Ultimate Piston Bomber

[Eric Mc]

As suggested in the "Ultimate Piston Fighter" thread, here is my suggestion - and it's not the B-29

[Dr Jekyll]

But that had jets as well didn't it? Or was it only certain versions?

[Eric Mc]

Dr Jekyll said:

But that had jets as well didn't it? Or was it only certain versions?

Yes and yes - but so did the B-50 (a derivative of the B-29)

[davepoth]

[williamp]

so one is 1:72, and the other 1:32 scale??

I'd say the Mosquito. Able to carry bombs, and after jettissoning them it became a great fighter.
Was hugely sucessful in eitehr role, and compared to the heavies, the crew had a much higher chance of survival.

Ok the Lancasters did the dams, but dont forget the Mosquitos bombed a piece of rock in Norway...

[Eric Mc]

williamp said:

so one is 1:72, and the other 1:32 scale??

I'd say the Mosquito. Able to carry bombs, and after jettissoning them it became a great fighter.
Was hugely sucessful in eitehr role, and compared to the heavies, the crew had a much higher chance of survival.

Ok the Lancasters did the dams, but dont forget the Mosquitos bombed a piece of rock in Norway...

I presume you do know that that particular mission was a work of fiction?

Bomber Mosquitos tended to be unarmed and their main tactic after dropping their bombs was to run away - fast.

[scarebus]

B-29 gets my vote, so hi-tec for its day.... makes a B-17 look like its a Tiger Moth

[Eric Mc]

scarebus said:

B-29 gets my vote, so hi-tec for its day.... makes a B-17 look like its a Tiger Moth

Why though?

This is an "ultimate bomber" thread - not "my favourite bomber" thread.

[Simpo Two]

Like the other thread, you have to define 'ultimate'. Biggest? Fastest?

Taking all factors into account (notably bomb load per crew member and speed) I think the Mosquito has to be a strong candidate. Plus precision bombing, anti-shipping, Pathfinding, and intruder roles to name a few uses.

Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 17th November 16:15

[Eric Mc]

Simpo Two said:

Like the other thread, you have to define 'ultimate'. Biggest? Fastest?

Taking all factors into account (notably bomb load per crew member and speed) I think the Mosquito has to be a strong candidate. Plus precision bombing, anti-shipping, Pathfinding, and intruder roles to name a few uses.

Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 17th November 16:15

The biggest was undoubtedly the B-36. I am pretty sure it could fly pretty high and would have been exteremely powerful and fast. It never got to operate in anger so we don't really know how effective it would have been. My hunch is that iy would have been extreemely vulnerable to the jet fighters it would have come up against.

[Eric Mc]

Bedazzled said:

+1 for the Mosquito, I'd be more interested in what will get me home in one piece rather than bomb load, and the best way to survive is to fly fast. It could also carry almost as much ordinance as a B17.

If we are looking at destructive power then I guess the B29 Silverplate gets my vote, I love the Lancaster of course but the B29 was an amazing design for its time.

Actually as the criteria are pretty vague, can I please have a Spit IX with a 500lb bomb slung underneath (which I will jettison at the first sign of trouble!)

How can a B-29 be more "ultimate" than the bigger, faster and more capable aircraft that replaced it?

[scarebus]

Eric Mc said:

As suggested in the "Ultimate Piston Fighter" thread, here is my suggestion - and it's not the B-29

That plane has 4 jet engines!!! and 6 windmills attached to the back of the wing.....


this nomination must be removed

[Mr Will]

Can I bend the rules and nominate this:



(It might not have pistons, but it does have props!)

[scarebus]

Eric Mc said:

scarebus said:

B-29 gets my vote, so hi-tec for its day.... makes a B-17 look like its a Tiger Moth

Why though?

This is an "ultimate bomber" thread - not "my favourite bomber" thread.

Do we need to mention The BOMB? It was delivered by the plane that ended the 2nd world war in the Pacific

[scarebus]

Mr Will said:

Can I bend the rules and nominate this:



(It might not have pistons, but it does have props!)

Nope this cheats too



although it is quite sexy

[Eric Mc]

scarebus said:

Eric Mc said:

scarebus said:

B-29 gets my vote, so hi-tec for its day.... makes a B-17 look like its a Tiger Moth

Why though?

