. If it were chosen, some of the "features" of the prototype would probably be rectified in the production machines (like the instruments on the sides of the engines).

One of the downsides of the design is that it's not suitable for conversion into a radar-equipped night fighter (at least not using the early-to-mid-war airborne intercept radars), as there's no room for the radar (room for an extra crewman could be made, as it was historically).

Radar isn't such a great problem with the German type. Lengthen the nose a bit and mount a Lichenstien set there.

Twin-engined fighters don't have a good record.

That picture puts the upper gun muzzles by the pilot's mid chest, given the noise of those two engines I doubt the sound of a pair of 7.92mm MGs will be all that noticeable. Certainly the Bf-110 didn't do a good job as a fighter, but that might be because, unlike the P-38 for instance, it spent a lot of weight and drag on a second crewman. [Not to mention that NOT having a competition for this sort of plane would be extremely out of character for Germany, where they certainly spent a fair amount of time and effort trying to make the idea work.]

Right now, if the Fw-187 does win the long-range role, the Bf-110 may still be around in other roles and it's certainly suitable for conversion into a night-fighter while specialists are developed.. Though a lengthened version of a Fw-187 equipped with a pair of Jumo-213s might work out well, too.... Or just build the He-219, I suppose.

Send a twin-engined fighter to Talons next year and see how it does. Siam didn't do too badly with a twin-engined design. A purpose built sleek design might be very good.

Let's not get too concerned with fitting radar to fighters, in 1933 who really thought such a system could be made small enough to fit into an aircraft?
That was not done until 1940. Who knows the likely tactical implications of airborne radar yet? Let's try and keep things in perspective and not try to use hindsight too much, although we all do it to some extent.

The twin-engined planes won't be ready for Talons in 1934, the request just went out in 1933, so they'll have to wait for Talons in 1935.

On radar, it's certainly true that we should not look too far ahead. Which is one thing that's in favor of the Fw-187: while it lacks some of the future upgradability of other designs, it's very good for the day at what it tries to do. And if Germany has to make up a different nightfighter, that's OK.

August 17, 1933 - Berlin

The votes of the Reichstag elections have been counted and the results are in. The winners are, in order of votes:
the DNVP of Karl Jarres - 29% of the votes cast [+4% from 1928]
the SDP of Hermann Muller - 25% of the votes cast [+0% from 1928]
the DZP of Wilhelm Cuno - 19% of the votes cast [+3% from 1928]
the KPD of Ernst Thaelman - 8% of the votes cast [+1% from 1928]
The EP of Gerhard Schroeder - 6% of the votes cast [+1% from 1928]
the DDP of Fredrich Carl - 4% of the votes cast [-1% from 1928]
the BVP of Dieter Boch - 1% of the votes cast [-2% from 1928]
the DAP of Erich Ludendorff - 0% of the votes cast [-3% from 1928]
various small fringe parties - 1% of the votes cast [-2% from 1928]

These results point to a possible shakeup of the government, now that the DNVP is the largest party in the Reichstag. President Eckener will likely approach Dr. Jarres to form a new government, and it can be assumed that Dr. Jarres has been lobbying Foreign Minister Stresseman and Economics Minister Schroeder NOT to accept offers from the SDP and the DZP to continue the current government. Certainly the results of the election put the DZP in a pivotal position: able to, essentially, decide whether the next majority government will be a center-left government, as the old Weimar coalition was, or a center-right government, as a coalition government composed of the DNVP, the DVP, and the DZP (probably joined by the EP) would be.

Small nit-pick: Braun is dead, and you were in the process of electing a replacement.

Probably his evil twin.

Hah, yes, brain cramp. Actually, his replacement was elected in the Q2 news: Hugo Eckener is currently the President.