Could a B-29 be used like an AC-130

[dangman4ever]

 

Firstly -

 

Why only the NCR? Why not other factions? (Hell, why not the Boomers themselves doing it?). I mean, I can see why the Legion wouldn't, but House would want that kind of firepower in a heartbeat, and my independent Courier is definitely a military type, so he'd easily see the advantage in constructing such a weapon.

 

For that matter, since the player usually allies with Boomers in the NCR path, why not simply have the Boomers rig it up?

 

But Dangman is correct - it's likely to be impossible to turn a B-29 into a heavy gunship. Any airframe is put under immense stresses in flight, let alone one that's been sitting at the bottom of a lake for three hundred years. It could mount lower-recoil weapons such as miniguns and maybe even a 25mm autocannon, but nothing more substantial than that.

 

1. Because it's for an NCR based mod, I'm sure it could be used by other factions. http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/710978-ncr-new-vegas/page-5

 

2. I'm not trying to fight a howitzer onto it, just a minigun and red glare. But due to the lack of range of the miniguns it's not very realistic.

 

This is directed towards anyone that's reading this; if a B-29 was equipped with a 25mm or .308 minigun and a red glare or even a missile launcher, do you believe the fram of the aircraft could handle that amount of stress. Keep in mind the minigun wouldn't be used in full auto, just long bursts and the red glare/missile launcher would be used less often.

 

.308 minigun is easy for the B-29. Remember that the AC-47 was a cargo plane. The B-29 is a bomber that was semi-armored to a certain extent. Though the red glare and missile launcher might not work out as they're still small-arms in a way. Which means they're short-ranged.

[sgtKraigO]

 

 

Firstly -

 

Why only the NCR? Why not other factions? (Hell, why not the Boomers themselves doing it?). I mean, I can see why the Legion wouldn't, but House would want that kind of firepower in a heartbeat, and my independent Courier is definitely a military type, so he'd easily see the advantage in constructing such a weapon.

 

For that matter, since the player usually allies with Boomers in the NCR path, why not simply have the Boomers rig it up?

 

But Dangman is correct - it's likely to be impossible to turn a B-29 into a heavy gunship. Any airframe is put under immense stresses in flight, let alone one that's been sitting at the bottom of a lake for three hundred years. It could mount lower-recoil weapons such as miniguns and maybe even a 25mm autocannon, but nothing more substantial than that.

 

1. Because it's for an NCR based mod, I'm sure it could be used by other factions. http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/710978-ncr-new-vegas/page-5

 

2. I'm not trying to fight a howitzer onto it, just a minigun and red glare. But due to the lack of range of the miniguns it's not very realistic.

 

This is directed towards anyone that's reading this; if a B-29 was equipped with a 25mm or .308 minigun and a red glare or even a missile launcher, do you believe the fram of the aircraft could handle that amount of stress. Keep in mind the minigun wouldn't be used in full auto, just long bursts and the red glare/missile launcher would be used less often.

 

.308 minigun is easy for the B-29. Remember that the AC-47 was a cargo plane. The B-29 is a bomber that was semi-armored to a certain extent. Though the red glare and missile launcher might not work out as they're still small-arms in a way. Which means they're short-ranged.

 

 

what's average range for current gen US made hand held anti tank weapons that use rockets? (Non-heat seeking, lock on, etc etc)

Edited March 30, 2014 by sgtKraigO

[dangman4ever]

 

 

 

Firstly -

 

Why only the NCR? Why not other factions? (Hell, why not the Boomers themselves doing it?). I mean, I can see why the Legion wouldn't, but House would want that kind of firepower in a heartbeat, and my independent Courier is definitely a military type, so he'd easily see the advantage in constructing such a weapon.

 

For that matter, since the player usually allies with Boomers in the NCR path, why not simply have the Boomers rig it up?

 

But Dangman is correct - it's likely to be impossible to turn a B-29 into a heavy gunship. Any airframe is put under immense stresses in flight, let alone one that's been sitting at the bottom of a lake for three hundred years. It could mount lower-recoil weapons such as miniguns and maybe even a 25mm autocannon, but nothing more substantial than that.

 

1. Because it's for an NCR based mod, I'm sure it could be used by other factions. http://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/710978-ncr-new-vegas/page-5

 

2. I'm not trying to fight a howitzer onto it, just a minigun and red glare. But due to the lack of range of the miniguns it's not very realistic.

 

This is directed towards anyone that's reading this; if a B-29 was equipped with a 25mm or .308 minigun and a red glare or even a missile launcher, do you believe the fram of the aircraft could handle that amount of stress. Keep in mind the minigun wouldn't be used in full auto, just long bursts and the red glare/missile launcher would be used less often.

 

.308 minigun is easy for the B-29. Remember that the AC-47 was a cargo plane. The B-29 is a bomber that was semi-armored to a certain extent. Though the red glare and missile launcher might not work out as they're still small-arms in a way. Which means they're short-ranged.

 

 

what's average range for current gen US made anti tank weapons that use rockets? (Non-heat seeking, lock on, etc etc)

 

FYI, a lot of weapons that the U.S uses aren't actually U.S made ;). For unguided rockets, the U.S has the M72 LAW, AT4 (Swedish-made), and SMAW (Israeli-made) have a range of 200m, 300m, and 500m respectively. The AC-47, the closest analog for a B-29 gunship, usually flew around 3,000 ft or 914 meters.

[MarchUntoTorment]

You'd be astounded of the range of a standard-issue rocket launcher. The AT4 missile has an approximate range of roughly 2.1km, for instance, although its accuracy (due to a short barrel length) renders such range largely useless.

