WesWorld

Hmmmm.... The new FMA I-01 Buchon seems to be a step backwards from the I-100, Trading an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear for an open cockpit and fixed gear seems unlikely to improve matters, and certainly doesn't much resemble the Bf-105 or Cr-35 mentioned in the note.

Maybe due to war situation. A result of a war with South Africa will be that pretty much commerce will be shutdown to Argentina and maybe some of the materials to build more modern aircrafts will be lacking, but as in any war losses will occur and equipment will need to be replaced somehow. And alas this aircraft was designed with available resources in mind. This seems more like a aircraft designed in the middle of 1935 during a war. But I have to agree the similarity with the Bf-109 is very difficult to see.

I'm not sure either, the Buchon I saw was much different.

I thought it was meant to be this one?? Which is rather larger and faster than the stats posted. Admittedly James did send me this pic some time ago, but thats a rather massive redesign...

Maybe it's the wrong picture?

Interesting Drawing, is that a Fiat 55 Centaur fuselague and tail I see? Visibility is going to be very bad, reminds me of the Curtiss XP-37.

I don't think it's a wrong picture, because the text matches the picture pretty well (it says open cockpit and fixed landing gear, which the picture has). I expect we'll find out.....

Thats because its most likely a cut and paste error. The FMA I-01 introduction info seems to be smack in the middle of the FMA I-99 specs.

@###@! Sorry folks made a little typo there. Consider it wartime propaganda/ intelligence confusion!

The stats refer to the I-99 now in production for the last year or so. The picture matches the I-99. Comparing with the I-100 it is more manoeurvable with faster acceleration (it has 200hp more for a start). It will be replaced post war with another Spartan design firmly under wraps.

The I-01 is a different beasty. I've made a few changes since RA last saw it but it will be good. Putting a 1500hp engine in it makes it even better...

No-one commented on the slow-down of the I-100 line and the change to 7.92mm weapons...phew, although once the line catches up 13mm guns will be re-installed in the wings.

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Originally posted by Hood
The I-01 is a different beasty. I've made a few changes since RA last saw it but it will be good. Putting a 1500hp engine in it makes it even better...

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1500hp? In which year will you introduce such engine and plane?

When posting some of my aircrafts stats I remember a discussion regarding the F-6D "Swollow" with a 1250PS engine. The plane will enter service in 1935 and the engine resembles the Merlin XII in a Spitfire II which - as we agreed - puts the Swollow at the very edge of the 5 years WesWorld seems ahead of time in plane and engine technology. So I hesitated to introduce her at all.

A 1500PS engine is more like a Merlin XLV or 45 in a Spitfire Mk. V (or a Bf109G with a DB605)... So I´m curious: What have I missed?

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So I´m curious: What have I missed?

The sort of limit you propose would be in keeping with a Merlin-sized engine but it is possible to build larger engines that will give more power (but they are of increased weight and size).

If your engine is around the same size/rpm of the Merlin you can get up to a max of about 1450hp from 87-oct fuel (12lb boost + improved supercharger). Using BMEP as a figure (assuming Merlin dimensions) we get 14.8bar. If the Argentinean engine has Griffon dimensions and the same level of development, it will give 1570hp but weigh more and be larger.

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Interesting Drawing, is that a Fiat 55 Centaur fuselague and tail I see? Visibility is going to be very bad, reminds me of the Curtiss XP-37.

Its a G.59 fuselage IIRC. The forward fuselage dips down towards the nose quite a lot so the forward view will be pretty good. The cockpit is nowhere near as far back as on the XP-37.

The I-01-II will not enter service until 1937-38. This will then become the standard fighter until the mid 1940s. The basic I-01 will be in service by mid 1936.

The engine specs are sketchy but given the goings on in Italy maybe an imported engine is the better bet than a home-grown or extended Spartan series V-12. About 1500hp gives me 498mph with a beefier fuselage but wing loading is much worse.

498 mph (that´s miles per hour, right?)

converts to

~802 km/h (kilometers per hour)


Are you serious?

I may add: The fasted piston engine airplane holding the FAI record is a heavily modified F8F Bearcat which reached 545.07mph or 876,55km/h on the 21th of August 1989 (!!!).

