WesWorld

If You'll make an BF-109 Carrier version I sould choise for an other landing gear, Not the wheels in the wings but in the body, If you understand what I mean?

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Also, when will the torpedo and high-altitude version of the FW-190 enter service?

High altitude Fw-190? It's 1945 until the D-13 or Ta 152 are around.

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the RLM wants radars that don't destroy the aircraft's streamlining

Which cuts out all the historical LW radars apart from the FuG 240 Berlin series based on British sets.

Poland will be watching German night fighter development as it is one area in with we found ourselves lacking.

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Originally posted by ALVAMA
If You'll make an BF-109 Carrier version I sould choise for an other landing gear, Not the wheels in the wings but in the body, If you understand what I mean?

The -109T (already entering service with the Luftwaffe) has the standard -109 landing gear arrangements. It's not worth the hassle to change, and I'd doubt there's any room in the -109s fuselage for the wheels anyway.


OK, Mexico, got you down for Fl-282s when available. As to torpedo-carrying versions of the -190, the F-8/U-2 and /U-3 will probably become available around 1941 or so. About the same period for the Dora-9, though in WW the Bruno (Fw-190B with turbo-charged BMW-801) might be an alternative to the long-nose, at least until the Ta-152 comes along.


Yeah, the Luftwaffe may not make a lot of use of the Liechtenstein airborne radars (though the Morganstern arrangement with the aerials covered is a possibility). There simply isn't sufficient threat in WW Europe in 1938 to force the RLM into deciding to accept the drag penalties of the historical radars. Of course, without the war crippling scientific communications, German scientists may not go down the "centimetric radars won't work" misunderstanding route, either.

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About the same period for the Dora-9, though in WW the Bruno (Fw-190B with turbo-charged BMW-801) might be an alternative to the long-nose, at least until the Ta-152 comes along.

I'm not sure about fitting a turbocharged BMW801. Sure you get quite a bit of power at high altitude, but it's massive and weighs over 1600kg. The BMW 802 gives a nice power increase over the 801 and isn't too complicated but it just took so long to get the 801 itself reliable.

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There simply isn't sufficient threat in WW Europe in 1938 to force the RLM into deciding to accept the drag penalties of the historical radars.

Who in Europe bombs at night to warrant having any night fighters whatsoever at the moment? Italy doesn't have much in the way of bombers at all and no idea what France is doing but not too impressive if similar to OTL.

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Originally posted by Red Admiral

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About the same period for the Dora-9, though in WW the Bruno (Fw-190B with turbo-charged BMW-801) might be an alternative to the long-nose, at least until the Ta-152 comes along.

I'm not sure about fitting a turbocharged BMW801. Sure you get quite a bit of power at high altitude, but it's massive and weighs over 1600kg. The BMW 802 gives a nice power increase over the 801 and isn't too complicated but it just took so long to get the 801 itself reliable.

The -801J is 15 inches longer than the -801D-2, but it's 6 inches bigger in diameter which IS annoying. The engine + turbo weight is 1380 kg, the rest of the weight is the "power egg" that it comes with. If I need VERY high altitude performance, it's an option, because 1500 hp at 11500 meters without GM-1 is nothing to sneeze at. The -801Q is a bit better, 1700 hp at 1200 m, but either would be very satisfactory as a high-altitude engine if materials were available and affordable.

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There simply isn't sufficient threat in WW Europe in 1938 to force the RLM into deciding to accept the drag penalties of the historical radars.

Who in Europe bombs at night to warrant having any night fighters whatsoever at the moment? Italy doesn't have much in the way of bombers at all and no idea what France is doing but not too impressive if similar to OTL.

I don't know, which is why Germany is just doing research on night fighter equipment at the moment and no contracts have been let for any aircraft.

Don't forget the Blackburn-Heinkel projects or the British Flettner company.

