(Hypothetical) If you could "personal field mod" any plane's weapons in the game, what would it be?

[69th_Mobile_BBQ]

If you could change any plane's weapons to better suit your preferences, what would it be?  This is just hypothetical imaginings, of course.  

 

Yak 7:  I would remove the 20mm cannon and pack in as much 12.7mm ammo as it would take. 

Reason:  Removal of the 20mm might add some maneuverability to an already nimble plane and a few hundred extra 12.7mm rounds would add a lot of decently effective spray and pray.     Not having to make room for the "through-the-prop hub" engine design might allow for a slightly better engine to be fitted into the plane as well.  

 

Feel free to add your own ideas for plane(s) you'd like to customize if you could have it your way.

[I./JG52_Woutwocampe]

I would add a 75mm cannon to the Gotha. Its certainely stable enough to withstand the added weight and the recoil.

Edited August 7, 2023 by I./JG52_Woutwocampe

[Avimimus]

I also like the UB (and wouldn't mind trying a 3x12.7mm Yak-7 loadout).

 

Some come to mind:

- I'd probably rewire the triggers on the Hs-129...

- Maybe up-gun the Pe-2 (i.e. a Pe-3).

- Also, add a fixed forward firing gun to the F.E.2b (a real field mod on the F.E.2d at least).

- Moving the HD.1's gun off to the side (i.e. the actual way the guns were set up when delivered - the centre mounted gun is actually a field mod)!

- Adding rockets or 2x45mm cannons to the Li-2 would be neat...

 

Also creating photorecon versions of a bunch of aircraft...

[AndyJWest]

Add a mannable Davis gun to the FC observation Balloons, both for Entente and Central Powers. The set up a mission with the pair of them in duelling range! 

Edited August 7, 2023 by AndyJWest

[=MERCS=JenkemJunkie]

I'd replace the tempests hispanos with napalm bombs that burn the pilot alive when he pulls the trigger.

[BlitzPig_EL]

A couple I can think of...

 

Swap the 37mm out of the P39 and add an Hispano 20mm.

 

Put the Merlin from a P51B into the P40, with 150 fuel.

 

Swap 2 of the .50 Brownings out of each wing of the P51D and add a 20mm Hispano in each wing.

Edited August 7, 2023 by BlitzPig_EL

[Avimimus]

4 hours ago, AndyJWest said:

Add a mannable Davis gun to the FC observation Balloons, both for Entente and Central Powers. The set up a mission with the pair of them in duelling range! 

 

Basically happened in 1808.

[LuftManu]

Would love to have the Hispanos on a late Mustang! ?

[Skycat1969]

This.

[Charon]

I'd put a Schwenkplatte SP 1A on the Revi of the Ju 88A-4, so that it can be used for dive bombing and not just level bombing.

 

 

[percydanvers]

AP Ammo for the heavy cannon in the Me-410 to turn it into a tank hunter

 

[Blitzen]

Well I'm not sure about anyone else , but to me the optional choice is pretty obvious..."Its your shout ,Mate!"

[Avimimus]

8 hours ago, LuftManu said:

Would love to have the Hispanos on a late Mustang! ?

 

I'd settle for putting them on an early Mustang... with an Alison as well (although, honestly, the 4x.50 and 4x.303 is the loadout I find most interesting)

[Jaegermeister]

I would put the "zero rail" rocket launchers on the P51-D Mustang so I could make a little more mischief in a more historical manner.

 

[JG27*PapaFly]

1) Add realistic gun harmonization for the 190 series (independent harmonization of fuselage+inner 20 mm vs outer 20 mm guns. Wait, that's what they actually used in RL in the first place ?

 

2) Re-wire the guns on the HS-129

 

3) Add cluster bomb loadouts for LW

[FeuerFliegen]

Bf110 - give us the real historical mod of replacing the 4x MG17s with 2xMK108.  also a MK103 with lots of ammo would be nice; AP or HE option too.

 

Me410 - AP ammo for BK5 and MK103

 

Me410 - BK 3,7 optional cannon.  maybe two?  AP rounds a must for an option.

 

Me262 - remove the inner cannons, but utilize that space to carry extra ammo for the remaining cannons that way we'd have maybe as much as 500 rounds between two MK108s?

