paulinedorchester: kivrin: paulinedorchester:warhistoryonline: A map of the distance WWII fighters
paulinedorchester: kivrin: paulinedorchester: warhistoryonline: A map of the distance WWII fighters can fly from the UK mainland. http://wrhstol.com/2hPARsz Hmm … part of that doesn’t quite jibe with the results of my own research: If the above is correct, then the statement in the illustration at top applies only to the Spitfire Mk 1A, which had been out of service for years by May 1943. Some conversation about that image here suggests it’s possible those numbers are… I don’t think this is an actual military term, but ‘effective ranges.’ Within those circles the aircraft could expend a lot of fuel evading and fighting enemy aircraft while still having enough to return to their bases. So the mileage would be quite different than for flat ‘how many miles can the plane cover without refueling,’ which could be what the Ellis stats are. @flybybee, you know planes… more than I do, anyway… help? Point taken, but even given this statement from that discussion …It’s combat radius, the farthest they could operate from their bases and still be effective in combat and then fly home, so it’s about 1/3 of their range.… the Mk XIV would have had an effective range of about 285 miles, and Ellis is claiming that it was the only model still in use in 1943.(Headcanon possibility: Andrew switches over to some other type of plane later in the war.)( @flybybee ) @mercurygray relevant to what you just posted, think you’ll find the above conversations useful. -- source link