Two very interesting timeline shifts, in fact in WW the UK and Germany could work very closely together. Nice to see a measured response to night fighters, like the RAF such work is slow and steady and in small numbers (24 IR equipped Wellingtons and 24 radar equipped Blenheims by the end of 1939).

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Originally posted by Hood
Don't forget the Blackburn-Heinkel projects or the British Flettner company.

Right now, the Blackburn-Heinkel projects are waiting on Blackburn finishing up testing of the B.20, once that's done then they'll start kicking into gear. The UK Flettner branch isn't, as far as I know, doing anything different than the home branch (at this point, it's probably mostly just an office and a small stockroom for parts). Once the Fl-282 is flying and later models are in the pipelines, it will grow.

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Two very interesting timeline shifts, in fact in WW the UK and Germany could work very closely together. Nice to see a measured response to night fighters, like the RAF such work is slow and steady and in small numbers (24 IR equipped Wellingtons and 24 radar equipped Blenheims by the end of 1939).

Yep, that alliance is another reason the historical Luftwaffe airborne radars may not see much service. The Luftwaffe's budget is not infinite, it has to ponder where to put it's resources and the current state of Europe says it doesn't need night fighters out in the hangars. There are a number of retired-from-active-duty Do-17s being used as flying testbeds for various prototype equipment (radars, IR scopes, etc), but they're not armed and are strictly intended for test purposes. The first airborne radar that Germany's likely to deploy is the FuG 200 Hohentweil surface search radar.

Blackburn has a few niggles to iron out on the B.20 but work on the B.44 should begin soon (right now the RAE is looking at the pontoon float and the overall layout).

The British Flettner Company Ltd. is just a small London office, a handful of employees, mainly filing British patents on behalf of Flettner sending out some glossy brochures to the Air Ministry and Navy, laughing at Mr Weir's efforts to build a helicopter, drinking tea and generally doing paperwork and looking out for a spare hangar or piece of land for when the time comes. They'll organise an exhibition to show off the Fl-282 in Britain when the time comes.

Most of the RAF night fighters are in the hands of the RAE (Royal Aircraft Establishment) rather than in the squadrons.

Late 1939 update:

1 - The Ju-88 in production in 1939. Design work continues on a successor and on the unrelated Ju-288 (but that design is built around the Jumo-222 or the DB-604, so it slips as they do).

2 - The He-100 is in production in 1939. Work at Heinkel has begun on a successor, probably to be powered by the DB-603.

3 - The Fw-190 is in production in 1939. Work at Focke-Wulf has begun on a successor, to be powered by the BMW-802. Focke-Wulf is also working on the Fw-191 design, and the RLM has relented on it's original desire for an "all-electric" plane. Like the Ju-288, though, the Fw-191 is depending on the Jumo-222 or the DB-604 as it's power plant.

4 - The Bf-109F airframe is in production alongside the He-100 and Fw-190, and the Bf-109T is being produced for service aboard the Peter Strasser and Graf Zeppelin. Work has begun at BFW on a successor, probably to be powered by the DB-604. The first prototype of the Bf-210 (a proposed replacement for the Bf-110) will roll out in 1940. Design work has also begun on a long-range bomber, to challenge the He-177 when the next Luftwaffe contract for such a plane comes out.

5- A small contract for He-177s has been placed to keep the companies interested, and to allow further development of the heavy bomber concept. 12 planes have been delivered by the end of 1939, with 28 to go on the first contract. Heinkel is looking at the possibilities offered by the DB-603 and the Jumo-213 as alternatives to the BMW-801.

6 - Dornier is selling the Do-217 to foreign customers. The Luftwaffe is intrigued, but lacks the money for a major contract and wants to see additional defensive armament and perhaps DB-603s vs the BMW-801s currently used. The Luftwaffe is also unsure if it should devote large amounts of funds to a possibly transitional type, if the Jumo-222 or DB-604 come to fruition. With that looking a year or more out at the end of 1939, it is likely that Dornier will get an order for Do-217s in 1940.

