Most effective gun of WW2 - the Sten Gun (kings, Australia, Soviet)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Not all used. I am sure you are aware that surplus unused weapons were stored after most wars. In fact, some US made unused Civil War era muzzle loaders were supplied to Kachin rebels in WW2.
So 5 million Stens were not used and stored after WW2. Sure !
Everyone seems to forget, the Mustang was designed by a German, built by Americans, for the British, who later put their engine on, but had to use a American propeller. The British put the engine on, but it took North American Aviation to make the installation look decent. Edgar Schmued - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
But it took the Americans to make it look gooood and perform even better
The Rolls Royce engine made the Mustang perform superbly. It initially used an Allison engine, which was only good at low level. The first use of the Mustang by the US military was for ground attack because of the poor high level performance of the Alinson engine.
In early February 1940 the British asked NAA's President Dutch Kindelberger to furnish the additional P-40s. Kindelberger told the British, without any detailed drawings or plans, "I can build you a better airplane, and I can get it built fast". North American were first approached in Feb 1940, who had no "detailed drawings or plans". In May 1940, they still never had any, mailing a "design concept" to the British delegation in New York. In the interim from Feb to May, three months, the British Air Ministry were banging out the fundamentals of the design and directing North American to Curtiss and the NACA to ensure a fighter with some leading edge design points, not produce another P-40 fly-alike.
The XP-46 was an experimental plane with all the leading edge design points of top European designs rolled into one, and few of their own. It never worked as the points never complimented each other when merged into one complete whole. There was a danger the Mustang may end up the same way - a dog. The British Air Ministry took a major gamble with this inexperienced company. The Ministry wanted something better than the poor P-40, but realistically never expected a Spitfire. Initially that was the case with the first deliveries using the Alinson engine - better than a P-40 but no Spitfire.
The initial Alinson engined Mustangs filled an RAF niche. Contrary to popular belief in the USA, North American did not have a prototype ready design which the Brits just happened to have snapped up under the noses of the US military. The US military overall, didn't want to know the plane even after it was shooting down FW 190s. This I find amazing, as the USA never had a decent front line fighter at the time. But with British support, the P-51 finally got noticed by the U.S. Army Air Force. US military had to go to England to fully assess the plane as it was finished off in Liverpool.
The US did hijack some British speced Mustangs after Pearl Harbour, keeping the British specification. The excuse not to take up the plane by US forces was that it was liquid cooled and vulnerable in frontal attack. This was a poor excuse to reject the plane because it wasn't theirs. What goes over the heads of these people is that the world's two best fighters locked horns in the Battle of Britain, both with liquid cooled engines.
UK and US Mustangs for the European war theatre were finished off in Liverpool. They were test flown and delivered to the units by young English girls, many teenagers.
Mustangs in knock down form being hauled up from Liverpool docks and taken to the Rootes aircraft factory to be finished off. Note the police escort is an MG sports car.
T-Bolts and Lightnings were doing just fine before the P51. T-bolts with paddle blades were incredible. German pilots would initially try to fight the T-bolt as they did the Spitfire, barrel roll and dive but could not out barrel roll or outdive a T-bolt. They also used the zoom climb but the paddle blade equipped Tbolts stopped that technique.
P51 and excellent a/c but the T-bolt would have done the job the same.
I know the history of the 51, I have was the crew chief on 1, have worked on a couple of others, and knew the Chief aerodynamisist of North American Aviation, he had a hand in designing the belly scoop. Which was the only one that generated more thrust than drag, due to incorporating the Meredith effect. As the air entered the scoop, it passed thru the glycol radiator and the oil cooler, the air is heated and expands, it is then forced thru a exit scoop that constricts the air and caused the air to exit at a higher velocity than it enters. Most other liquid cooled planes had a inlet and outlet the same size.
A couple of things have gotten better on the Mustang over the years. The radiators that are being built now are much better than the originals, and the engines are getting better thru the work of Jack Roush of Roush racing, he has 2 P-51s, a B and a D model. He started by overhauling his own engines, he now makes parts and has a number of mods approved for the Merlin. He makes performance parts for both the Ford Mustang and the North American Aviation Mustang.