This is an "ultimate bomber" thread - not "my favourite bomber" thread.

Do we need to mention The BOMB? It was delivered by the plane that ended the 2nd world war in the Pacific

By later standards it was quite a puny bomb - the B-36 woukld ceratinly have carried bigger ones.

But I'm thinking of the aircraft rather than its cargo.

[williamp]

Eric Mc said:

williamp said:

so one is 1:72, and the other 1:32 scale??

I'd say the Mosquito. Able to carry bombs, and after jettissoning them it became a great fighter.
Was hugely sucessful in eitehr role, and compared to the heavies, the crew had a much higher chance of survival.

Ok the Lancasters did the dams, but dont forget the Mosquitos bombed a piece of rock in Norway...

I presume you do know that that particular mission was a work of fiction?

Bomber Mosquitos tended to be unarmed and their main tactic after dropping their bombs was to run away - fast.

Yes. I also know that the photo above is of real aircraft, not of scale models. I didnt know the Mosquito were unarmed

[Eric Mc]

Bedazzled said:

Well it's the only one that's dropped the bomb! And I hope it stays that way too. You are right though, I'm sure subsequent aircraft were better (tbh I'd never heard of some of them and those pictures are amazing) but for me it stands out as being a design that was ahead of its time.

It may surprise you to learn that the B-36 design was not very long after the B-29 - less than three years. It was almost a contemporary. Design work began in 1941 in anticipation of the fall of the UK to the Germans and the expectation that Germany might need to be bombed from bases on the Atlantic cost of the US. Britain didn't fall so the B-36 project was put into a non-urgent category.

When it was obvious that the Soviet Union might become a future enemy, the project was revitalised in 1943.

[Eric Mc]

williamp said:

Eric Mc said:

williamp said:

so one is 1:72, and the other 1:32 scale??

I'd say the Mosquito. Able to carry bombs, and after jettissoning them it became a great fighter.
Was hugely sucessful in eitehr role, and compared to the heavies, the crew had a much higher chance of survival.

Ok the Lancasters did the dams, but dont forget the Mosquitos bombed a piece of rock in Norway...

I presume you do know that that particular mission was a work of fiction?

Bomber Mosquitos tended to be unarmed and their main tactic after dropping their bombs was to run away - fast.

Yes. I also know that the photo above is of real aircraft, not of scale models. I didnt know the Mosquito were unarmed

So a bomber Mosquito didn't turn into a "fighter" after it had dropped its bombs. There were fighter bomber variants of the Mosquito of course - and night fighter variants too.

[Tango13]

Eric Mc said:

Simpo Two said:

Like the other thread, you have to define 'ultimate'. Biggest? Fastest?

Taking all factors into account (notably bomb load per crew member and speed) I think the Mosquito has to be a strong candidate. Plus precision bombing, anti-shipping, Pathfinding, and intruder roles to name a few uses.

Edited by Simpo Two on Wednesday 17th November 16:15

The biggest was undoubtedly the B-36. I am pretty sure it could fly pretty high and would have been exteremely powerful and fast. It never got to operate in anger so we don't really know how effective it would have been. My hunch is that iy would have been extreemely vulnerable to the jet fighters it would have come up against.

Chuck Yeager did some bomber intercept tests on the B-36 and had no trouble finding it in the perfect weather over Muroc. When he testified to Congress about the results they tried to twist his words and make him say that it was an easy target. He tried to explain that in bad weather or at night whilst at alttitude it would be much tougher to find the B-36 and with it's radar laid guns it was more than capable of defending itself. Congress and the Admirals didn't like this and in the end he told them "These are the facts take them or leave them"

When some B-36s flew into the UK in the 1950s they were intercepted by some RAF Vampires and the RAF pilots were given plenty to think about when they saw the gun camera film showing two or sometimes three turrets tracking a single fighter! Don't forget these are 20mm cannon not 50 calibre machine guns we are talking about.

I think that in terms of bombload, speed, survive-ability, service-ability, multi-role capacity etc the Mosquito was the best of WWII but the B-36 was probably the ultimate.

The Americans have also kept quiet over the years about the fact that they had to use a British bomb hitch on the Silverplate B-29s.