 

Me262 - 4x MG151/20.  I suspect with the amount of space the MK108 ammo usually takes up; you could possibly have 300 rounds per gun.  Or just go for 2 MG151/20 but still keep the same amount of ammo, and just have an insane  600+ rounds per gun.

 

Bf109 K-4 - MG151/20 option.  Ammo counter is a must!

 

P39 - change out 37mm for a good 20mm cannon.  More .50 cal ammo too if possible.  And maybe instead of two .30 cal in each wing, replace with one .50 cal in each wing.  Ideal world would basically be the P38's guns on a P39.

 

Ju-52 - upgraded turret gun;  ideal would be twin MG151/20.  maybe have a twin MG131 on the bottom.

 

Pe-2  - 20mm forward facing guns; preferably two with plenty of ammo.

 

Ju-88 and He111 - take the Me410 rear gunner setup, and put it on both of these bombers.

 

Ju-88 C-6 - get rid of the 8mm MGs and utilize the space for more 20mm ammo, or a fourth 20mm cannon.  Also I feel like you could easily carry extra magazines for the MG/FF cannons

 

Ju-88 C-6 - replace forward guns with a pair of BK3,7 cannons, or a pair of MK103 cannons.

 

P-38 - replace current gun setup with 3x 20mm cannons.

 

Quad 20mm on any Spitfire or Mustang

 

Ability to attach the Arado's rocket boosters to any other plane.

 

Ability to remove any and all guns from any plane.  Could be ideal for a pure recon mission where speed advantage is worth giving up your guns.  Not only the weight savings but the aerodynamics would benefit from smooth flowing wings.  Or when you feel that small MGs aren't worth taking when you already have 20mm cannons.  Or when it's a pure bombing mission.  Would also be ideal for air racing.

 

 

 

And this one is not exactly the question you were asking, but I would like the ability to load a plane up to overweight conditions without the game stopping me from doing so; basically if it has a bomb rack, and the bomb fits, then allow me to do so!  Basically a Ju88 could take 4x1800s, 2x250s, 28x50s. Or an A-20, 4x250, 16x100 If you can't get it off of the ground, that's your problem, but the game shouldn't stop you from at least trying!

 

 

[[CPT]Crunch]

M3 gun installation option on the Mustangs and P-47's, faster firing rates at higher velocity.  That will leave a mark.

[cardboard_killer]

Proximity fuses for the Yak-9T and P-39's 37mm ammo.

 

Can we put a small yield tactical nuke on a P-38?

[69th_Mobile_BBQ]

Lots of good ideas!

 

There is one I have that does directly relate to the game:  

 

Factory fresh paint, exterior and interior, and factory fresh canopy glass for all planes.

Some planes have hand-painted notes on the dashboard. I'd keep those.

[Aleksander55]

If it was ever done in real life I'd like to have the same soviet weapons mod for the Spitfire MKVb that they used as they did for their Hurricanes, the 2 Shvaks with 120 rounds each and 2 BS with 100 rounds each.

 

Now, I was going to write here that this combination is pretty much as powerful as the 4 Hispanos, with less weight/drag penalty, for my flying and aiming preferences (I need to get very close). But I made this test more than a year ago, so I re-testet before posting here: The Hurri with 4 Hispanos is as deadly as I remember it, a single short burst at close range enough to dismantle/put on fire a 109G6 late most of the time. But the soviet combo is much less destructive than before. I tested the standard mission I practice the most  a few times and confirmed it, maybe it has been nerfed since then. It feels barely any better than the armament I'm most used to, the I-16's Shkas+Shvaks.

 

I think I'd still take this combo over the MkVb's standard armament, the 2 Hispanos may be strong, but with the pathetic 60 rounds per gun it gets quickly reduced to the 4 wing Brownings, that are useless, to my experience less effective than the I-16's 2 center Shkas.

 

 

In my 'Polikarpov mania', I learned by a Warthunder video that the I-153 had a version with 2 nose 20mm Shvaks, the I-153P. It was produced in a small but still consequential quantity, about ~100 units? I have to say I was a little revolted at the ghost of the designer, I can't believe he gave that freaking biplane the syncro Shvaks, but not the I-16.

