Geatest designs of WWII

[Paden]

Do not forget the Arado 234 "Blitz"

For me, the best plane at this time and also the best design.

This is also the reason, why the US avaitation industry made a very big step forward after WWII, they took everything to the
states and got on this way many ideas.


http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/w...3 abandoned at a German airfield apr 1945.jpg

 

[Absinthe_1900]

There was one design of W.W. II, that despite being an underpowered, ugly and boxy shaking collection of parts, managed to rescue a few downed and injured pilots, and other injured servicemen.

While the Sikorsky R-4 was fairly few in numbers during the Second World War, this little helicopter created the dominant layout of 90% of all future helicopters, with a single main rotor and tail rotor configuration.

Because of Igor Skorsky's dream of the helicopter as an aerial ambulance, over a million lives have been saved by the helicopter.

Igor Sikorsky & Orville Wright 1942

 

[DeeDub]

About the ME-262...

Absolutely the greatest design of the war was the ME 262. Not only did it outclass all of the other aircraft of the time, it paved the way for almost all the significant postwar US and Soviet aircraft. For instance: the swept wing, leading edge flaps, tricycle landing gear and interchangeable cockpit tub were light years ahead of most current designs. And then there's that jet engine....

I heard a story about the swept wing design. Haven't verified it anywhere, but it's something to think about.

We now know that swept wings are useful at higher speeds to defer formation of shock waves from the wings. This reduces drag. Presumably, that's why the German designers swept the wings of the ME-262. But the real reason, so I've been told, was to correct a weight problem.

It seems the engine manufacturer -- BMW I was told, don't know whether it's true -- gave an estimate of the weight of the engine. The airframe designers took this into account in positioning the engines on the plane. The engines were delivered late and were heavier than expected.

The increased weight put the center of gravity (CG) too far forward. The late delivery left too little time to refine the engine to make it lighter. And things weren't going so well with the war, from the German perspective, so delaying delivery of the aircraft wasn't an option. The expedient design choice was to move the engines farther back... by sweeping the wings back!

So the aerodynamic advantage was a positive side effect of an engineering workaround. At least, that's the story I heard.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

Me-262; it must be true!....

http://www.stormbirds.com/project/index.html

They're still makin' 'em after all these years! Have you been following this project?

-dixon cannon

 

[aswatland]

http://www.stormbirds.com/project/index.html

They're still makin' 'em after all these years! Have you been following this project?

-dixon cannon

I hope we can see a ME262 flying at airshows in the UK before too long!

 

[Paden]

I hope we can see a ME262 flying at airshows in the UK before too long!

Together with the "Butcherbird", the famous Focke Wulf 190.
The german company Flugwerk rebuilt this WWII airplane.
I am shure, we will see the FW 190 together with the Me 262 in Duxford.
By the way, one Me 262 ist flying in Germany.
The Messerschmitt Stiftung is flying two ME 109 ans the Me 262.

http://www.flugwerk.com/fw190.shtm

 

[aswatland]

Together with the "Butcherbird", the famous Focke Wulf 190.
The german company Flugwerk rebuilt this WWII airplane.
I am shure, we will see the FW 190 together with the Me 262 in Duxford.
By the way, one Me 262 ist flying in Germany.
The Messerschmitt Stiftung is flying two ME 109 ans the Me 262.

http://www.flugwerk.com/fw190.shtm

Yes, I was reading about both aeroplanes in Flypast earlier in the year. The 190 and 262 would make a great pair flying together with some Mustangs in pursuit!

 

[MikeBravo]

A few years ago there was a WWII vintage aircraft, I don't recall the make or model, which was totally rebuilt complete with all the markings.

As I heard it, the directors of the company were charge for displaying a swastika which is apparently illegal in Germany!

 

[Paden]

A few years ago there was a WWII vintage aircraft, I don't recall the make or model, which was totally rebuilt complete with all the markings.

As I heard it, the directors of the company were charge for displaying a swastika which is apparently illegal in Germany!

Yes, it is illegal.
And it is good, when you look on our history.
Also number plates you will not get SA, SS ect.

 

[Merlin]

Merlin,

An interesting statement. Are you saying that the Merlin engines mass produced in the UK between 1942 and 1945 (which outnumbered the US built versions considerably) were not as reliable or as powerful as Merlin engines made in the US? Or that UK production was modified to be in line with Packard practices?

Can you give me a reliable reference where I can read more about this, please?

