P39D v Hurricane Mk I

[Army of One]

Not sure if it's the right place so any admin feel free to move to the right place

I have been doing some limited research into the performance of both the P39D and Hurri MkI....I know the history/rejection of the P39D BUT the places I been looking show a bit of a better performance of the P39D at upto around 13,000 at which point it sort of trails off.....I have read that lack of turbo/supercharger was the cause of this......how hard would swooping the Allison v-1710 for a Merlin III or XII of the early Hurri/Spit...?? I have an idea for a quick build.....

[The Wooksta!]

Apart from possibly differrent exhausts any possibly some small intake scoops, I can't think of any external difference.  Besides, it's the aerodynamics of the Hurricane that are the real limiting factors.

[Army of One]

Other than those.....would the performance be improved for it to get to the height of the level bombers and engage them..... Or would it better be employed at low level as is, trying to catch the low level raiders.......??

[The Wooksta!]

It's not just that.  When we got the P39s, we had Hitler's hordes at the gates and you're diverting valuable merlins from a proven aircraft to an unproven one, with all the engineering delay also, at a critical time when we needed every aircraft that could fly.

Apart from a one off aircraft or two flying with A&AAE or Rolls Royce, I can't see it viable.

[Army of One]

So keep it as is and use it against low level raids leaving the Spit/Hurri to deal with those above 10-12,000 or so feet.....??

[TallEng]

No, fit a Supercharger or Turbocharger and let them at it

Regards
Keith

[Army of One]

Basically I bought some kits from MZ in the sale....basically got 2 Airfix P39Q's for £2.99.....I was going to do them as bomber killers from BoB....20mm nose cannon with twin .50's above it and another .50 in each wing and a another in the underwing pod....this would have allowed Spit/Hurri to concentrate on fighters.....I thought the heavy armament would be better against the bombers....I'm getting a BoB decal sheet and wanted to do something different with it....just wanted to explore options....bomber killer at altitude or a low level Jabo killer...I had thought of turbo/supercharger fittings with strict instructions to stay close to the coast....hand picked pilots that would obey....basically green/brown upper n possibly black/white underside.....

[PR19_Kit]

Go for it, sounds a great idea. 

[Army of One]

Which one..... As is n low level Jabo hunter or some minor changes and as a bomber killer....?? I'm thinking first one as I don't have to do anything....Stuka killer along the coast....

[jcf]

All P-39s had an engine mounted single-stage, single-speed supercharger.

The turbo-supercharger installation on the XP-39 was poorly conceived, over-complicated
and drag producing and the Army wasn't interested in spending the time and money
necessary to make it work.

A better engine mounted supercharger would have been a big improvement for the V-1710,
however GM wasn't inclined to properly budget or staff the Allison Division. GM management
were more interested in units produced than in spending money and time to properly
improve the breed.

[The Wooksta!]

Keep with low level.  The RAF was terrified of Bf 110s flying in at low level to bomb airfields.  Not the massed raids but enough sneak raiders to disrupt everything.

[Army of One]

Woohoo....!! Low level Jabo killer it is....!!

[Weaver]

Well relatively low level work was what prevailed on the Eastern Front where the Russians were very happy with the P-39. Perhaps your alt.timeline could feature more Bf-110 low-level attacks early on coupled with a bit more luck for the Stukas, and that persuades the RAF to deploy the P-39s against them.

My dad was on AAA gunlaying radar during the war, which involved sitting in a cabin, containing a petrol-driven generator with it's fuel tank directly over the door, in the middle of a large wire mat in a field. A number of these got straffed by various Luftwaffe aircraft and dad said they were always terrified of it.

[Army of One]

Blinking hell H.....that's a story n a half.....!! I worked with a bloke whose dad was an anti aircraft gunner based in battersea park.....what stations would theses P39's be based at...?

[The Wooksta!]

IIRC, they were with one of the RAuxAF squadrons - 601, 603, 615?