General Motors Wildcat Mk.V: The Peanut Special (iv)

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General Motors Wildcat Mk.V

Hello again, and welcome to my fourth suggestion for the Grumman Martlet in British Service, today I will be covering the first of the variants to be widely known as the Wildcat instead of the Martlet in british service, the Wildcat Mk.V or more commonly known as the FM-1 Wildcat. I feel this could come to game as a follow on from the Mk.II in order to help fill out the lower ranks of the British naval line

I would like to point out that @Nostalgistic has already made a suggestion for American service FM-1s, i highly suggest you read it for clarity on its development and service with the United States.

History

Spoiler

By 1943 the Wildcat was becoming largely obsolete compared to both newer axis fighters, such as the Fw-190 or later model Bf-109s, as well as the allies own new carrier aircrafts, such as the F4U Corsair or Grummans own Hellcats that were beginning to make their way into both US and British service, however, there was still a hefty demand for a Smaller, lighter aircraft for both nations rapidly increasing fleet of smaller escort carriers operating in all theatres of the war, in which the newer and larger aircraft were either not needed or would have limited the amount of aircraft able to be taken onboard the carriers, this lead to the remaining popularity of the Wildcat, with production shifting to General Motors/Eastern Aircraft in order to free up Grumman to produce the Newer Hellcats.

through 1942 and 43 the british received 300 FM-1s dubbed the Martlet Mk.V, however this name would not stick, with the Martlet name being dropped in January 1944 to simplify the naming designations of American built aircraft, so the Martlet became the Wildcat, the Gannet Became the Hellcat etc.

The Wildcats saw extensive use during the later stages of the Battle of the Atlantic, where the Wildcats 4 x 12.7mm machine guns proved more than enough to deal with both the German long range Bombers like the Fw 200 as well as giving it enough firepower to put holes in U-boat conning towers, severely hampering their ability to dive to escape either Allied destroyers or other aircraft such as the Fairey Swordfish more geared towards ASW. The Martlet also had a minor ability to sink U-boats itself however, although rather limited, it had access to a small amount of bombs and rockets, having access to two bombs of up to 250 lbs each, or up to 6 x 60 lb head RP-3 rockets.

Images

Spoiler

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A Martlet Mk.V in flight above the British Coast

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A Martlet Mk.V operating from USS Searcher during the battle of the Atlantic

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Several Martlet Mk.Vs and Avengers onboard HMS Tracker in support of D-Day operations

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A Martlet Mk.V pictured during evaluations at Boscombe down

Specs/Armament

Spoiler

General Characteristics

  • Crew: 1 (Pilot)
  • Length: 28 ft 9.375 in (8.77 m)
  • Height: 12 ft 1.375 in (3.69 m)
  • Span: 38 ft (11.58 m)
  • Wing Area: 260 sq ft (24.15 sq m)
  • Propeller Type: 3-bladed constant-speed propeller
  • Propeller Diameter: 9 ft 9 in (2.97 m)
  • Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney R-1830-86 air-cooled radial piston engine (1200hp)
  • Empty Weight: 5,895 lb (2,674 kg)
  • Gross Weight: 8,050 lb (3,651 kg)
  • Internal Fuel: 144 US gal. (545 L)
  • Oil Tankage: 11 US gal. (41.6 L)

Performance

  • Power-to-Weight Ratio: 0.15 hp/lb (246.6 W/kg)
  • Sea Level Speed: 284 mph (457 km/h)
  • Critical Altitude Speed: 320 mph @ 18,800 ft (515 km/h @ 5,730 m)
  • Stall Speed:
    • Gross Weight: 81.2 mph (130.7 km/h)
    • Empty Fuel: 76.7 mph (123.4 km/h)
  • Wing Loading: 30.96 lb/sq ft (151.15 kg/sq m)
  • Rate of Climb: 2,303 fpm (11.7 m/s)
  • Service Ceiling: 34,000 ft (10,363 m)
  • Range: 830 miles (1,336 km)

Armament

Guns

  • 4 x 12.7mm Machine guns (430 rounds per gun)

Bombs/rockets

  • Up to 2 x 250lbs bombs under wings

OR

  • 6 x 60 lb RP-3 rockets under wings

Place in game

Spoiler

Personally I feel this would be a nice analogue to the Martlet Mk.II, it would sacrifice some of the cockpit armour to be given a wider array of suspended armament as well as slightly more rounds per gun (130 rounds more compared to the Mk.II) it would offer a similar yet slightly improved gameplay, in terms of BR it would most likely sit at 2.3, the same as the F4F-3 as despite the FM-1 being a variant of the F4F-4, it lacks the two extra machine guns of the regular F4F-4.