Alan

I certainly wouldn’t say that the UK built Merlins (which indeed outnumbered the Packard ones by 2:1) were any less powerful than the US built ones. However, the Rolls-Royce Merlins were hand assembled by skilled craftsmen, which meant that in order to build them with largely unskilled factory labor, certain design changes had to be instituted. As I understand it, R-R adopted a number of Packard’s production techniques so as to make the whole process more efficient, both in the areas of component manufacture and engine assembly. Packard’s quality control was tighter, too, and helped to make the engines built on both sides of the pond better, with improvements appearing more rapidly than would have come from Rolls alone. I could go on, but I’d just be repeating what Twitch said earlier.

Additionally, while the Merlin can realistically be called the engine that saved England, it became the engine that defeated Germany when it was slotted into the P-51 Mustang in place of the Allison V-1710, in the process becoming the world’s first long-range interceptor. What amazes me about that retrofit is that it took more time to re-engineer the P-51 to accept the Merlin than it did to design the entire aircraft itself!

I wish I could give you a single reliable reference, Alan. Unfortunately, all the factoids rattling around inside my brain have gotten there through various channels over the years. I recall reading a very informative article on the Merlin several years ago in a periodical; I think it was either Warbirds International or Air Classics, I can't remember which. That’s likely where a lot of this has come from. You may want to ask Twitch, as he seems to be far more of an expert than I!

 

[imported_the_librarian]

Gotta be the M-35, Deuce and a Half. The one's we had were later models, but from what I can tell, similar to the WW2 trucks. Diesel instead of gas, etc.

The thing that just freaked me out was changing the tube on those @#$ tires. I was out in the field one day, repairing a flat with tire tools and a patch kit! And this was the 90's!

Don't know if the WW2 trucks had the same tranny's, but ours were non-syncromeshed, had to double-clutch to get 'em goin.

Other stuff, great designs, at least to me:

Mess Kit, simplicity!!!

 

[Diamondback]

Another vote for the Black Widow, America's serious introduction to the concept of "night warfare" and the first purpose-built nightfighter...

 

[thunderw21]

1. Waffen SS camouflage oakA pattern & Blurred-edge pattern, type 1 M1940 Tarnjake AKA Smock & reversible helmet cover. Way ahead of it's time.
2. WWII Marine corp camouflage.
3. Denison Airborne Smock British/Canadian. 1942 First Pattern . Donned by some US Airborne during D-day, This is a piece of clothing art
Al..

I see we have another camo man.

Oak A is indeed a great design as was the German late war Dot camo. The British airborn smock is another great piece.

But like someone said, the Leibermuster was the god of WW2 camo. Saw very little action at the end of the war but was adopted (and slightly changed) by the Swiss. You can still find the Swiss camo in army surplus stores.
Original German Leibermuster.

I think the M-1 helmet is one of my favorite designs of the war. Simple yet beautiful in it's own way and copied by multiple countries after the war. I also like the German M35-M42 as well as the rare M45 which was very similar to the East German helmet shown below.

It might have seen combat during the Battle of Berlin.

 

[Murph351]

Another vote for the USAAF "50 mission" crusher cap.

 

[Naphtali]

Proximity fuse

Spam - Is this a product development during WW II, or is it brilliant use of existing product?

Higgins boat

"Little Boy" rather than "Fat Man"

Jeep

Mk. II Sten - $9.00 each!

Liberator pistol - $3.00 each!

M1941 Johnson LMG

MG 42 - still in use as 7.62 x 51 NATO caliber GP/LMG.

STG 44

US 105 mm howitzer - still in use

De Haviland Mosquito

 

[Barney]

we would be remiss if not mentioning the Higgins boats and their derivitives.

