[jim]

Originally Posted by djjeffhall

Jim,
Hey there.

Yeah, I think they only built one of the droop snoot version and yes, it had the bombadier laid out in the nose just like the P-38.

I'm not sure how many of the 50mm versions were built, or if they saw service? I kind of get the impression that anything other than a basic trainer and fighter version were one off planes. The last year of the Reich was so insane and whirlwind that I'm sure the Luftwaffe tried almost anything once.

Gort,
Was Hitler insane or desperate? Yes.

Hitler wasn't stupid, I'm sure he knew it was over after Stalingrad. He also knew that there was NO WAY the allies were going to allow him to live out his days peacefully after starting a war and starting a mass extermination program, so why bother to negotiate a truce? Fight to the end and maybe, just maybe the allies will get to bloodied to stick it out. That's what I personally believe he was thinking somewhere in the back of his head up to the time that the Bulge collapsed. After that it all delusion.

Hi djjeffhall.
Re 50mm , A 7 foot barrel and when the pilot fired the thing he was temporarily blinded by the flash.
A test pilot scored 27 out of 30 hits at a target 1600 yards away.
4 airframes were modified to take this weapon but none saw service.

Another [point is that most of the early production airframes were destroyed during the Regensberg raid and a good job too.

[Old Crow]

Had a chance to see this today. No bombs, I'm afraid. Still, I do like the scheme- much better than the nightfighter.

I only have one niggling issue- the painted, swirling lines on the wings end at the wing roots and the lines on the fuselage also end at the wing root, but none match up. It looks like the lines were painted on the wings, and separately painted on the fuselage, and then the wing was mated to the fuselage like building a model (which, of course, it is). I am curious if the real bird was painted so the lines flowed from fuselage to wing and back without any break.