Does anyone have any information about how many manhours it takes to build 1940s-era planes? Say, 1,000 manhours to build a Spitfire versus perhaps 15,000 to build a B-29?
The numbers I've seen are around 4500-5000 hours for a Bf-109, 5000 for a Hurricane, 5000-5500 for a Fw-190, 13,000 hours for a Spitfire, 55,000 man-hours for a B-17 in 1941 (by 1944, it was down to 19,000), a B-29 cost 157,000 man-hours when production started, by the end of February, 1945 that was down to 57,000.
Originally posted by Hrolf Hakonson
Not really, those numbers I turned up with searches on type of aircraft and man-hours.
Would you happen to know the figures for a Fieseler Fi 156? I tried looking that up as a way to compare fighters with lightweight types and couldn't find anything.
Not the Fieseler, but the Piper L-4 Cub needed 300 hours during the WWII years. I expect the Fieseler was a little more complicated by it's extra STOL features adn the folding wings.