*off to build an Aurora recce craft*

Sigh! Not having a good day. Sorry I meant 398mph. Still a hot ship by late 1930s standards. Then I've my eye on the real-world FMA Namcu twin-engined escort fighter for the mid 1940s.

I'd bet we break that FAI record in WW way before 1989.

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Originally posted by Hood
I'd bet we break that FAI record in WW way before 1989.

That's certainly possible, since if jet development doesn't move forward we'll have 3-5 more years of piston-engine development before the jets push propellers aside.

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Originally posted by Red Admiral
The sort of limit you propose would be in keeping with a Merlin-sized engine but it is possible to build larger engines that will give more power (but they are of increased weight and size).

If your engine is around the same size/rpm of the Merlin you can get up to a max of about 1450hp from 87-oct fuel (12lb boost + improved supercharger). Using BMEP as a figure (assuming Merlin dimensions) we get 14.8bar. If the Argentinean engine has Griffon dimensions and the same level of development, it will give 1570hp but weigh more and be larger.

This is one of the reasons why WW Germany would like to not spend too much time and effort on the DB-605, instead putting most of that time and effort onto the DB-603. Improving the DB-601's valve timing, scavenging, and fitting it for MW-50 boost may be enough to keep aircraft powered by it competitive until the big DB-603 can be developed far enough to be worthwhile. (Historically, the DB-603 wasn't pushed by the RLM, and designers who wanted to use it were pushed towards other engines. However, if the DB-603 is developed to the same degree as the DB-605D series, you end up with a seriously powerful engine.)

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However, if the DB-603 is developed to the same degree as the DB-605D series, you end up with a seriously powerful engine

About 2400hp with the normal 2700rpm or 2670hp with 3000rpm (for DB603N experimental, this running speed would probably be far too high though.) if developed to the same degree as the DB605-DCM. The Merlin with 60% of the capacity of the DB603 reached 2640hp maximum (RM17SM in 1944, but was rated normally for about 2400hp, without water injection)

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The fasted piston engine airplane holding the FAI record is a heavily modified F8F Bearcat which reached 545.07mph or 876,55km/h

Rare Bear's speed record is at low level IIRC rather than the ~6000m where these aircraft will have their peak speeds. The air is considerably more rarefied and so there is less drag.

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I'd bet we break that FAI record in WW way before 1989

I want to quote Italo Balbo, noted Italian aviator for his remarks in 1931;
" 500 km/h is already passé; in a few years, it will be common to all planes. We are so sure of it that we are looking even further&"

Gabrelli might think his new G.50 will reach 800km/h but it won't in practice (not with 2800hp anyway...) The transonic region was still rather unknown and the massive increase in drag not factored into calculations of the time.

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Originally posted by Red Admiral

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However, if the DB-603 is developed to the same degree as the DB-605D series, you end up with a seriously powerful engine

About 2400hp with the normal 2700rpm or 2670hp with 3000rpm (for DB603N experimental, this running speed would probably be far too high though.) if developed to the same degree as the DB605-DCM. The Merlin with 60% of the capacity of the DB603 reached 2640hp maximum (RM17SM in 1944, but was rated normally for about 2400hp, without water injection)

I came up with just under 2500 hp, doing a straight extrapolation based on displacements. But the numbers we came up with for the -603 are similar, which puts it in the same area as the later marks of the RR Griffon, for about the same weight.

Increasing the supercharging would also be possible, without changing fuel types: C3 was good for around 2.2 atmospheres of pressure but the DB-605D only used up to 1.98 atmospheres, so there's headroom here (though a bigger supercharger would rob more power, it might well be worthwhile).

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I came up with just under 2500 hp, doing a straight extrapolation based on displacements.

BMEP (in bar) = power * 960 / displacement * rpm

The DB603 has a lower rpm because of the longer stroke (but a similar piston speed)

The C3 fuel was about 145PN and so has a max boost rating of about 35lb or 2.4bar, however the compression ratio also has to figured in. Its higher for the German engines so less boost has to be used to get the same pressure.

Assuming things go at least moderately well in the war and its aftermath, Chile may end up buying or leasing construction rights for Argentinian aircraft to suppliment the Atlantean aircraft that entered service during the previous war.