Hi folks,
An aircraft I've always liked the look of was the Romanian I.A.R. 80/81 series. It always looked like it had so much potential if only it had a better engine (at the most it had a 14 cylinder radial giving around 1,025 hp) - so what if it was developed further?
Maybe a new engine - say a BMW 801 (1,600 hp - 2,000 hp) or even something like a Jumo 213 (1,725 hp - 2,020 hp)? Perhaps even something Russian - say a Shvetsov ASh-82FN (1,850 hp)?
Armament was as follows:
IAR-80: 4 to 6 Browning FN 7.92mm Machine Guns, or 4 Browning FN 7.92mm Machine Guns and 2 Browning FN 13.2mm Machine Guns.
IAR-81: 6 Browning FN 7.92mm Machine Guns or 4 Brownings and 2 Mauser {or Ikaria} 20mm Cannons.
This is fairly good, though one could always add some 30mm Mk-108s for anti-bomber work - probably in gondolas like the Me-109s.
Other ideas?
Regards,
Greg