Andrew J. Higgins
*
Andrew Jackson Higgins—born on 28 August 1886 in Columbus, Nebraska—left his native town in 1906 to enter the lumber business in Mobile, Ala. Four years later, Higgins became manager of a German-owned lumber-importing firm in New Orleans. In 1922, he formed his own company, the Higgins Lumber and Export Co., importing hardwood from the Philip-pines, Central America, and Africa and exporting cypress and southern pine. In pursuing these ends he acquired a fleet of sailing ships—said to have been the largest under American registry at that time. To service this fleet, he established his own shipyard which built and repaired his cargomen as well as the tugs and barges needed to support them.
*
In 1926, four years after founding the Higgins Lumber and Export Co., the industrialist and shipbuilder designed the Eureka boat, a shallow-draft craft for use by oil drillers and trappers in operations along the Gulf coast and in lower Mississippi River. With a propeller recessed into a semi-tunnel in the hull, the boat could be operated in shallow waters where flotsam and submerged obstacles would render more usual types of propellers almost useless. Higgins also designed a "spoonbill" bow for his craft, allowing it to be run up onto riverbanks and then to back off with ease. His boats proved to be record-beaters; and, within a decade, he had so perfected the design that they could attain high speed in shallow water and turn practically in their own length.
*
Stiff competition, declining world trade, and the employment of tramp steamers to carry lumber cargoes combined to put Higgins' Lumber and Export Co. out of business. Nevertheless, the indefatigable Higgins—who laughed at adversity and whose vocabulary did not include the word "impossible"—kept his boatbuilding firm (established in 1930 as Higgins Industries) in business, constructing motorboats, tugs and barges, not only for private firms and individuals but also for the Coast Guard.
*
Fortuitously, the Marine Corps—always interested in finding better ways to get men across a beach in an amphibious landing and frustrated that the Bureau of Construction and Repair could not meet its requirements—began to express interest in Higgins' boat. When tested in 1938 by the Navy and Marine Corps, Higgins' Eureka boat surpassed the performance of the Navy-design boat and was tested by the services during fleet landing exercises in February 1939. Satisfactory in most respects, the boat's major drawback appeared to be that equipment had to be unloaded, and men disembarked, over the sides—thus exposing them to enemy fire in a combat situation.
*
The Japanese, however, had been using ramp-bowed landing boats in the Sino Japanese War since the summer of 1937—boats that had come under intense scrutiny by the Navy and Marine Corps observers at Shanghai in particular. When shown a picture of one of those craft, Higgins soon thereafter got in touch with his chief engineer, and, after describing the Japanese design over the telephone, told the engineer to have a mock-up built for his inspection upon his return to New Orleans.
*
Within one month, tests of the ramp-bow Eureka boat in Lake Ponchartrain showed conclusively that successful operation of such a boat was feasible. From these humble beginnings came what became known as the LCVP (landing craft, vehicle, personnel), or simply, the "Higgins Boat." A larger version, originally classified as a "tank lighter" came on its heels, the precursor of the LCM (landing craft, mechanized).
*
During World War II, Higgins' industrial plants turned out a variety of equipment for the Navy: landing craft, motor torpedo boats (PT), torpedo tubes, gun turrets, and smoke generators.
*
The inventor and holder of some 30 patents pertinent to amphibious landing craft and vehicles, Andrew J. Higgins died in New Orleans on 1 August 1952.

 

[Barney]

addendum

I took the liberty of using one of the brief histories of the Higgins boat found after googling it. I didn't want to suggest that I had written the previous comment.

 

[shoelessjoe]

Though birthed by Germany before the advent of WW2, their refinement and use of synthetic fuels/lubricants during hostilities.

The Maschinengewehr 42 (MG 42)

The Focke-Wulf (Kurt Tank's) Ta 152H

The Boeing B-17G

 

[ethanedwards]

How about the Heinkel 219 'Uhu'. I may well be wrong but I think this
was operational before the Black Widow? I don't believe it was very effective
but IMO a fabulous looking aeroplane.
Also, (would this count as a design?) - Major Dixon's complete revamp
of the DeWilde incendiary. Without it, RAF fighters would not have been able
to shoot Luftwaffe aircraft down, the rounds would have passed harmlessly through the German aircraft's self-sealing tanks. I seem to remember he did
his own tests and research and was quite frowned on for doing so. Maybe
Windsock or Tim know more? Dean - I spent far too long building styrene kits too! These days you buy them ready made and painted!?!?!?

 

[Smithy]

Also, (would this count as a design?) - Major Dixon's complete revamp
of the DeWilde incendiary. Without it, RAF fighters would not have been able
to shoot Luftwaffe aircraft down, the rounds would have passed harmlessly through the German aircraft's self-sealing tanks. I seem to remember he did
his own tests and research and was quite frowned on for doing so.

Hi Ethan,

Dowding at the time stated that pilots exaggerated the usefulness of the De Wilde rounds (RAF pilots - and gunners - were exceedingly positive about the ammunition). However as the pilots knew the rounds were highly effective in causing combustible materials to catch fire.

Another important thing about the De Wilde round was that although it was not a tracer round, it made a very bright yellow flash on impact and by this was an highly invaluable aid in aiming. It was also the best of its type available to the British at the time.

What is also incredible is the fact that the ammunition was effectively a dud when it was bought in January 1939 (for the princely sum of £30,000) but by the time of hostilities it had been modified to become a highly effective and useful tool.

PS - Also like the Prune avatar Ethan

Tim