 

Nonetheless, a Red Glare-type weapon could easily have 2.1km range, with moderate accuracy. A .308-calibre gatling gun could easily have about 2km range, although again, accuracy would be very poor. For a gunship, circling the battlefield at a height of roughly 1000 feet would likely be ideal.

 

I can even think of a name that the NCR (and other factions potentially) might give it -

 

"The Steel Vulture".

[dangman4ever]

Hence why I quoted the 300m range for the AT4: That's the effective firing range for a point target.

 

As for the mini-gun, the M134 7.62mm minigun used by the AC-47 and early model AC-130 had a max firing range of 1000 meters or 3,280 feet. So a 2KM range for a .308 version is a bit much. I could see that for a bolt-action rifle but an automatic gatling style weapon? I don't see the possibility. Also, 1000 feet is a bit too low for a fixed wing gunship. Even the semi-armored AC-47 flew at 3,000 feet during gunship runs.

[sgtKraigO]

Hence why I quoted the 300m range for the AT4: That's the effective firing range for a point target.

 

As for the mini-gun, the M134 7.62mm minigun used by the AC-47 and early model AC-130 had a max firing range of 1000 meters or 3,280 feet. So a 2KM range for a .308 version is a bit much. I could see that for a bolt-action rifle but an automatic gatling style weapon? I don't see the possibility. Also, 1000 feet is a bit too low for a fixed wing gunship. Even the semi-armored AC-47 flew at 3,000 feet during gunship runs.

 

Yes but could that be for safety reasons? Didn't the Vietcong and North Vietnamese military posses weapons that could be used to shoot them down? The B-29 would be mostly used against Legionaries who can't even shoot an idle person, this will be a moving airplane. I have difficulties imagining them adapting well to this new threat from above when their equipment focuses on ground combat.

[dangman4ever]

 

Hence why I quoted the 300m range for the AT4: That's the effective firing range for a point target.

 

As for the mini-gun, the M134 7.62mm minigun used by the AC-47 and early model AC-130 had a max firing range of 1000 meters or 3,280 feet. So a 2KM range for a .308 version is a bit much. I could see that for a bolt-action rifle but an automatic gatling style weapon? I don't see the possibility. Also, 1000 feet is a bit too low for a fixed wing gunship. Even the semi-armored AC-47 flew at 3,000 feet during gunship runs.

 

Yes but could that be for safety reasons? Didn't the Vietcong and North Vietnamese military posses weapons that could be used to shoot them down? The B-29 would be mostly used against Legionaries who can't even shoot an idle person, this will be a moving airplane. I have difficulties imagining them adapting well to this new threat from above when their equipment focuses on ground combat.

 

Yes and yes. However, the B-29 is also a much large plane than the AC-47 so I would imagine it would need more altitude

[sgtKraigO]

 

 

Hence why I quoted the 300m range for the AT4: That's the effective firing range for a point target.

 

As for the mini-gun, the M134 7.62mm minigun used by the AC-47 and early model AC-130 had a max firing range of 1000 meters or 3,280 feet. So a 2KM range for a .308 version is a bit much. I could see that for a bolt-action rifle but an automatic gatling style weapon? I don't see the possibility. Also, 1000 feet is a bit too low for a fixed wing gunship. Even the semi-armored AC-47 flew at 3,000 feet during gunship runs.

 

Yes but could that be for safety reasons? Didn't the Vietcong and North Vietnamese military posses weapons that could be used to shoot them down? The B-29 would be mostly used against Legionaries who can't even shoot an idle person, this will be a moving airplane. I have difficulties imagining them adapting well to this new threat from above when their equipment focuses on ground combat.

 

Yes and yes. However, the B-29 is also a much large plane than the AC-47 so I would imagine it would need more altitude

 

 

Good point, how much larger is it, and how much high should it operate at? Currently working on a project or I would look it up myself lol.

[dangman4ever]

 

 

 

Hence why I quoted the 300m range for the AT4: That's the effective firing range for a point target.

 

As for the mini-gun, the M134 7.62mm minigun used by the AC-47 and early model AC-130 had a max firing range of 1000 meters or 3,280 feet. So a 2KM range for a .308 version is a bit much. I could see that for a bolt-action rifle but an automatic gatling style weapon? I don't see the possibility. Also, 1000 feet is a bit too low for a fixed wing gunship. Even the semi-armored AC-47 flew at 3,000 feet during gunship runs.

 

Yes but could that be for safety reasons? Didn't the Vietcong and North Vietnamese military posses weapons that could be used to shoot them down? The B-29 would be mostly used against Legionaries who can't even shoot an idle person, this will be a moving airplane. I have difficulties imagining them adapting well to this new threat from above when their equipment focuses on ground combat.

 

Yes and yes. However, the B-29 is also a much large plane than the AC-47 so I would imagine it would need more altitude

 

 

Good point, how much larger is it, and how much high should it operate at? Currently working on a project or I would look it up myself lol.

 

Again, since the max range of the M134 7.62mm minigun is roughly 3,000 feet which meant that the AC-47 flew at 3,000 feet, then the B-29 gunship will flying around 3,000 feet since the 7.62mm is somewhat close to .308. As for size, too lazy to do the math. The B-29 is a little larger than the C-130.

[MarchUntoTorment]

There's no 'minimum altitude' for what an aircraft of any sort can operate at, except maybe about forty feet above the ground (when you start encountering Ground Effect issues, which messes up buoyancy like crazy). It's a matter of how low you can be and still manoeuvre safely around obstacles - Mojave's pretty flat, so no problems there.

 

Really, it's an issue of anti-air fire. The reason why things like the AC-130 and AC-47 flew high was because it gave them time to dodge. There are next to no anti-air weapons in the Mojave, so that's not an issue. Small arms fire poses no threat to a B-29.