ETO: Boston 107 and KittyHawk IV - Wrong entered service date?

[vonOben]

Hi

Today I flew a ETO Attack in the West campaign mission at June 16, 1940 where we were assigned to intercept a flight of Boston 107 protected by KittyHawkIW fighters.
I quit the mission since I thought those aircraft were not appropriate for the Attack in the West campaign.

ETO_Boston_107
From the a20_107.xdp
EnteredService="02/01/1940"
Country="Britain"

Acording to Wikipedia:
British Commonwealth
The remainder of the order which was to have been delivered to France was instead taken up by the UK. In the course of the war, 24 squadrons would operate the Boston. It first entered service with RAF Bomber Command in 1941 equipping No. 88 Squadron. Their first operational use was not until February 1942 against enemy shipping.

KittyHawk MkIV
From the ETO_KittyhK112.xdp
EnteredService="05/24/1940"
Country="Britain"

Acording to Wikipedia:
The P-40's lack of a two-stage supercharger made it inferior to Luftwaffe fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 or the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in high-altitude combat and it was rarely used in operations in Northwest Europe. Between 1941 and 1944, however, the P-40 played a critical role with Allied air forces in three major theaters: North Africa, the Southwest Pacific and China.

For the Boston I changed EnteredService to "02/01/1942" and for the KittyHawk I changed to AllowSpawn="n".

I reflew the mission and instead we encountered a Fairey Battle flight protected by Lysander SOE aircraft.

But Lysander SOE was used for Special Operations, so that doesn't seem historically accurate either....

What is your opinion?

Cheers

[Daiwilletti]

Hi von Oben,

for my set up, I have set spawn=n for the Lysander too. Funny to see it involved in dogfights...

[ndicki]

The Boston III entered service in early 1941 with No.88 Sqn. There had been some use before that of DB-7 variants, Bostons MkI and II, and Havocs MkI and II, but these had the earlier style of tailfin. With a bit of skinning and the flight dynamics Ted did for 'my' French DB-7s, you can cobble together a reasonable imitation. But you are correct in saying that June 1940 is WAY out of line for an RAF Boston III.

For the W40 campaign, use the stand-in DB-7A in the file library. http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...s.php?catid=82

I can't remember if the Fairey Battles in ETO are the updated version or not. If not, you could swop them over as well.

The Kittyhawk IV didn't come in until mid-1943 at the earliest; I can't find any reference to them with the RAF before 1944, but that may simply be that I don't have books on everything!

Don't despair of the Lizzie - I have a template that Rene did that I'm busy - or not - messing up, so if you're lucky, once we've done the Finnish versions, there'll be the chance to redo some RAF ones! Nod gave me permission years ago to fiddle round with it, so I suppose it still holds.

[vonOben]

Thanks for the info guys! :salute:

Cheers

[Rami]

Hey guys,

Seeing as how the Battle of France is one of my interests, perhaps I can help. The French DID have early DB-7 models, but bear in mind they had low-rated Pratt and Whitney R-1830s, not the R-2600 Wright Cyclones that later models had.

http://www.wwiivehicles.com/usa/airc...ston-havoc.asp

The three major fighter types the French had were the Morane-Saulnier Ms-406, the Bloch MB-151/152, and the Dewoitine D-520. The last plane was the only French aircraft that was capable of matching the Bf-109 in performance, and was a "poor man's Spitfire." Like the Spitfire, it could be the Bf-109 in a turning fight, but was a poorer performer in the vertical. However, it was on average about 20-30 km/h slower than the Spitfire.

A P-40 would not have been used in the Battle of France, you are correct there.

[ndicki]

In fact, the most effective fighter in terms of numbers/impact on the Germans was clearly the Curtiss Hawk-75 - the commercial name of the aircraft which with few significant differences was the USAAC P-36. The D.520 didn't make it into service in large numbers, and while it was as Rami says on a par in many ways with the British and German fighters of the time, it didn't have as much impact on the Battle of France as it might have. It was, however, the preferred fighter of Vichy France... The MS.406 was a very good aircraft once you got beyond its weaknesses - despite its low power, it was very manoeuvrable in the horizontal, and packed a devastating punch for the period - with a 20mm cannon firing through the spinner. Don't forget that most Bf109E aircraft at this time were E-1 variants with only four 7.92mm machine-guns...

[Rami]

Ndickl,

That's true, but remember that the most memorable attribute about French planes was their ability to return to base, cut to ribbons, the Hawk 75 included. I also am eternally perplexed by their reverse-orientated throttle system.

[ndicki]

Ndickl,

I also am eternally perplexed by their reverse-orientated throttle system.

Which caused absolute havoc when the RAF got its grubby hands on the ex-French orders of things like Mohawks and Marylands! Equally, when the ex-French Air Force, future Free French pilots began to sign up for the RAF...

[Rami]

Ndickl,

Don't forget about the Martlet, my friend!

[ndicki]

Ndickl,

Don't forget about the Martlet, my friend!

What, me forget about the Martlet? Get off it!

Check the second entry (and one or two others) here:

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...s.php?catid=75