Sources

Spoiler

Armoured Aircraft Carriers
Grumman F4F Wildcat - Wikipedia
http://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/f4f/wildcat-V-ads.jpg
https://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft20150-3.htm
The Grumman Wildcat in FAA Service by Bruce Archer

2 Likes
2

+1 It would be great to see more RAF vehicles used by pilots.

1 Like
3

+1 in my Wildcat, straight up jorking it, and by it, heh my peanuts

1 Like
4

gib

1 Like
5

+1

Peanut?

1 Like
6

+1 as a filler for the 2.0-3.0 SPAA Naval fighter gap

7

probably a domestic hurricane that could fit there -1

i play britain props for britain props not american props

8

meh not really.

I love the hurricane but its a tough ask to get them over 2.7 in any way whatsoever, given that it would have the same suspended armament as the mkIIb trop of 2.3 but a little less sluggish in a straight line it could end up at 2.7.

We dont have a 2.7 strike aircraft in the tech tree so thats a gap that could do with being plugged by something that isnt the (frankly undertiered for its armament) premium corsair

its a +1 for me as American lend-lease is very understated in the british tech tree, it was vital to britains survival in WW2 and id like it to be represented

2 Likes
9

frankly theres better armred fighters at 2.7 like Yak-7 there early 50 cals so they dont do much specially if you only have 4

10

Britain doesnt have a yak 7 tho does it? We get the martlet and corsair. nothing tech tree as a fighter/strike craft.

Considering Britain is using the browning .303 until 4.3 thats still a critical upgrade, even if we cant have full belts of M20 incendiary.

1 Like
11

i was refering you saying its undertiered for its armament

12

ah fair enough my mistake

I meant more the suspended armament with two 1000lb bombs on a fighter. The CAS issue is far worse from 2.7-6.7 than it is at top tier because american aircraft are getting 1000lb bombs before most tanks can handle a broadside from .50 cals. Its unhealthily unfair especially with how dirt cheap they are to spawn still. I think 500lb bombs are the limit to whats fair for fighters to have at that Br against tanks, while also being able to take out enemy bombers easily.

must also say the 20mm shvak on the yak 7 is quite heavy hitting in the match i used it before i had shot up to a BR where i can use my IL-8. can do some nasty damage to select targets if you aim them right, practice for the yak 9K either way

13

honestly after looking over the british tree for the gap your talking about
2X hispanos with 60 rounds each would be fine fighter at 2.7

Spoiler

Hurricane Mk.V
The final variant to be produced. Only one was purpose built and two Mk.IV converted, though the variant never reached full-scale production. This was planned to be powered by a Merlin 27 but also tested with a Merlin 32 boosted engine to give 1,700 hp (1,300 kW) at low level and was intended as a dedicated ground-attack aircraft to use in Burma. All three prototypes had four-bladed propellers. The Mk. V replaced the twin 7.7mm machine guns on the Mk. IV with two 20mm cannons, only completed on the third prototype. Speed was 326 mph (525 km/h) at 500 ft (150 m)[165]

and you could probably get a fairy barracuda aswell which is a naval torpedo dive bomber

or a early spit

Spoiler

Spitfire Mk I serial K9801 | World War Photos

1 Like
14

Fair argument however we have the sea hurricane at 3.0 with 125 shells per Hispano. with the weight of those guns its limted to just being a straigt like gun truck.
Just over halving the ammunition count would mean that its just not worthwhile to play, flat out unnattractive to players when theres a better one in the naval line and the gap would still be prominent for that lineup.

would love to see it however its not a strike fighter its a recce plane turned torpedo bomber, would still fill the void that the wildcat would fill.

no front facing guns, only two Vickers K guns in a rear turret and even if it could dogfight theres only so much you can do with a FOX-4 ramming attack

Thats a special kind of dream to see a proper mk1 instead of the mk1a. Still, no suspended armament so still no strike fighter

15

In the Naval line?

16

in any line there tree doesn’t have a 2.7 plane the wildcats are 2.3 and 3.0 none of them are 2.7 so this plane doesnt fill gap really other than just adding another thing to grind

other wise you should just use a hurricane
also the wildcats pay load is not very good for fighter 2X 100LB bombs not even 250LBs as there restricted in warthunder on pay load

its not even a good strike fighter as its uncommon to find fighters at this tier with good bomb loads

for some reason they only model it carrying 100LBs no clue why would likely be the same with british one

and it would likely be premium judgeing from how they added the corsair

17

-1 no copy paste

1 Like
18

We already have the Mk IV in game as a premium so the Mk V should be TT and fill in the 2.0-3.0 naval fighter line

1 Like
19

it serves no point to fill though its just adding on to the grind