V-156-B1

V-156-B1

Blenheim Mk IV

V-156-B1

Blenheim Mk IV

Britain

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.3	1.0	1.3

Class:

Bomber

Dive bomber

Naval aircraft

Research:2 900

Purchase:700

This page is about the British bomber V-156-B1. For the French version, see V-156-F.

Description

The V-156-B1 is a rank I British bomber with a battle rating of 1.3 (AB/SB) and 1.0 (RB). This aircraft was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance". The V-156-B1 is basically a British SB2U-2. It's got the same payload options and defensive armament, and the only changes are armament (4 x 7.7 mm instead of 2 x 7.7 mm) and a different look. The gun sight has also been removed, but this is only really important for Simulator players.

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 4,084 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	343	328	6800	23.2	24.5	4.5	4.5	300
Upgraded	380	360		20.9	22.0	8.2	6.2

A V-156-B1, landed on a hill.

Details

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

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
740	740	N/A	N/A	700	~14	~8

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 300	< 350	< 320	> 299

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
2,895 m	750 hp	825 hp

Survivability and armour

• 9.5 mm Steel plate between cockpit and turret
• 3 mm Steel boxes behind the gunner
• Self-sealing fuel tank located behind pilot

Armaments

Offensive armament

The V-156-B1 is armed with:

• 4 x 7.7 mm Browning .303 machine guns, wing-mounted (1,000 rpg = 4,000 total)

Suspended armament

The V-156-B1 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• 1 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bomb + 2 x 100 lb AN-M30A1 bombs (700 lb total)
• 1 x 500 lb AN-M64A1 bomb + 2 x 250 lb AN-M57 bombs (1,000 lb total)
• 1 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bomb (1,000 lb total)

Defensive armament

The V-156-B1 is defended by:

• 1 x 7.7 mm Browning .303 machine gun, dorsal turret (600 rpg)

Usage in battles

The V-156-B1 is easily one of the more powerful aircraft in the lower battle ratings and can be an absolute monster at low battle rated arcade matches due to its monoplane design, payload, and a large number of offensive machine guns. It is adequate for grinding at low ranks due to its low repair cost and versatility. It can gladly function as both a fighter and an attacker, and once dumping bombs, is capable of Boom & Zooming enemies in the vicinity. In addition, it has airbrakes in the form of dive brakes, which come in useful when landing, attacking ground targets or attempting to shake off an enemy. Although you have a turret, you should not rely on it to be able to destroy fighters on its own - it is good at fending off fighters and keeping newer and/or more cautious players at bay, but it will only be able to shoot down fighters on its own by sheer luck. Your frontal armament, however, is more powerful - and with the usage of airbrakes at critical moments in the fight, such as when the enemy is close to you and approaching from the rear, you can use your airbrakes while reducing your throttle to zero to induce what is known as an 'overshoot'- forcing the enemy behind you to zoom over you instead of staying on your tail by means of a sudden speed decrease. This puts the enemy in front of you and allows you to use your four frontal machine guns to shoot down the lightly-armoured enemies you face at this battle rating.

Arcade Ground Strike maps - where the aim is to destroy the enemy's ground troops, and often, dogfights happen over ground targets at low altitudes - are where this aircraft will excel most. A suggested strategy is to use the aircraft as a dive-bomber in arcade battles, using your superior altitude and therefore speed advantages (you start in the bomber spawn) to hit ground targets before zooming back towards friendlies, or waiting until the fighters have started engaging, and then attack ground targets. The aircraft (at stock payload) has two 100 lb bombs and one 500 lb bomb. At these low BRs, your bombs will annihilate enemy armoured car and AAA formations, and your guns are nigh-upon-unstoppable at this BR. Use "Universal" or "Tracer" belts for best effect.

While waiting for payload reload, go for enemy planes. British, German and Japanese aircraft are particularly vulnerable to your attacks due to their relatively low armament in a head-on engagement and lack of any and all armour protection. Soviet biplanes (the I-15s) will have heavier or equal armament, and American monoplanes will be harder to kill than biplanes due to robust construction and having similar speeds. At a BR of 1.3, the best opposition you will face are P-40s, Bf-109E-1s, Ki-43s and H-75s. All of these aircraft have large amounts of machine guns with exhaustive ammo pools, and if they can catch up to you, you're likely going to be shot down by the opposition, since you don't have the performance to fight them without assistance. If you feel lucky, you can duke it out by baiting them into a turn fight, where your good turn radius with landing flaps active can make you the victor in the situation. Never rely upon your single rear gun to keep you safe- at best it can only really function as a deterrent to keep fighters at bay. Always keep an eye on your six, and when you finish a ground attack run, look around and see if anything's coming before you go in again. If you see a fighter coming for you and can manage to turn towards them enough that you can get a firing solution on them, you can probably win. British 7.7mm guns are among the best in the game in terms of raw fire chance values and penetration, and if loaded with the "Tracer" belt- a full mix of Incendiary Tracer (essentially a standard incendiary bullet with a tracer element) and Armour-Piercing Incendiary (Usually the most damaging type of bullet in any given gun) in 50% proportion to each other- they can shred through any air target at a battle rating of 1.3.