The Mustang was like the sten, they made so many of them, if they got damaged, throw it away and get a new one.
I know the history of the 51, I have was the crew chief on 1, have worked on a couple of others, and knew the Chief aerodynamisist of North American Aviation, he had a hand in designing the belly scoop. Which was the only one that generated more thrust than drag, due to incorporating the Meredith effect. As the air entered the scoop, it passed thru the glycol radiator and the oil cooler, the air is heated and expands, it is then forced thru a exit scoop that constricts the air and caused the air to exit at a higher velocity than it enters. Most other liquid cooled planes had a inlet and outlet the same size.
A couple of things have gotten better on the Mustang over the years. The radiators that are being built now are much better than the originals, and the engines are getting better thru the work of Jack Roush of Roush racing, he has 2 P-51s, a B and a D model. He started by overhauling his own engines, he now makes parts and has a number of mods approved for the Merlin. He makes performance parts for both the Ford Mustang and the North American Aviation Mustang.
The Mustang was like the sten, they made so many of them, if they got damaged, throw it away and get a new one.
The belly scoop was on the Curtiss XP-46 experimental plane, a point the British Air Ministry wanted on the Mustang and directed North American to this. The original offering by NAA did not have the laminar flow wings developed at NACA. The Air Ministry pointed NAA to the wings. The Air Ministry wanted as much state-of-the art technology in the plane as possible - it was their plane and they were paying. You are right in that older engines can be improved with modern metallurgy and improved (computerised) injection and ignition systems and modern fully synthetic oils that can function in very low and very high temperatures. Boiling of oil in plane engines when on full revs was a problem in WW2. Not so these days. Modern lubrication means these engines have greater longevity and less prone to seizing when flat out.
The RR Merlin engine was hand built in the UK - before WW2 not may planes were built so no need for mass production methods. The Merlin engine was designed and built to win races in the 1930s. The engine never had a cylinder head gasket and was hand rubbed to obtain a perfect fit and seal. When Packard in the US started to make them under licence they had to use modern manufacturing methods to get the manufacturing volume and used a cylinder head gasket. The Packard engines were slower than the UK built Merlins and mainly used for bombers, like Lancasters. The US Mustangs used the Packard Merlin. Many British Mustangs had the faster Rolls Royce built Merlin fitted when the planes were finished in the UK.
I recall talking to an aircraft engine fitter who worked on older planes. He said rebuilt Merlins to modern ways with modern injection, ignition and oils and fitted into a Mosquito would most probably break the piston engine speed record. No one has tried as all WW2 planes tend to be in original form for historical reasons, with using modern oils the only recognition of modern technology.
The Mustang was not an American plane, although built in the USA by a US maker. It is hard to say it was British plane either as most of it was made in the USA. It was a superb example of Anglo-American cooperation. The British liked the idea of the US Alinson engine as it was approx the same size as the RR Merlin, so a quick change if they wanted and that happened. Also RR was working flat out in 1940 to make Merlins, so another engine from another country was most welcome, and in low level flight it did what the RAF wanted. Later when the Brits put in the RR Merlin the plane sung.
Felix C, the T-bolt was great plane, but ugly and big, and was improved as it went along as was the case with all planes in WW2. It shone in ground attack where it was used mostly. In war the idea is to get as many planes as possible to win the war. They were making it up as they went along then. In hindsight many WW2 plane types need not have been made but they did not know that then. Each maker was trying meet military specs and outdo each other. That was good for advancement. The t/bot and P-38s were expensive to build and maintain compared to the Mustang. Yep, the Mustang was a sort of Sten. It was easily, quickly and cheaply made and did exactly what it was supposed to do in its various forms. In fact it did better than what it was supposed to have done.
Other than surrendering Singapore, what other notable action did the UK take part in in the pacific?
The Brits fought a backwater action in Burma for several years. It was pretty much a draw, but kept several divisions of Japanese troops busy.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.