A question RE: an odd looking German AA Gun...

[Juha]

Hello Tony
IIRC the 3 cm Flak 103/38 wasn't successful because it was muzzle-heavy.

[Tony Williams]

The problem with the Flak 103/38 was that they fitted the gun into the 20mm Flak 38 mounting, which really wasn't able to cope with the much more powerful gun.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum

[George Hopp]

Franek, the MG C/30L was no ordinary aircraft gun: it was chambered for the same very powerful 20x138B ammo as the German Flak 30 and Flak 38 guns. It was intended for engine mounting in fighters, but only one prototype He 112 carried it, in action in Spain. It turned out to be too big, heavy and slow-firing to be of much use, so was converted to the AA role.

As noted in "The Condor Legion" by Ries/Ring, about He 112 V4: "The He 112 had been in action with 1. Staffel for several weeks. Flown by Uffz. Schulz, ... it specialized in hunting Red tanks. On account of its good success the aircraft was jokingly dubbed "Dosenoeffner" (can opener). Unfortunately, in July the aircraft was written off in a crash." It appears that Schulz had popped 3 tanks with the a/c. And, it also sounds like he was more than satisfied with it. So, where did you find the contrary info?

Earlier, the following was stated about the He 112: "Fips" Radusch was selected to test the sole cannon-armed He 112. The machine was the He 112 V4 in which a 20mm MG C/30L engine-mounted cannon had been installed for trial purposes. Otherwise the fighter was unarmed. The few fighter pilots in Spain fortunate enough to fly the He 112 said great things about the He 112, and everyone wanted to qualify the fly the aircraft."

[George Hopp]

The problem with the Flak 103/38 was that they fitted the gun into the 20mm Flak 38 mounting, which really wasn't able to cope with the much more powerful gun.

Who used this piece of weaponry? I was always under the impression that small calibre AA guns in the Luftwaffe were pretty well limited to the 20mm Flak 30 and 38, and 37mm Flak 37 and 43. Oh yes, and a few single- and triple-mounted MG 151/20s.

[NickM]

Tony:

Yo,My Man: my email is:

nickm@astound.net;

Send away...

hopefully my spam filter doesn't send it to 'never-never land'

NickM

[Tony Williams]

Originally Posted by George Hopp

As noted in "The Condor Legion" by Ries/Ring, about He 112 V4: "The He 112 had been in action with 1. Staffel for several weeks. Flown by Uffz. Schulz, ... it specialized in hunting Red tanks. On account of its good success the aircraft was jokingly dubbed "Dosenoeffner" (can opener). Unfortunately, in July the aircraft was written off in a crash." It appears that Schulz had popped 3 tanks with the a/c. And, it also sounds like he was more than satisfied with it. So, where did you find the contrary info?

It was good at knocking out tanks but what the Luftwaffe was after was armament suitable for air combat. You can judge their view of the MG C/30L by the fact that only the one plane was ever fitted with it, and after that they switched to the much smaller, lighter and faster-firing MG-FF.

It is possible that this was influenced by the decision to choose the Bf 109 over the He 112. Although the 109 could probably take the MG C/30L the considerable weight (about 180 kg loaded) would have hurt the performance of the little plane.

Tony Williams
Military gun and ammunition website: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk
Military gun and ammunition discussion forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/autogun/messages/

[Tony Williams]

Originally Posted by George Hopp

Who used this piece of weaponry? I was always under the impression that small calibre AA guns in the Luftwaffe were pretty well limited to the 20mm Flak 30 and 38, and 37mm Flak 37 and 43. Oh yes, and a few single- and triple-mounted MG 151/20s.

According to Hogg, Rheinmetall-Borsig were given a contract to produce 2,000 Flak 103/38, and Gustloff another 1,000, all to be delivered by March 1945, but "it is doubtful if anything near this number were actually built". He also mentions a quad mounting, of which a few were built.

Tony Williams
Military gun and ammunition website: http://www.quarry.nildram.co.uk
Military gun and ammunition discussion forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/autogun/messages/

[Tony Williams]

Originally Posted by NickM

Send away...

I've just sent it.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum