The update is now live!---=== UPDATE FL2052: HOLDING THE LINE ===---By: Robert, Bollok, Grumpy
3d art: IArt7 (skins)
Terrains: -Jabo-
All made possible by: Bcamel (creator of the program used to model the airplanes)
--= P-40 Warhawk series =--Complete rehaul for all P-40's including the Hawk 75 and P-36C. See below for details.
--= P-51 series =--* Wing efficiency improved from 0.74 to 0.785 (Oswald factor) for the A-36 Apache, Mustang Mk1, P-51B and P-51D. This means they will retain their energy better when maneuvering.
* All Mustangs have had their flaps reworked to more historical performance. They should now be better for landing and generate somewhat less drag overall.
* The Mustang Mk1 has had it's engine completely reworked due to better data found and proof that the Allison V-1710-39 engine was cleared for 56" Hg WEP instead of being limited to 42" Hg for operating units. This results in a 30 mph increase to top speed at sea level.
Previous Mustang Mk1: Bst1 42" Hg (5 min)
New Mustang Mk1: Bst1 44.2" Hg (15 min), Bst2 56" Hg (5 min).
--= Yakovlev series =--A code error was found that caused the Yak-9D and Yak-3 to shake uncontrollably. This was a simple typo mistake in it's code and has been fixed.
--= Brewster Buffalo series =--Small pitchdrag improvement (pitch change agility).
--= N1K1-J =--Wing efficiency slightly improved from 0.785 to 0.795 (Oswald factor, energy retainment).
--= Skins =--New beautiful plane skins from Iart7.
Bf 109K-4
B-25H
B-339 Buffalo (x2)
Hawk 75
Mig-3 (x2)
Mosquito IV (high res default skin)
--= Terrains =--Updates to the Malaysia and Luzon terrains by -jabo-.
--== P-40 WARHAWK SERIES REHAUL ==--The various Warhawk versions fought in nearly every theater of the war from the German invasion of France to Pearl Harbor, Russia, Africa, italy and the Pacific theather among others. While not known for any defined strengths, they were well designed all-around fighter machines that were able to hold the line against the different opponents they faced in ww2. Probably most known is the "Flying Tigers" squadron which scored an impressive tally in their Tomahawks against the Japanese. The P-40's Allison engine is able to endure oil leaks a bit better than normal inline engines, and the Warhawks are good gun platforms but generally a bit heavier than contemporary fighters. This is not true for the P-36C and Hawk 75 though which were much lighter loaded and great turn fighters below 10000 ft.
--= The P-36C and Hawk 75 (A-4) =--These radial engine fighters are tooled for fighting below 10000 ft and can turn with an A6M2 Zero whilst also holding a better top speed than the Japanese fighter at low altitude. Their performance quickly drops off with altitude above this FTH height limit though and these Hawks will struggle when up high. They also have no pilot armor so beware of machine gun fire. The P-36C was the American version with a Pratt and Whitney engine while the Hawk 75 was the export version with a very similar Wright engine and was sent to France, Norway, Finland etc. When fighting at low altitude these are lethal fighters and enemies do wise fighting them up high instead.
--= P-40B Tomahawk =--The P-40B fielded an inline Allison V-1710-33 engine instead of the radial engine of the P-36. This resulted in a higher top speed and better performance at altitude. Against Bf 109's etc a Tomahawk pilot should still take the fight at 15000 ft or lower though. This version saw a weight increase of ~1300 lb compared to it's predecessor, which takes a toll on it's sustained turn performance and climb rate, but it's still a fairly agile bird. It comes with pilot armor and has a better top speed and armament than the P-36C/Hawk 75.
--= P-40E Kittyhawk =--The P-40E was fitted with the newer V-1710-39 engine which, once cleared for 56" Hg WEP, provided 1470 hp at sea level compared to the P-40B's 1040 hp. The -E is faster than the -B up to 15000 ft. The Curtiss engineers kept loading their P-40's with extra stuff for each version, and the P-40E weighed in at 8342 lb with 145.5 gal fuel. The armament consists of 6x .50 cals though which packs a strong punch, and below 15000 ft the extra BHP of it's engine somewhat offsets this extra weight. The Kittyhawk is at it's best when working together with wingmen, where it's speed and firepower better comes to it's own.
--= P-40F Warhawk =--The P-40F was different from the other P-40's in that it had the single stage Allison engine replaced with a Merlin XX, same as the Hurricane II, and was license built by the U.S. as Packard V-1650-1. This is a two speed supercharger engine and as such greatly improves the P-40F's high altitude performance compared to the other Hawks, and makes it the P-40 of choice for high alt escort or intercept missions. The drawback with the P-40F though was the U.S. engineers tendency to keep overloading their fighters with extra equipment, meaning this bird weighs in at 8779 lb at 148 gal fuel. Wingman tactics or making sure to join larger furballs is as such even more important since more nimble fighters will be able to outturn it in duels.
--= P-40N-1 Warhawk =--The P-40N-1 saw a huge weight cut as it was evident the P-40's were getting overweight and a lot of non vital equipment was removed in order to make it lighter. It only fielded 4x .50 cals, to the dismay of many pilots. It also only carried 120 gal internal fuel. The engine was the newer Allison V-1710-81 which still produced around 1480 hp, but had it's FTH (Full Throttle Height) at a higher altitude than the P-40E. While it had a weaker firepower than the -E & -F, the result of the weight cut was a faster, better climbing and more agile fighter.
--= P-40N-5 Warhawk =--Many pilots considered the 4x .50 cals to be inadequate armament, and re-equipped their Warhawks with 6x .50 cals again. They also disliked that the P-40N-1 had to be started by a hand-crank by the grundcrew and reinstall the battery driven engine starter among other equipment. The result was once again an increase in weight. At 157 gal fuel the P-40N-5 was still almost 500 lb lighter than the F though and ~40 lb lighter than the P-40E. The -N versions were probably the best P-40 versions and also the most produced. The Hawk design had by then unfortunately reached it's peak and started to fall behind newer fighters like the Fw 190's, P-51's, P-38's etc. Nevertheless the Warhawks still held the line at several fronts.
<S>
/Robert
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