Looked up this beaut after watching Eric Brown in a quiet interview say this was his favorite propeller aeroplane. "Overpowered" was it's defining attribute in the interview. Hearing a pilot describe a plane like that is like the rest of us having "extra money."
When the Luftwaffe '46 fanboys start up how Germany could have won back the skies in Europe had their Me-262's, Dornier 335's, Arado 234b, (and the TAG152 and Komet B) and later marks of fw-190D;s, Me410's, and even the Me 109K series been available, they tend to forget that 4 major new British 'planes would have been there to compete; the Hornet shown here, in the escort/heavy fighter role, the Tempest II fighter bomber, and the Fury II dedicated fighter version of the said Tempest. and the de Havilland Vampire - plus improved versions of the Griffin engined Spitfire, the de Havilland Mosquito, and the Gloster Meteor. Even if not all of them were better than their German equivalents, they would have been available in sufficient numbers of offset any technical deficiencies. After the war ended the RAF had a German ace fly their best piston fighter - an Fw 190D-14 - against a top Brit pilot in a Tempest II. The German aircraft had the edge in most aspects except the turn. Considering that the Tempest II was a fighter bomber, the Fury derivative would have likely been superior as it was developed as a pure air superiority fighter (it was adopted by the Royal Navy and converted into a lightweight fighter bomber and famously shot down a 1950's era MiG15). The Hornet would have not had as much trouble combating the Me410, which was an interceptor rather than fighter. The Meteor III's and V's would have had more trouble against the 262, it is true, but the Rolls Royce engines meant that more of them would have been servicable and thus any 262 would have had a flight or two to contend with. The Meteor would have been more than a match for the Dornier Pfiel in any regard, and probably the Heinkel 162 had they resolved the construction issues This would mean that there were also numbers of Spitfires, Tempest V's, Mosquito's, and the short range Vampire available for any other tasks. This is not even considering what the US might have bought to the fight; the P-80 could have been worked up faster into a servicable aircraft and the later/post war versions of the Mustang would have been available. I am sorry, Luftwaffe 46, but the end result would have been much the same as in 1945.
Sorry, but I cannot agree - Germans were simply +_- 20 yrs ahead, and don't forget the end of II Reich was not linear - thus, having even a 6 months - a year more for their R&D .... and don't pretend that in almost every area of life and military Allies compete with Russians just to put their hands on the latest German projects. There would not be US space program without Germans, there would not be nuclear submarines, there woul not be Mig-15 and other jet planes, despite what British written 'history' stories are constantly hammering into our heads....
Yes Germany would still have lost because you can’t fly even the most developed aircraft without fuel. And bomber command was not going to be sitting around eating tea and biscuits
The nose section very much like a vampire imagine swapping the piston engines for jets ,I read about this aircraft but now I’ve seen it lovely and sleek
I agree the british built the best looking war planes and lets be honest everything sounds better with a merlin engine or engines as in this case.ha ha.
The depiction of the Hornet was correct, in that this was the only example of counter-rotating Merlin engines used in a British aircraft. The early NA P-82 Twin Mustang also used these engines.
My late uncle Wing Commander Brian Blackjack Walker was Chief Test Pilot for De Havilland Australia and he was sent to England for training at the parent company. He told me about his first flight in front of the Hierarchy at De Havilland was in a Hornet. After sitting in the cockpit for several minutes to fully acquaint him self with the controls and to prove he a a Colonial was capable of test flying he started the Contra rotating Merlins. As the engines were left and right rotation they cancelled each others torque reaction allowing both throttles to be fully advanced while the plane was held on its brakes. When he released the brakes all that hose power converted to thrust he then quickly pulled the stick back " He claimed the last part of the plane to leave the ground was the tail wheel from there he climbed at maximum rate and turned and dived back at where he had just left, the aircraft was emitting a blue note as he pulled out at about 50 feet at about 500MPH. Brian stated straight and level at 20,000 feet the Hornet just exceeded 500MPH Bill Walker
Personally, after all the climb, to get up to the bombers, I would have stayed there. The low altitude, enemy fighters were no threat. After loosing ground with the bombers, they faced enemy fighters at their altitude without you, 'their escorts.' But, it's a game after all... 'Right?' You engaged the enemy near the ground, so you had less options for maneuvers. Then, you went after an enemy at long visual range from you, leaving your wingman to fend for himself with the other enemy aircraft... "NEVER leave your wingman!" It's never a 'every man for himself,' rule, until you've hit the silk...
how did you manage to get this mod to work with vp mods? i tried to install the SAS engine mod and jet war (required for Hornet mods to work) but they interfere with VP and crashed the game..
