defiant-o-phobes

[BigC208]

Originally Posted by bf-110

It's strange that the Defiant is a fighter,since it haves no forward firing guns.
However,I hope it gets flyable.I would love to be the gunner of a flying flakvierling.

You could use it as a static vierling flak. Park it at an airport and man the guns.
Two 20mm cannon in each wing, 2000hp Merlin and you would have had a 1940 Brisfit.

[ATAG_Dutch]

Originally Posted by BigC208

You could use it as a static vierling ack. Park it at an airport and man the guns.

About the best idea for it too.

Even as a night fighter, they weren't too successful, with only four brownings against all that armour plate.

The lack of forward firing guns was a big mistake, but even with them, it wouldn't have been manoeverable enough to vie with 109's with all that weight to carry around. The turret and gunner I mean.

I reckon it was designed by people of a similar mindset to those who thought the 'big wing' was a great idea.

Poor old Defiant.

[TinyTim]

Originally Posted by Dutch_851

Even as a night fighter, they weren't too successful, with only four brownings against all that armour plate.

The idea sounds neat though, the defiant flying infront and below the bomber with gunner shooting into exposed cockpit and engines at angles where these weren't usually armored.

[The Kraken]

It's part of why I find the early war period so interesting: a lot of concepts that had been established before the war were put to test, with often disastrous results (I realize the poor guys suffering from those concepts didn't find that nearly as interesting back then...). That includes the Defiant as well as the German Zerstörer concept, or the idea that B-17 formations would be able to defend themselves without escorts. Some of those planes could be adapted successfully to other roles; as for the Defiant, I think using it as a nightfighter was only slightly more efficient than scrapping them.

Still love crap planes though, and agree it would be nice to fly it one day, no matter how unlikely that is.

[ATAG_Dutch]

Originally Posted by The Kraken

I think using it as a nightfighter was only slightly more efficient than scrapping them.

Still love crap planes though, and agree it would be nice to fly it one day, no matter how unlikely that is.

Don't get me wrong, if we get this as a flyable sometime, with the possibility of multicrewing, I'd love to get an inkling of what it was like to fly it in anger.

Such a strange concept with hindsight, but at the time was thought viable, except strangely enough by Hugh Dowding. He was sceptical of them from the word go, and was soon proved 100% correct.

Can't help being a bit fond of the old pig though.

[major_setback]

Originally Posted by Dutch_851

Don't get me wrong, if we get this as a flyable sometime, with the possibility of multicrewing, I'd love to get an inkling of what it was like to fly it in anger.

Such a strange concept with hindsight, but at the time was thought viable, except strangely enough by Hugh Dowding. He was sceptical of them from the word go, and was soon proved 100% correct.

Can't help being a bit fond of the old pig though.

Dowding was certainly not a pig!



Just kidding.

[ATAG_Dutch]

Originally Posted by major_setback

Dowding was certainly not a pig!



Just kidding.

I'm quite fond of both those old pigs then!

[rga]

Defiant was a very succesful night fighter AFAIK. Flying alongside the enemy bomber undetected and opening fire only when in enemy's blind spot.

As far as AI is concerned, I found it more promising than disappointing. AI doesn't react means you can in circumstances bounce them without being noticed (which is impossible in current IL-2).

[He111]

Originally Posted by rga

Defiant was a very succesful night fighter AFAIK. Flying alongside the enemy bomber undetected and opening fire only when in enemy's blind spot.

As far as AI is concerned, I found it more promising than disappointing. AI doesn't react means you can in circumstances bounce them without being noticed (which is impossible in current IL-2).

One big advantage the Defiant had was eyes looking forward as well as behind, a true Janus! LOL! Very hard to jump a defiant unlike spit or hurri.

He111.

[Friendly_flyer]

One of the aspects I really look forward to is to try out if some of the pre-war ideas would actually work. The Daffy was intended to destroy un-escorted bomber formations. It was in a sense an answer to the "the bomber will always get through" doctrine. During 1940, the Daffy was thrown against fighters with disasterous results, the original concept was never tried out. Now, with FMB and/or some mates over for a LAN party, we can put the original idea to the test: Daffy against Schnellbombers (Do 17 would do nicely)!