F-9 Fortresses

[SaintEx]

My second question in as many minutes but... anybody know what to do with the two allied recon squadrons flying the F-9? No more F-9s are ever produced and the two units can't be upgraded to anything else. The allies are always short on recon and it's a shame to see these two squadrons sitting around with nothing to do just because they can't be upgraded.

[Darojax]

Why don't you use them for long range recon? That's what I do. If you run out of aircraft I suppose just disband them.

[apd1004]

They are not produced in a factory, however they are converted from B-17F's in the logistics phase. You will thus get a trickle of them as replacements over time.



Early on in the 43 campaign you need all the high level camera platforms you can get, so they definitely come in handy especially with their long range. I haven't gone far enough in the campaign to see if later maybe they can be replaced with something else or if you are stuck with them.

[Denniss]

I tried to replace them in a 1945 savegame I had but it wasn't possible. It's my understanding the F-9s were not really recons in the traditional sense but used for photographic mapping of large areas. This imagery was then used to create new maps for all associated services based on a common standard.
Maybe they are restricted from changes due to their special/specific use.

[Darojax]

They are not produced in a factory, however they are converted from B-17F's in the logistics phase. You will thus get a trickle of them as replacements over time.

Thankyou for that piece of information, did not know. : )

[bomccarthy]

ORIGINAL: Darojax

They are not produced in a factory, however they are converted from B-17F's in the logistics phase. You will thus get a trickle of them as replacements over time.

Thankyou for that piece of information, did not know. : )

Those conversions will end sometime by early 1944 (I can't remember when) and you will run out of F-9s by the last half of 1944, depending upon how much you use them. Their units are unable to upgrade to anything else.

Historically, the 15th Recon Photo Sqdn used F-9s at night while attached to the 15th AF; the unit was withdrawn from the theater in May 1944 (I think). Someone else may know if it was then attached to the 20th AF and re-equipped with F-13 Superfortresses? The game's 16th Recon Photo Sqdn does not seemed to have existed IRL - I am guessing that it was included in the game to represent the non-15th Sqdn F-9s, which were actually scattered among other Photo Recon Sqdns. In reality, the USAAF Recon units possessed a variety of aircraft at any one time, including the F-3, F-4, F-5, F-10 (B-25 conversion), and F-9. Obviously, such a mix can't be simulated in the game system (otherwise, units would be able to mix the various models of B-17s, B-24s, B-25s, B-26s, P-38s, P-47s, and P-51s, as they did IRL).

[SaintEx]

Thanks all, that's quite interesting, including the historical note. So from a practical perspective, there's nothing to be done once the replacements (i.e. conversions) stop trickling in. Alas.

[apd1004]

I'm quite the newbie to this, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that you can disband an air unit and retain the trained pilots back into the pilot pool? At least you would get something out of it once the conversions dry up.

[loki100]

ORIGINAL: apd1004

I'm quite the newbie to this, but I seem to remember reading somewhere that you can disband an air unit and retain the trained pilots back into the pilot pool? At least you would get something out of it once the conversions dry up.

yes, the pilots go into the pool immediately. If you want to control where they go to, then open the target air unit and use the manual 'add pilots' routine and they will transfer to that one.

probably more useful with the axis when you are managing the migration from night fighters to filling out the gaps in your day fighter formations.

[SaintEx]

Thanks for the input, but that's not really the problem. I've never found that I'm short of trained pilots as the WA, but I'm always short of recon units, particularly since they have a habit of getting very tired very fast and I rotate them a lot.

(sorry, I forgot to quote... this is in response to the suggestion that I disband them)