 

Some months later I found a page that said that there were at least 2 later prototypes of the I-16, one with 2 syncro Shvaks and the other with 2 syncro 12,7 guns. I was going to post the link to this page here, but I simply can't find it anymore and I'm even starting to think I alucinated it's existence. From what I remember the cons of this setup were obvious: the guns were too big for the planes short nose, the Shvaks in particular were invading cockpit and blinding and suffocating the pilot with smoke.

 

But the pros make me salivate: More stability from the heavier armament on the nose, more speed from the clean wings. And 2 nose Shvaks with some 150 rounds per gun... or even the 2 12,7s with some 300 rounds per gun (I like this armament a lot in the Mig-3). I'd put up with all the smoke in the world for that, the oxigen mask is there for using after all.

 

And of course, I want the I-16 type 28 if it existed, 150 rounds per Shvak in the wings. I'll gladly bear the extra weight of the 120 extra rounds, especially in bomber intercept missions. Much better than 4 weak rockets that are almost never a sure kill, even with 2 hits. And I obviously don't need to carry the weight/drag of the racks after firing them.

 

 

Edit: More Polikarpov mania: It seems there were some I-16s with the M-88 engine (That would have been used on the I-180). Maybe these were the famous 'Bill Gunstons WW2 fighters'/Wikipedia I-16s that could get to 520Km/h.

 

There were texts here and there about the 'new wing' or 'improved wing'. This coupled with the Zveno/parasite missions, one pilot said 'he dove at 650km/h'.

 

Yeah.. I want my hypothetical war development (aka historical fanfiction) Super I-16.

 

Edit2: I just remembered it: at least 2 books said that from the 1st time the Shvaks started being used on the I-16, the pilots had the choice for full AP or full HE belts. I'd very much like to have this choice in the sim.

 

 

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by Aleksander55

[Mysticpuma]

Wonder Woman view ?

[the_emperor]

I would like to "personally field mod" my planes by 

being able to individually harmonize and belt each of my guns.

[Aleksander55]

The Stang certainly wasn't developed to the same extent of it's airframe as the Spit, 109; or even the 190 that is closer to it in history than the other 2.

 

Since I was a kid I imagined that there was at least one P-51 airframe that got engined with a Griffon during the war, as early as mid 1944. Certainly a few gentlemen from Rolls Royce put one to a P-51D, got effortlessly close to 800kp/h and deciced to never tell it to the americans.

 

Give the engineers at Packard the blueprints to the Hispanos. They certainly could have done a better job at adapting it to american industry standards. (How does one F-up the adaptation of such an important weapon? For so long?)

 

Get the engineers at Bell to adapt 2 of the Hispanos to syncro fire on the nose. (Why the heck did the british and for the most part the americans give up on synchro mgs and autocannons?)

 

Ultimate Mustang: Counter rotating propeler Griffon, 4 Hispanos, 2 in the wings with 300 rpg, 2 synchro with 200rpg, P-51D airframe with some but not all of the revisions of the P-51H as it needs to cope with the Griffon.

Edited August 24, 2023 by Aleksander55

[Kurfurst]

Münchausen mod for the Ju 87. ?

[JG4_Deciman]

If I could I'ld impmenent a mod doing the following:

 

Disable the showing of spawned players for airfields/spawnpoints under ANY condition

Disable the showing of attackers for airfields/spawnpoints under ANY condition

And let this be done by mission logic in case I want it and I can set the conditions when this will be shown.

 

Unfortunately there is absolutely NO way to disable these functions...

 

Deci

 

[FeuerFliegen]

On 8/23/2023 at 9:47 PM, Aleksander55 said:

4 Hispanos, 2 in the wings with 300 rpg

 

and put those wing cannons in in the wing root, just like the Fw190 D9.  No real convergence issues there.  Better roll rate too with the weight more towards the fuselage.

 

Although I would personally just do one cannon shooting through the prop hub, otherwise you'd definitely lose some speed due to drag by stuffing two cannons and ammo somewhere in that nose that's already tightly packed.  3x20mm would still do the job just fine.

 

That would be the ultimate mustang regardless.

Edited August 25, 2023 by SCG_FeuerFliegen

[Jaws2002]

I would put the engine from the FW-190 or La-5FN into the upcoming IAR-80/81 ... and then laugh hysterically as I watch the big engine shake the flimsy airframe to pieces, during the first engine run. ?

