F4F - 7 recon

[Misconduct]

Wow, thats more weight then a me109k4 with full load.

[Panther Bait]

Of course there would be the little problem of finding your own carrier after your 50 hex roundtrip mission. Even assuming that carrier can keep to its appointed schedule and arrive at the designated pickup point on time, I would think a recon plane flying over a 1000 miles and back again could get seriously lost pretty easily.

Mike

[Nikademus]

I don't have my Lundstrom in front of me.....but IIRC, the F4F-7 was not exactly considered a sucess as it's prodigidous weight gain to hold all that extra fuel only exaserbated the F4F's weak points.

[Sardaukar]

Vectorsite definitely mentions it being carrier capable:

http://www.vectorsite.net/avwcat.html#m6

In early 1941, Grumman began work on an ultra-long-range photo-reconnaissance version of the Wildcat. An F4F-4 was extensively modified to this configuration, with nonfolding "wet" wings and distinctive twin "tailpipes" that were actually used for dumping excess fuel to lighten the aircraft for carrier deck landings. A single camera was installed behind the cockpit, an autopilot was fitted for long missions, and the armament and gunsight were deleted. The first such "F4F-7" performed its first flight on 30 December 1941.
The F4F-7 could carry a load of 2,596 liters (685 US gallons) of fuel, giving it a range of 5,950 kilometers (3,700 miles). A hundred were ordered but only 21 were delivered. In 1942, one flew across the US, coast to coast nonstop, in eleven hours. When the flight plan was filed, an Army air traffic controller called the Navy and said it looked as though there was a mistake. A Navy man replied: "The flight plan is correct. All Navy fighters have a 3,000 mile range." This was a record flight, but the F4F-7 was a secret and the record wasn't claimed.
The F4F-7s served in the Solomons but the actual need for an extremely long range reconnaissance fighter was slight. Those F4F-7s that were delivered were used for spares hulks, with some possibly modified back to a fighter specification.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Panther Bait

Of course there would be the little problem of finding your own carrier after your 50 hex roundtrip mission. Even assuming that carrier can keep to its appointed schedule and arrive at the designated pickup point on time, I would think a recon plane flying over a 1000 miles and back again could get seriously lost pretty easily.

Mike

When they expected returning aircraft to be in the neighborhood, carriers could activate a radio homing beacon.

[Sardaukar]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Panther Bait

Of course there would be the little problem of finding your own carrier after your 50 hex roundtrip mission. Even assuming that carrier can keep to its appointed schedule and arrive at the designated pickup point on time, I would think a recon plane flying over a 1000 miles and back again could get seriously lost pretty easily.

Mike

When they expected returning aircraft to be in the neighborhood, carriers could activate a radio homing beacon.

Well...ZB (Zed Baker) homing device didn't help always. What I did read that it took considerable skill to successfully home to signal (even without malfunctions).

[witpqs]

Not suggesting it was perfect or that any aspect of the undertaking required less than high skill - just that the pilots were not 100% stuck with finding carrier visually.

[John 3rd]

We added about 10 4 plane sections for Recon purposes in the Reluctant Admiral Mod. They should be a nice bonus for the American player.