7 - Junkers is delivering the Ju-152, a successor to the Ju-52.

8 - Junkers continues working on a successor to the Ju-87, based on the historical EF-65/EF-82 projects (see here: http://www.geocities.com/hjunkers/ju_ef082_a1.htm ). Testing is nearly complete by the end of 1939, production orders are likely to follow in 1940.

9 - Dornier is working on LARGE, long ranged flying boats, along the lines of the Do-214/216 projects. No current plans to produce them, but that could change.

10 - Blohm und Voss has demonstrated the Bv-222 V1 to Luft Hansa as a long-range passenger plane for over-water flights, and Luft Hansa has ordered 6 production aircraft to be delivered in 1940.

Events in South America suggested that night fighters might be necessary, since it seems that the way to bomb your opponent might be to attack at night. This work continues on airborne radar and infra-red detectors, but only trial installations have occurred on test-bed Do-17s retired from the Luftwaffe (given current conditions in Europe, there's no desperate rush for these and the RLM wants radars that don't destroy the aircraft's streamlining).


Helicopters:

Focke-Wulf (the RLM did not force Focke out of his own company) began test flights of the Fw-223 V1 (the historical Fa-223) in October of 1937. The previous plans to produce several different models was scrapped and a revised, multi-purpose design was created, flying as the Fw-223 V3. This design is beginning production at the end of 1939 as the Fw-223E. The Fw-226, a passenger variant for Luft Hansa is still planned, but will not be delivered before the end of 1940. The US firm of Platt-Lepage has purchased a license from Focke-Wulf for the patents used in the Fw-61 and Fw-223 and is producing it's own XR-1 based on these patents and it's own work.


Flettner has delivered the Fl-282 to the KM for testing aboard ship, and another example has been sent to Flettner UK for demonstration to the British authorities. Once testing is completed to the KMs satisfaction, other interested parties (Mexico, etc) will be delivered copies of the helicopter.


Engines:
Engine-wise, Germany is cranking along (mostly) historical lines.

Daimler-Benz has decided not to bother with the DB-605 project in favor of further development (in terms of compression, supercharging, and methanol-water injection) of the DB-601 until it's eventual replacement by the DB-603. The final development of the DB-601, the DB-601JM, is flying in the He-100C. Work is also being done on the DB-604 X-engine, with 2 prototypes powering the He-121 racers in 1938, and the DB-603 has worked it's way through produceability testing and is ready for production, it's first use will probably be in the Do-217 if availability of the BMW-801 cannot keep up with demand.

The BMW-801 is in production for use in Fw-190s, Do-217s, and He-177s, with more aircraft types wanting it in the future. Work continues on the BMW-802 and -803 engines, but the -803's prospects are a bit limited by its weight.

Junkers is continuing development on the Jumo-213. Work on the a-historical Jumo-209 continues (a two-row version of the Jumo-208 ) with Pratt & Whitney. Work on the Jumo-222 "star" engine continues, with first flight in the nose of a Ju-52 in March of 1938. However, reliability has been poor so work continues. Work has also begun, as historical, on axial compression jet engines, the first ran in 1939.

Argus Motoren is working on an H-engine project based on two As-411s, straightened out (the -411 is a typical German inverted-V design), mounted atop one another and geared together. The first prototype of the As-412 ran on the test bench in early 1937, but work has been cancelled due to severe cooling problems with the rear cylinders. A derivative, the As-413, has been built that lops off the rear 8 cylinders in an effort to alleviate the cooling problems Work has begun on a larger, water-cooled version of the As-412 design, this is designated the As-420.

Heinkel hired Von Ohain in 1936 as historical, and currently his "garage engine" is running, though with development problems as is to be expected and as historical. Work on the Heinkel turbojets continues as historical, with the He-178 flying for the first time as historical in August of 1939. Work continues on more advanced engines, and Heinkel has begun looking at the prospects for a jet-propelled fighter to follow the He-178.