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Chock · 27 September 2009, 06:35 PM

Well, we can never know with things like that, it would depend on a lot of things, but here's a rough guess anyway...

Presumably McCudden would be in an SE5a, and we know he was meticulous about his aircraft's mechanical condition, so we can assume it would achieve pretty much the advertised top speed of 138 mph. Udet would be in either a Fokker DVII or a Dr1, or at a push an Albatros DVa. Both the Albatros and the DVII have a top speed of a shade under 120 mph, a bit more for the later high compression version, the Dr1 is a bit slower than all of them. As far as service ceiling goes, given enough time they could probably all scrape their way up to 20,000 feet, so ceiling is no advantage except perhaps for the Triplane a bit, since it has a faster rate of climb, but everything can extend range on it, so that's no big plus. Armament is roughly comparable on all types too. But.. the SE5a has a longer endurance, so that gives McCudden the advantage, since his speed allows him to keep out of range, but in contact, until things suit him (i.e. wait until the other aircraft runs out of fuel and has to turn for home), whereupon it gets a sitter shot up the ass through the Aldis sight. Swap planes and Udet wins.

Next week, I'll be analysing how the Salvation Army would fare against the MPLA.

Al

27 September 2009, 06:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
Chock Scout Pilot Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The grim north of England Posts: 405	Well, we can never know with things like that, it would depend on a lot of things, but here's a rough guess anyway... Presumably McCudden would be in an SE5a, and we know he was meticulous about his aircraft's mechanical condition, so we can assume it would achieve pretty much the advertised top speed of 138 mph. Udet would be in either a Fokker DVII or a Dr1, or at a push an Albatros DVa. Both the Albatros and the DVII have a top speed of a shade under 120 mph, a bit more for the later high compression version, the Dr1 is a bit slower than all of them. As far as service ceiling goes, given enough time they could probably all scrape their way up to 20,000 feet, so ceiling is no advantage except perhaps for the Triplane a bit, since it has a faster rate of climb, but everything can extend range on it, so that's no big plus. Armament is roughly comparable on all types too. But.. the SE5a has a longer endurance, so that gives McCudden the advantage, since his speed allows him to keep out of range, but in contact, until things suit him (i.e. wait until the other aircraft runs out of fuel and has to turn for home), whereupon it gets a sitter shot up the ass through the Aldis sight. Swap planes and Udet wins. Next week, I'll be analysing how the Salvation Army would fare against the MPLA. Al Last edited by Chock; 27 September 2009 at 06:41 PM.