A suggested loadout is a minimum load of fuel (33 minutes, more than enough for arcade battles or realistic battles), Universal or Tracer 7 mm belts on both defensive and offensive 7 mm guns (maximal AP-I ammunition) and the payload of 2 x 250 lb bombs and 1 x 500 lb bomb.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	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		Offensive 7 mm	FSBC mk.5
II		Compressor	Airframe	New 7 mm MGs
III	Wings repair	Engine		Turret 7 mm	FLBC mk.1
IV		Engine injection	Cover	New 7 mm MGs (turret)

Weaponry upgrades and engine should be prioritized with this aircraft, due to its role as an attacker. Its two primary roles are lugging bombs where they need to be in the minimal amount of time possible and then using them to inflict maximum damage. The FSBC mk.5 gives quite an upgrade to the aircraft, replacing the 100 lb bombs (mediocre at best) with the more powerful 250 lb bombs. However, the FLBC mk 1 is a novelty, at best, and only really useful when lugging bombs onto bases in Operation mode in RB. However, the V-156-B1 is a very bad choice for such a role, and thus, it should be disregarded.

A good research pathway is FSBC mk.5 --> Offensive 7mm Belts --> New 7mm MGs --> Defensive 7mm Belts --> Engine --> New 7mm MGs (Turret) --> Engine Injection. Anything after that is fair game. However, the FLBC mk.1 should be left until last, due to its uselessness in battles.

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Gives the low-rank British player a much-needed replacement for the Swordfish
• It's faster than the Swordfish, and carries more powerful bombs too
• Rear gun has double the amount of ammunition, and the aircraft has a better forward-facing armament
• Good payload- The 500 lbs and 250 lbs bombs are more than enough to penetrate and destroy enemy tanks
• Four offensive machine guns can destroy unarmoured ground targets and other aircraft
• Above average speed against its usual enemies- reserves and low-rank aircraft
• Defensive machine gun keeps enemy fighters at bay

Cons:

• Not particularly fast - Easy prey for low-rank monoplanes and even some bi-planes
• Dead meat if up-tiered or used actively as a fighter - It simply does not have the performance nor the firepower to out-match fighters
• Poor elevator response, especially at high speeds; this means diving attacks from a high altitude (e.g. in RB) are hard to pull off and will require some planning in order to avoid ripping your wings off and/or compressing
• The craft only has landing flaps, that cannot be activated when airbrakes are on, and vice-versa
• Low cockpit visibility due to the "birdcage" construction and the fact that the rear cockpit view is quite limited due to the limited traverse of the rear gun
• Stock payload has the weak 100 lbs bombs which have a low armour kill radius (2 metres) and require some skill to get on target without missing or not penetrating
• Single .303 inch defensive machine gun is better than nothing, but only really serves as a deterrent as the plane will probably be dead by the time the gunner has the chance to knock out the enemy hostile since you only have the one gun
• Not very manoeuvrable, especially with payloads equipped

History

The V-156-B1 was an export variant of the American SBU Vindicator dive bomber that saw service with the Royal Navy.

The V-156F-3 was a variant in service with the French Navy, and 50 more were ordered in March 1940. Delivery was planned for March 1941, but the fall of France in June 1940 caused the order to be shifted to the UK. In the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm (FAA), the V-156-B1 was known as the Chesapeake Mk.I. 

In British service, the V-156-B1 was intended for anti-submarine patrols, but it became apparent that the aircraft lacked the performance to carry the ordinance necessary for that role. As such, they were removed from frontline service and used as a training aircraft until the Fairey Swordfish replaced it in that role.

Media

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

See also

Other planes in the V-156 Family:

• V-156-F
• SB2U-2
• SB2U-3

Equivalents in other nations' trees:

• Ju 87 B-2
• Ju 87 R-2 (Italy)
• Hs 123A-1
• Hs 123 A-1 (China)
• D3A1
• B5N2

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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