Thread: US Spitfire Over Berlin

Originally Posted by Sleepy

Although I think the FW 190 would have ranked higher if it was built by the allies !

Quite possibly!

Worth noting that there were other aircraft as well that could well rank higher, but for one reason or another were never used in combat enough to be assessed adequately, such as the Spiteful, were found to have significant shortcomings such as the Typhoon's high altitude performance, or even never went into production - I seem to remember a Miles design that outshone the Spitfire in all respects, but the Spitfire was already in production and retooling, retraining etc were not something to be even considered in the middle of a war. This also helps to explain why Britain entered and ended the war with the Spitfire* as their principal fighter, and Germany with the Bf109.

John

*Not strictly correct - most of Britain's front line fighters in 1939 were Hurricanes, but Spitfires were going into service as rapidly as possible.

Originally Posted by Sleepy

Although I think the FW 190 would have ranked higher if it was built by the allies !

Than a Mustang?!
Cheers, Pickles.

Yes The FW190 was a magnificent aircraft ( fast, agile ) but like a number of other German aircraft was built too late and not able to be deployed where they needed it. Also reliability was an issue too.

Which of course raises the age old issue of warfare. It's not just the quality of your weapon but how effectively and reliably it can be deployed.

Eg: The mosquito worked because of its unique construction, the Hurricane and bf109 were available in greater numbers and deployed more effectively.
The Stuka was slow and vulnerable but bloody effective in its ground attack role.

Originally Posted by Sleepy

Yes The FW190 was a magnificent aircraft ( fast, agile ) but like a number of other German aircraft was built too late and not able to be deployed where they needed it. Also reliability was an issue too.

Which of course raises the age old issue of warfare. It's not just the quality of your weapon but how effectively and reliably it can be deployed.

Eg: The mosquito worked because of its unique construction, the Hurricane and bf109 were available in greater numbers and deployed more effectively.
The Stuka was slow and vulnerable but bloody effective in its ground attack role.

Well, we might have to discuss this one day, I've spoken to a few Mustang pilots who were "pretty happy', with what they encountered during WW11.....but for sure....I ain't no expert!
As you are in Melbourne, you might have heard about the '109, that was bought to be restored, & resided in Melbourne for a while.
I have an autographed copy of Adolf Galland's book, "The First & The Last", which he signed, when he was in Melbourne in 1967.....I think I might read it again!
Cheers, Pickles.

As the proverb goes, "necessity is the mother of invention", and wartime is definitely a time of necessity.

There were some huge advances in flight technology during WWII, like the testing for flying at or around Mach 1.

Originally Posted by Pickles2

Well, we might have to discuss this one day, I've spoken to a few Mustang pilots who were "pretty happy', with what they encountered during WW11.....but for sure....I ain't no expert!
As you are in Melbourne, you might have heard about the '109, that was bought to be restored, & resided in Melbourne for a while.
I have an autographed copy of Adolf Galland's book, "The First & The Last", which he signed, when he was in Melbourne in 1967.....I think I might read it again!
Cheers, Pickles.

I now a few Toyota drivers who are happy with their drive too

Yes horses for courses.

I am only an armchair expert. I recall reading Chuck Yeager's first encounter with the FW190 and he was somewhat "surprised"

Your signed book by Galland is a gem, make sure you look after it.👍

No I haven't heard of the 109 in Melbourne - other than numerous 109 Land rovers!

The "109" was shot down in Russia, I believe in 1944, but was raised from that lake many years later. My friend eventually purchased it in an unrestored condition....I actually saw the aircraft in his warehouse in West heidelberg!!...The wings were "attached"....& you could still see the swastika on the tail fin. You could also see the bullet "holes" along the engine block!
My friend went to Germany...he bought some bits....but not the "workshop" manual....apparently thousands of pages @ so many dollars a page....but it was all in German...which he couldn't read. Anyway, he started on the engine, block, crankshaft, injection pump etc.....but it simply was NEVER going to be finished. It was a rare version, the only other known version around being one that was being restored in Poland....my friend's idea was to communicate with them, & share ideas/resources etc....but it came to nothing......it all became too hard.....and too costly.....so I think the plane ended up in the U.S.
Cheers, Pickles.

Hi John,

You are probably thinking of the Miles M.20. It was supposed to be a stop-gap fighter made of wood and featured a fixed undercarriage. It was almost as fast as a Spitfire but with a longer range and carried more guns and ammo.

Another one that should have shone but didn't was the Martin Baker MB.5. That was a real shame as it was outstanding in every respect.

As an aside, about 20 years ago I had an old RAAF pilot come in to my work on the odd occasion. Sadly alcohol got the better of him and he died not long after. He used to fly Mustangs in WW2 and then Korea, mentioning several times that he much preferred the RR Merlin to the licence built US version, the Packard Merlin. He had flown both in combat and said that the RR engine was better put together and could take much more abuse.


Cheers,

Cripesamighty