Chapter 1949 The So-Called Magic Reform II

On the upper wing of the plane, the British also installed a 7.7mm machine gun. Of course, under normal circumstances, you don’t expect this machine gun to produce any output. This thing is used as a range-finding machine gun for tanks. When it is time to correct it, let's take a few rounds to correct it, and then concentrate on shooting.

After this modification, the British engineers needed to calculate the weight. It turns out that the weight of this aircraft is 1866kg, and the maximum take-off weight is 3200kg. In fact, the fuel load is only about 400kg, including the dismantled machine gun. With the description of the equipment and cockpit, plus the additional machine guns and ammunition, the British calculated an account, and the combat take-off weight of this aircraft became 2300 kg! There is no way, just 5 large-caliber machine guns and their accessories weigh as much as 270 kilograms, plus thousands of rounds of bullets! Although some things have been removed, the weight increase is certain.

"Boss, are you still changing as planned? This may be overweight, and the position of the center of gravity of the aircraft may have changed?"

"Of course it has changed! Don't forget, the current three-person aircraft has become a two-person aircraft, and we have lost the weight of one pilot, which is a load of about 80 kilograms." The person called the boss said very easily. "We're less than halfway done!"

If the previous improvements turned the dh11 light bomber from a bomb carrier into a shark with a mouth full of sharp teeth, then the next job is to cover the shark with a thick layer of hard skin. After all, you are hunting dragons in the air. Dragons are not only rough and thick, but also have powerful attack power, especially when they are grouped together.

So, next, this group of guys who used to be fitters and turners before enlisting in the army will install thick armor on the aircraft under the leadership of the only engineer in this group, Allen, and the first piece they made The thing is to press a bulletproof armor on the engine!

"This is quite a challenging job for me." Looking at the Feilong 9-cylinder air-cooled engine in front of him, engineer Alan began to consider how to install the armor while comparing the drawings. Different types of engines have different installation methods, such as liquid-cooled engines, although liquid-cooled engines are very fragile, the coolant flows in all cylinders to dissipate heat, not only the structure is complex, but also very easy to damage, as long as a shrapnel breaks the engine The cylinder, then soon, all the coolant will flow out, and the aircraft can only wait to die if there is no heat dissipation.

However, liquid-cooled engines also have advantages. First, the power-to-weight ratio data will be very good-looking, and second, the frontal windward area is small, so the resistance will also be small. The third cooling efficiency is high, as long as the engine is not designed too badly, general cooling is not a problem. And the third point is that defense is better arranged.

Let's put it this way, if there is no weight limit, the British can wrap most of a liquid-cooled engine in the armor, leaving only the oil radiator at the lower part of the engine! (Dear readers, do you feel that this idea is familiar? That’s right, the historical Il-2 was designed in this way. The entire engine compartment, except for the oil radiator, is protected by armor, and because of liquid cooling, So don't worry about overheating the engine. After all, it's the oil radiator that dissipates heat!)

But now, the British need to install armor on this air-cooled engine! As the name suggests, the air-cooled engine relies on the airflow blowing through the engine to dissipate heat. So, the idea of ​​adding a cover directly in front of the engine goes straight to the trash. Block the air intake, you are so hot!

Previously, air-cooled engines had better resistance to damage,

Defensive armor is generally not installed on the front of the engine, because even if a certain cylinder is destroyed, the engine can still run in a short period of time, the loss of lubricating oil for heat dissipation is relatively slow, and if the luck is not particularly bad, it can always be forced to land. But it is different now. In the face of the firepower of the bomber fleet like a storm, it is too common for an engine to be shot more than a dozen shots in an instant, so the engine must be armored.

Therefore, after Allen left the vents on the front of the engine, he installed a ring armor around the engine to block incoming bullets from certain angles. However, the actual test effect was not good, because the added ring armor After all, the amount of ventilation is reduced, the incoming cold air is not enough, and the heat dissipation problem cannot be solved. Then, the British chose to install a cooling fan on the coaxial shaft of the propeller to improve heat dissipation, and two rows of vents were opened on the side of the engine to help cooling. After some modifications, the cooling system of this aircraft can finally make do with the addition of armor.

After the frontal defense problem has been solved to a certain extent, the next thing to solve is the defense on the upper part and sides of the engine. Obviously, after the British added ring-shaped bulletproof armor and a cooling fan, the weight of the engine It has been significantly improved, and because the power of the engine has to drive the cooling fan, the power used on the propeller will actually be reduced. If this is an engine with 400 horsepower or above, it will be better, but it is a pity , The maximum power of this engine is only 320 horsepower, so if you want to consider the flight performance, it can only be enough.

After the engine is modified, it is the protection of the cockpit. The easiest way is to get an armored bathtub, but in fact this is impossible, and the weight does not allow it! Therefore, a bulletproof steel plate was added to the front and rear of the cockpit, which is most likely to be shot. Some parts of the side of the fuselage are also added with 3 to 5mm thick steel plates. That's all. In short, for interceptors of this era, it is already very good to be able to do this.

In fact, from the perspective of armor defense, what the Germans did is very similar to what the British did. All have limited defense against the engine and cockpit. After being strengthened in firepower and defense, this aircraft already has the basic performance as an interceptor. But to make an excellent interceptor? Then wash and sleep, because the distance is really far away!

The modification work of the first aircraft was carried out while exploring, and it took about three days. And then after letting the pilot take a test flight, the latter said that the flight quality was really bad... The weight of the aircraft has increased a lot, the speed has dropped a lot, and there are some problems with maneuvering and handling response. In the words of the pilot: "I felt like I was operating a flying weight...."

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