Confirming Carrier Capable & IJN airgroup no. at start

[Uamaga]

ORIGINAL: Terminus

I understand, don't worry. Just saying...

[el cid again]

I managed to get B-25s - and PBJs - to fly from carriers - but I find you need to assign them to a carrier. It need not be one that ever is in the game - you can assign an air group to a "training carrier" which then is date set to after the game ends - but if you ALSO assign a date to the air group it appears on that date at the default location for its nation - as carrier capable and carrier qualified - and it will NEVER resize either.

I learned that the B-25s could land on a carrier - even if they didn't - and that the Marines later proved the PBJ was able to perform from carriers - but this was not used operationally. The deal was cut for the Doolittle raid - eventually USN would get B-25s - for USMC - and these became PBJs. So the seemingly unrealistic thing they land on carriers turns out to be not so bad after all.

[akdreemer]

ORIGINAL: el cid again

I managed to get B-25s - and PBJs - to fly from carriers - but I find you need to assign them to a carrier. It need not be one that ever is in the game - you can assign an air group to a "training carrier" which then is date set to after the game ends - but if you ALSO assign a date to the air group it appears on that date at the default location for its nation - as carrier capable and carrier qualified - and it will NEVER resize either.

I learned that the B-25s could land on a carrier - even if they didn't - and that the Marines later proved the PBJ was able to perform from carriers - but this was not used operationally. The deal was cut for the Doolittle raid - eventually USN would get B-25s - for USMC - and these became PBJs. So the seemingly unrealistic thing they land on carriers turns out to be not so bad after all.

What happens to a B-25 group carrier capable groups if you upgrade it? Are the choices only from slot dependent carrier capable planes?

[el cid again]

Actually - no.

There are many choices that are land based types only - and there is either no other carrier capable upgrade - or one other - depending on scenario. I have B-25s in US Army and PBJs in USMC - in some sceanrios - but normally you could not upgrade from one to the other. By setting the unit so it will upgrade - this is the only choice you have that still works on a carrier. Other planes are not in carrier capable slots - so you can upgrade - but not actually fly from a carrier.

In AE - with more slots - we can do a bit more with this. It is possible to have Japanese COD aircraft, or USN C-47s - operating from carriers.
But slots are the big limitation in WITP - as you know.

[mikemike]

ORIGINAL: el cid again

In AE - with more slots - we can do a bit more with this. It is possible to have Japanese COD aircraft, or USN C-47s - operating from carriers.
But slots are the big limitation in WITP - as you know.

During one of the early post-war Antarctic expeditions (I think it was Operation Deep Freeze in 1947) they flew off Douglas R4D's (essentially C-47s) and Lockheed P2V Neptunes from a carrier (Phillipine Sea?) for use from the Little America base on the Ross shelf ice. The planes were left there as they couldn't land back on the carrier. The US Navy tested a lot of equipment on this expedition; they used Martin Mariners and several amphibious vehicles. Ships used for the expedition were AGC Mount Olympus, two AVs as base for the flying boats, a few AKAs and several icebreakers.

[el cid again]

There were only two large naval operations in Antarctica - in 1947 and 1948 - before treaty prevented more such operations. Large planed did indeed take off from Essex flight decks - I was not aware they had been abandoned (this is not usually mentioned when the pictures are shown).
But there is another similar case: the USMC version of the B-25s were INTENDED for carrier operations - the capability was demonstrated - but it was not used (not being necessary). When the Doolittle deal was cut - the deal included making a modified version of the plane for naval operations - and that was honored. These planes are in RHS - as land based only in CVO and BBO families - but as carrier aircraft in EOS family scenarios.

There are wonderful legends about the later US operation in Antarctica- you can find web sites dedicated to it and books on the subject. It is a curious combination of bunk and truth - Neuswabenland indeed existed on maps - named for the 1938 research expedition by Swabenland - a German ship that did a unique photographic survey from aircraft - and dropped swastikas made of steel on every sq km of the place. But there was no German evacuation of high leaders to a base there, no battles fought to evict them, and the only inhabited point in the entire area is the Norwegian research station. Still - if you want fantasy - you can read how German flying wings made 9000 mile journeys to the place (something German flying wings could not do even if they worked - due to fuel/energy/range considerations - these being small aircraft). And it is difficult to explain how a war of some intensity could have been kept secret?

[mikemike]

I have to correct myself - I was writing from memory (haven't read the book for about twenty years). This was Operation Highjump in 1947, and they didn't use Neptunes. The Neptunes came with Operation Deep Freeze 1 in 1956/57 during the IGY and were flown in nonstop either from NZ or South America - I don't remember. The R4D's in 1947 - six of them - took off from USS Phillipine Sea with JATO assist. The carrier was brand-new at the time. Six Mariners operated from the AV's Currituck and Pine Island. All those aircraft were mainly used for cartographic purposes, although one of the R4D's flew Admiral Byrd to the South Pole. You can find all about the operation on this website: http://www.south-pole.com/p0000150.htm
and also in Wikipedia