Quote:
Originally Posted by 28_Condor
S!
SM.79 has fame of "invulnerability" during Civil War in Spain, this is hitorically correct.
"The first recorded interception of a SM.79 formation took place on 11 October 1937 when three aircraft were attacked by 12 Polikarpov I-16s (known as the ''Rata'' (Rat) to the Spanish Nationalists). One of SM.79s was damaged by repeated attacks made by the slightly faster ''Ratas'', but its defences prevented the attackers from pressing close-in attacks. All the bombers returned to base, although one had been hit by 27 bullets, many hitting the fuel tanks. A few other examples of similar interceptions occurred in this conflict, without any SM.79s being lost.
Combat experiences revealed some deficiencies in the SM.79: the lack of oxygen at high altitudes, instability, vibrations experienced at speeds over 400 km/h and other problems were encountered and sometimes solved. Gen. Valle, in an attempt to answer some of the criticisms about the ability of the aircraft to operate at night (because its wingload and other characteristics were controversial) took off from Guidonia and bombed Barcelona, a journey of six hours and 15 minutes. On this occasion the aircraft proved it had a useful range (around 1,000 km with eight 100 kg bombs, for a total gross weight of around 1,000 kg). Normally SM.79s operated from the Balearic Islands and later from mainland Spain. Hundreds of missions were performed in a wide range of different roles against Republican targets. No Fiat CR.32s were needed to escort the SM.79s, partly because the biplane fighters were too slow."
Persue SM.79 with I-16 5-6 or 10 (not in game) is non-sense
http://tripatlas.com/Savoia-Marchetti_SM.79 |
I'm not on the side of the "too tough" whiners but this historical excerpt your are quoting proves nothing except possibly that the I-16 pilots were cowardly or did not know how to properly press an attack against a bomber. They certainly seem a bit skittish and lacking in determination and aggressiveness. The fact that only 27 bullets were landed drives home this point. That's typically only three seconds of fire time for a machine gune with an average rate of fire. And possilby only two seconds for a Russian mg, which had faster rates of fire than average mg's. Also, lack of experience on the part of the I-16 pilots might have factored in. Also one must remember that there was little if any participation by either the Spanish or Russians in W.W.I, especially in the realm of aviation.
At this time in history, little was known yet or developed yet as far as properly attacking heavy gunner defended bombers. Some knowledge was gained in W.W.I but this was apparently lost information or the tactics were simply not studied by the I-16 pilots in question.
And considering that virtual pilots playing this game are likely to be far braver since their lives are not actually in jeopardy in a game, it should be likely that they'd have a much better chance of success than the real life pilots in the Spanish civil war. So did the SM.79 have such "invulnerability" or was there a lack of something on the part of the enemy fighter pilots? Maybe they just wanted to go home to their wives and kids and were not heavily into what they were fighting for? That account indicates the fighter pilots stood off very badly. Unwarranted fear of attacking the Marchetti might have persisted throughout that war so the supposed invulnerability of this bomber might have been wildly exaggerated. If a bomber is never attacked like it should be attacked, how could one properly gauge the real strength of the bomber in question?