BV 238

BV 238

BV 238

Germany

II Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.7	3.7	4.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Bomber

Long Range bomber

Hydroplane

Purchase:1 840

Show in game

Description

The BV 238 is a rank II German bomber with a battle rating of 3.7 (AB/RB) and 4.0 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.63 "Desert Hunters".

General info

Flight performance

The BV 238, as expected of an aircraft of its size and class, is a very sluggish plane. With slow acceleration, poor climb rate, agonisingly slow roll rate, a low top speed, and a pitiful turn rate, the BV 238 will not find itself able to out-perform anything it faces. While using combat flaps, the bomber's turn rate does increase significantly, but it will still not be able to out-manoeuvre any plane it finds itself near. The only notably good flight characteristic of the BV 238 is the low stall speed, allowing it to glide long distances at low speeds as well as allowing the plane to enjoy incredibly slow and smooth landings.

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at 6,600 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
401	390	9000	31.4	33.2	1.6	1.6	3,000
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at 6,600 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
443	421	9000	28.7	30.0	4.6	3	3,000

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flaps (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
		420	~3	~1

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 360	< 360	< 280	> 314

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
6,000 m	1,500 hp	1,650 hp

Survivability and armour

• 5 mm Steel plate behind pilot.

Though the BV 238 almost entire lacks armour, it is a highly survivable plane. Massive areas of empty space within the fuselage as well as the iconic six engines of this behemoth cause the bomber to be an incredibly tough target to take down. With smart use of Manual Engine Controls to disable engines and manipulate radiators, a BV 238 pilot can nurse even a critically damaged bomber several kilometres home safely. Due to the plane's role as a flying boat, the belly of the bomber is unusually durable, and can easily survive landings on land-based runways in spite of the BV 238's lack of a wheeled landing gear.

In terms of crew, the BV 238 houses an impressive ten crew members, with two crew members in the flight deck and five more each manning various gunner positions around the aircraft, and three more miscellaneous crew. This makes the BV 238 very hard to neuter, as the crew members are spaced very far apart, with one gunner on each wing past the third engine, two near the flight deck, and one in the tail of the aircraft, altogether making it nigh-impossible to prevent return fire from the bomber.

Armaments

Suspended armament

The BV 238 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 20 x 250 kg SC250JA bombs (5,000 kg total)

With only one ordnance option, the BV 238 does not spoil the pilot with choices. However, this bombload is exceptional for the BV 238's battle rating, allowing a single bomber to destroy three bombing points with no allied aid. The BV 238's bombload is located in the wings, 10 in each bomb bay, which must be opened prior to ordnance drop.

Defensive armament

The BV 238 is defended by:

• 2 x 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons, front dorsal turret (700 rpg = 1,400 total)
• 4 x 13 mm MG 131 machine guns, nose turret (1,800 rpg = 7,200 total)
• 4 x 13 mm MG 131 machine guns, 2 x wing turrets (900 rpg = 3,600 total)
• 4 x 13 mm MG 131 machine guns, tail turret (900 rpg = 3,600 total)

The BV 238 is equipped with an excellent selection of defensive positions. On the roof of the aircraft sits a deadly dual-20 mm turret, containing two MG 151 cannons that are capable of inflicting critical damage to aircraft with few hits. This turret mainly covers the port and starboard sides of the boat, as well as directly in front of the nose, with the BV 238's massive tail section blocking a considerable amount of the turret's rearview. To cover for this blind spot, the BV 238 also has three rear-facing turrets each equipped with quad MG 131 13 mm machine guns, with high fire rates and large ammo counts for sustained fire. As a bonus, the bomber also has an additional quad MG 131 turret within the nose.

Unlike most bombers, and especially unlike those comparable in battle rating to it, the BV 238 is very well-defended, which combines with the plane's excellent survivability to make the bomber into an incredible lethal platform, in spite of the plane's extremely poor flight performance. There are very few blind spots not a single gunner can reach, and those that end up on the tail of the BV 238 can potentially end up facing down not only twelve 13 mm machine guns, but also two 20 mm cannons.

Usage in battles

Though slightly unusual in design, the BV 238 is a strategic bomber through and through. It carries a massive bombload allowing the bomber to decimate several bombing points and deliver more ordnance yet to the enemy airfield and has incredible endurance allowing it to stay airborne for longer than most other aircraft could and through far more damage than its contemporaries could bear.

The BV 238's main job in battle will be to deliver its payload to the strategic objectives found around the map and has a secondary use as a gunship with its impressive 'defensive' armament. BV 238 pilots should seek to bait enemy fighters, who typically have poor high altitude performance at the BV 238's battle rating, into following the behemoth before mowing them down with an unrelenting and lethal cloud of lead.

BV 238 pilots should avoid head-ons where possible; the only true way to guarantee an easy kill on a BV 238 is to instantly knock the pilot out, thus causing immediate target destruction. However, in the event of an unavoidable head-on, manually man the forward turrets and unleash fire and fury on whoever is attempting to bring you down; you have plenty of ammo to spare.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Auto control available	Not controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Not auto controlled	Separate	Not controllable 1 gear	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Turret 13 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 13 mm MGs (turret)
III	Wings repair	Engine		Turret 20 mm
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 20 mm cannons (turret)

• As a premium aircraft, the BV 238's modifications are automatically unlocked upon purchase of the aircraft.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Impressive bomb load (5 tons payload in the form of 20 x 250 kg bombs)
• Extremely durable airframe, with a large crew compliment
• Excellent defensive armament in most-all directions
• Ability to land on water, and rearm/repair from nearby carriers
• Handles well for such a large aircraft

Cons:

• The largest aircraft in War Thunder, thus an easy target
• Large aircraft with a large payload equals very challenging to fly
• No access to landing gear, must belly land or land on water
• Easy to destroy from the underside due to lack of armament

History

The Blohm & Voss BV 238 was an experimental flying boat that saw development and flight trials in 1944. With a wingspan of just over 60 metres and a length of 43.5 metres, the BV 238 was a truly gargantuan aircraft, being, in fact, the heaviest aircraft in existence at the time. Powered by six DB.603V 12-cylinder radial engines, the BV 238 could reach 424 km/h at 6 kilometres altitude, with a range of over 10,000 kilometres.

Blohm & Voss Flugzeugbau designer and leader of the flying boat project, Hans H. Amtmann stated in an autobiography, "The RLM issued a request for a large flying boat. In spite of the fact that Erhard Milch, the powerful secretary to the Air Minister Göring, wanted this flying boat developed and built by the Dornier company, the technical staff of the Air Ministry selected our design and the contract went to our company."

Little known fact: Blohm & Voss arranged for students to build a manned flyable 1:4 scale model of the BV 238 for early testing.

However, the sole flyable BV 238 prototype met an unfortunate end before the series could enter production, as only four days before the end of the war, Allied Fighters discovered and destroyed the BV 238 V1 as it sat hidden near the town of Lübeck in a side arm of the large lake Schaalsee.

Media

Excellent additions to the article would be video guides, screenshots from the game, and photos.

See also

• [Development] BV 238: The Largest Aircraft

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
• other literature.