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La mitrailleuse de queue n’existe que sur la première version et la version B-25A.
Elle est supprimée et remplacée par une tourelle dorsale à partir de la version B-25B.
Donc pas de membre d’équipage supplémentaire.
Comme le fait remarquer Goago dans son message ci-dessous, un poste de mitrailleur arrière équipe les versions H et J.
Dans
L'atlas des bombardiers de la seconde guerre mondiale (page 184) :
L’équipage du B-25H comportait cinq hommes (quatre sur la version B-25G).
Outre un canon de 75 mm et quatre mitrailleuses à l’avant, quatre autres mitrailleuses avaient été montées sur les flancs du fuselage, deux dans la tourelle supérieure, deux encore à l’arrière et une dans chaque sabord latéral.
L’équipage du B-25J se composait à nouveau de six hommes et si l’armement n’incluait plus de canon de 75 mm, les quatre mitrailleuses montées extérieurement tirant dans l’axe en arrière du poste de pilotage étaient conservées, la tourelle dorsale se trouvant plus en avant au niveau des moteurs.-
Les 4 mitrailleuses placées de chaque côté du fuselage avant n’apparaissent que sur la version B-25H.
Donc l’arc de tir avant est utilisé par une mitrailleuse simple sur la version B-25B et deux mitrailleuses (une fixe, une mobile) sur la version B-25C, produisant dans le jeu des dégâts A pour les deux versions.
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Une tourelle ventrale rétractable équipe la version B-25B (comme sur la version B-25C).
Elle n’est pas représentée sur la carte Avion ni sur la figurine Ares, car c’est la version du raid de Tokyo avec des avions allégés au maximum, dont la tourelle ventrale avait été retirée.
Rien n’empêche de jouer cette version avec une tourelle ventrale comme sur la carte Avion B-25C.
Une carte Avion d’un
B-25H qui devrait plaire à HanCloster :
Armement avant très puissant, mitrailleurs latéraux, mitrailleur de queue.
Trouvée sur l’
Aerodrome WOG.
Avec même une règle maison pour l’utilisation du
canon de 75 mm contre des cibles au sol.
Et une règle pour une version sans canon mais avec
8 mitrailleuses avant.
La liste des versions de B-25 et leurs caractéristiques sur
Wikipedia (information incomplète concernant la mitrailleuse de queue pour les versions B-25H et J)
B-25
The initial production version of B-25s, they were powered by 1,350 hp (1,007 kW) R-2600-9 engines. and carried up to 3,600 lb (1,600 kg) of bombs and defensive armament of three .30 machine guns in nose, waist, and ventral positions, with one .50 machine gun in the tail. The first nine aircraft were built with constant dihedral angle. Due to low stability, the wing was redesigned so that the dihedral was eliminated on the outboard section (number made: 24).
B-25A
This version of the B-25 was modified to make it combat ready; additions included self-sealing fuel tanks, crew armor, and an improved tail-gunner station. No changes were made in the armament. It was redesignated obsolete (RB-25A) in 1942 (number made: 40).
B-25B
The tail and gun position were removed and replaced by a manned dorsal turret on the rear fuselage and retractable, remotely operated ventral turret, each with a pair of .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns. A total of 120 were built (this version was used in the Doolittle Raid). A total of 23 were supplied to the Royal Air Force as the Mitchell Mk I.
B-25C
An improved version of the B-25B, its powerplants were upgraded from Wright R-2600-9 radials to R-2600-13s; de-icing and anti-icing equipment were added; the navigator received a sighting blister; and nose armament was increased to two .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns, one fixed and one flexible. The B-25C model was the first mass-produced B-25 version; it was also used in the United Kingdom (as the Mitchell Mk II), in Canada, China, the Netherlands, and the Soviet Union (number made: 1,625).
B-25D
Through block 20, the series was near identical to the B-25C. The series designation differed in that the B-25D was made in Kansas City, Kansas, whereas the B-25C was made in Inglewood, California. Later blocks with interim armament upgrades, the D2s, first flew on 3 January 1942 (number made: 2,290).
F-10
The F-10 designation distinguished 45 B-25Ds modified for photographic reconnaissance. All armament, armor, and bombing equipment were stripped. Three K.17 cameras were installed, one pointing down and two more mounted at oblique angles within blisters on each side of the nose. Optionally, a second downward-pointing camera could also be installed in the aft fuselage. Although designed for combat operations, these aircraft were mainly used for ground mapping.
B-25D weather reconnaissance variant
In 1944, four B-25Ds were converted for weather reconnaissance. One later user was the 53d Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, originally called the Army Hurricane Reconnaissance Unit, now called the "Hurricane Hunters". Weather reconnaissance first started in 1943 with the 1st Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, with flights on the North Atlantic ferry routes.
ZB-25D
XB-25E
A single B-25C was modified to test de-icing and anti-icing equipment that circulated exhaust from the engines in chambers in the leading and trailing edges and empennage. The aircraft was tested for almost two years, beginning in 1942; while the system proved extremely effective, no production models were built that used it before the end of World War II. Many surviving warbird-flown B-25 aircraft today use the de-icing system from the XB-25E (number made: 1, converted).
ZXB-25E
XB-25F-A
A modified B-25C, it used insulated electrical coils mounted inside the wing and empennage leading edges to test the effectiveness as a de-icing system. The hot air de-icing system tested on the XB-25E was determined to be the more practical of the two (number made: 1, converted).
XB-25G
This modified B-25C had the transparent nose replaced to create a short-nosed gunship carrying two fixed .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and a 75 mm (2.95 in) M4 cannon, then the largest weapon ever carried on an American bomber (number made: 1, converted).
B-25G
The B-25G followed the success of the prototype XB-25G and production was a continuation of the NA96. The production model featured increased armor and a greater fuel supply than the XB-25G. One B-25G was passed to the British, who gave it the name Mitchell II that had been used for the B-25C. The USSR also tested the G (number made: 463; five converted Cs, 58 modified Cs, 400 production).
B-25H
An improved version of the B-25G, this version relocated the manned dorsal turret to a more forward location on the fuselage just aft of the flight deck. It also featured two additional fixed .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns in the nose and in the H-5 onward, four in fuselage-mounted pods. The T13E1 light weight cannon replaced the heavy M4 cannon 75 mm (2.95 in). Single controls were installed from the factory with navigator in the right seat (number made: 1000; two airworthy as of 2015).
B-25J-NC
Follow-on production at Kansas City, the B-25J could be called a cross between the B-25D and the B-25H. It had a transparent nose, but many of the delivered aircraft were modified to have a strafer nose (J2). Most of its 14–18 machine guns were forward-facing for strafing missions, including the two guns of the forward-located dorsal turret. The RAF received 316 aircraft, which were known as the Mitchell III. The J series was the last factory series production of the B-25 (number made: 4,318).
CB-25J
Utility transport version
VB-25J
A number of B-25s were converted for use as staff and VIP transports. Henry H. Arnold and Dwight D. Eisenhower both used converted B-25Js as their personal transports. The last VB-25J in active service was retired in May 1960 at the Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.