 

 

[=621=Samikatz]

On 8/24/2023 at 2:47 AM, Aleksander55 said:

Since I was a kid I imagined that there was at least one P-51 airframe that got engined with a Griffon during the war, as early as mid 1944. Certainly a few gentlemen from Rolls Royce put one to a P-51D, got effortlessly close to 800kp/h and deciced to never tell it to the americans.

 

The good news is they did actually put a Griffon in a P-51 airframe, the bad news is they never finished it before funding got pulled, the weird news is where they wanted to put it

 

[EXPT-Tin]

P39 with 20 mm ShVAK

[Aleksander55]

10 hours ago, SCG_FeuerFliegen said:

 

and put those wing cannons in in the wing root, just like the Fw190 D9.  No real convergence issues there.  Better roll rate too with the weight more towards the fuselage.

 

Although I would personally just do one cannon shooting through the prop hub, otherwise you'd definitely lose some speed due to drag by stuffing two cannons and ammo somewhere in that nose that's already tightly packed.  3x20mm would still do the job just fine.

 

That would be the ultimate mustang regardless.

No Allisons, Merlins or Griffons were suitable for motor-cannon though? A pity. Or is there something I don't know about one of these.

 

The initial Allison Mustangs had synchro .50s right? I'm sure by 1944 they could package Hispanos in the nose without much drag.

 

 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, =621=Samikatz said:

 

The good news is they did actually put a Griffon in a P-51 airframe, the bad news is they never finished it before funding got pulled, the weird news is where they wanted to put it

 

 

What the wh... What the what?

 

The british in the 30s and during most of the war made good decisions and made mostly no-nonsense designs, certainly better than the masters of steampunk, the french. But by war's end they were already getting nuttier, probably influnced by the crazier german designs.

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Speaking of motor-cannon: Even though the Shvaks were basicaly enlarged Shkas, it's rate of fire was only around 800rpm. I always thought that it was a waste of the design. Certainly it was capable of more?

 

I wonder if they did have a few samples running at higher rates but decided not to use it for whatever reason. Maybe not the 1800rpms of non syncro Shkas but something like 1500.

 

If such high rate Shvaks had been possible, I'd have liked to have a Yak with a single 1500rpm motor cannon Shvak, with all the ammo it could get. All the weight of any extra different guns and ammo for 20mm ammo. Something like 500 rounds. If they had developed such a Shvak I'd gladly taken this configuration.

Edited August 25, 2023 by Aleksander55

[GOA_Karaya_VR]

30mm MK108 gunpods for 109g6/g14

[Letka_13/Kukulo]

Arresting hook for Spitfire V and Hurricane II

[Blitzen]

32 minutes ago, Letka_13/Kukulo said:

Arresting hook for Spitfire V and Hurricane II

....and the optional RN carrier to go with the hook?

[LLv44_Damixu]

Replace JU 88 A-4 frontal machine gun with 20 mm cannon or remove the view blocker MG completely.

Edited August 27, 2023 by LLv44_Damixu

[69th_Mobile_BBQ]

On 8/25/2023 at 1:56 PM, OK-Tin said:

P39 with 20 mm ShVAK

 

According to Greg's impeccable research, there were 20mm variants of the P-39 aka P-400:  Timestamp 17:15 and on...

I'm kind of surprised that there are no Russian 20mm field mods in-game.  I guess that means that they never happened or were just not findable in the records the devs. used for their plane data.

 

 

[Letka_13/Kukulo]

On 8/26/2023 at 6:20 PM, Blitzen said:

....and the optional RN carrier to go with the hook?

 

? If there is a chance in the future...

[the_emperor]

On 8/24/2023 at 3:47 AM, Aleksander55 said:

(Why the heck did the british and for the most part the americans give up on synchro mgs and autocannons

 

My guess would be, that you would have to prime your guns electronically to maintain close to the originally rpms... (the MG131 manages to keep ~ 900rpm and the MG151~650rpm)

the synchronized  .50 cal did drop to about 500rpm iIrcc

[69th_Mobile_BBQ]

On 8/7/2023 at 7:09 PM, =MERCS=JenkemJunkie said:

I'd replace the tempests hispanos with napalm bombs that burn the pilot alive when he pulls the trigger.

 

I'd do the same for the Me-410 gunner station because:  "Me-410 - for when the AI gunner is sick of your sh........enanigans!".

[RossMarBow]

Seriously none putting some guns on the A20?