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When we all get the opportunity to fly the WWII sims of late summer and early fall it must be remembered that the aircraft modeled were once real machines in the stormy European war skies more than fifty years ago. Let's look at some of the statistics and features of the aircraft modeled in Janes WWII Fighters.
NORTH AMERICAN P51-D MUSTANG
This is the premier fighter aircraft of all time. It was created
in a mere 117 days but lived up to every hope that was sought
by U.S. fighter pilots who desperately needed an upper hand.
The "D" was preceded by the "B" in action and any "B"
shortcomings were addressed in it. A bubble canopy and cut-down
rear fuselage vastly improved visibility. Two more .50 caliber
machine guns were added for a total of six. With a range of
2,000 miles it could stay with the "big friends" all the way to
Berlin and beyond.
The 1,695 h.p. Packard-built Merlin V-12
propelled it to 437 m.p.h. at 25,000 feet. Its ceiling was
41,900 feet and rate of climb of 3,200 feet per minute. With a
competent pilot it was able to maneuver with most any German
plane though classic dogfights were rare. The Mustang truly owned
the air over Germany and many Luftwaffe pilots were very
apprehensive of engaging them in a one on one basis.
Once the
4th Fighter Group had Mustangs they matched the best German
fighters turn for turn if need be and began running up good
scores. American pilots generally used the advantage of altitude
with speed and slash techniques to pass through the enemy
formation, pick a target and fire on it; try it in sims, it
works.
Up to 2,000 lbs of bombs or six 5 inch rockets could be
slung beneath the P-51 for ground attack work. When the Mustangs
debuted over Europe in 1943 even Herman G”ring conceded that the
war was lost. The "Debden Gangsters" of the 4th were a great
contributor to his opinions.
MESSERSCHMITT BF 109G-6
It's predecessors had been flying since 1936 but the G was the
most proliferous model due to its ability to accept infinite
modifications. The G-6 was the first model to supplant its two
13mm cowl mounted machine guns and nose mounted 20mm cannon with
either a pair of 20mm MG 151s or 30mm Mk 108s! Further tinkering
added a 21 cm. rocket tube beneath each wing for still greater
potency against Allied bombers.
Field modifications by master armorers led to many varieties from one aircraft. Of course the bolt-ons degraded performance. This author once asked General Galland if his personal aircraft carried the extra 20s when the practice was just starting. He simply snorted, "Hell yes!"
Its
1,475 h.p. Diamler-Benz direct port fuel injected V-12 gave it a
top speed of 387 m.p.h. at 22,970 feet. The plane's ceiling was
39,750 feet with a climb rate of nearly 3,300 f.p.m. Range was
only 615 miles at best. And with the extra gondola guns,
maneuverability suffered.
Favored by the top German aces, the
109G-6 excelled as the workhorse of the Luftwaffe. What ever
shortcomings it had, one must remember that Ace of Aces, Erich
Hartmann, scored his 352 kills in the venerated 109.
Click to continue
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LOCKHEED P-38J LIGHTNING
The Lightning never gained the ascendancy in Europe that it did
in the Pacific. The Luftwaffe had plenty of high altitude
aircraft that the Japanese did not and this nullified the
advantage the P-38 had: swooping down on its prey.
It easily
took part in long-range escort missions with its ample 2,260 mile
range. In the Mediterranean It was dragged down to low altitude
in most fights and never excelled. Two Allison V-12s of 1,425
h.p. gave the "J" a climb rate of some 3,000 f.p.m. while on its
way to a 44,000 foot ceiling. At 30,000 feet the Lightning
managed its 414 m.p.h. top speed.
The 20mm cannon and four .50's
mounted in the nose were easier to hit with compared to wing
mounted guns that were most effective at certain convergence
ranges. The P-38 could tote ten 5 inch rockets and up to
3,200lbs. of bombs and was successful as a ground attack plane
but was phased out of air to air work as P-47s and P-51s became
plentiful.
The key to success was the basic energy fighter
concept- high speed slash through of the enemy formation. You
can see this modeled in most sims artificial intelligence as the
American fighters go way, way out to take advantage of the speed,
inertia, and distance before they turn to face you with their
guns down your throat.
FOCKE-WULF FW 190 A-8
As sister-in-arms to the BF 109, the FW 190's airframes lent
themselves to endless modifications and sub-variants. No plane
was better armed. The A-8 normally carried four 20mm cannon and
two 13mm machine guns, but some had two of the 20mm's replaced by
MK. 103 30mm's. This made for a superb bomber attacker, but
after maximum speed of 408 m.p.h. was attained at 20,000 feet,
performance fell off.
Two 21 centimeter mortor rocket tubes could be attached beneath the wings also. Again, creative armorers attached up to four extra 20mm's under the wings. If you've flown any of the sims with this modification modeled you now have a taste of how severely it degraded performance.
The BMW 14 cylinder radial pumped out 2,100 h.p. with methanol-water injection. It did not have a high ceiling at 37,400 feet.
Initial climb rate was 3,450 f.p.m., and in its element as a pure
fighter it was splendid. The 190 had a high roll rate, better
armament and could take more punishment than the BF 109, but
possessed a range of only 500 miles. It was capable of carrying
an 1,800 Kg bomb for a short distance and supplanted the
effective but slow Ju 87 Stuka as a close support aircraft.
From Captain Brown's tests in 1941:
"The Canadian pilots had to evade the German attacks and
break for home as best they could. Three Spitfires made it back to
their field at Rochford. Two more force-landed at Manston; one of
these was a complete writeoff. The other seven planes came down in the
Channel. Only one of their pilots was rescued.
The survivors claimed no victories over the Focke-Wulfs.
This battle, which lasted only
seven minutes, resulted in eight confirmed JG 26 claims. Hptm.
Muencheberg tallied his eightieth and eighty-first victories, while
two of his Second Gruppe pilots scored singles. Hptm. Seifert scored
his thirty-fifth victory, and three other First Gruppe pilots scored.
The cumulative effect of encounters such as these was the
demoralization of all levels of Fighter Command, from top to bottom.
The Air Ministry was slow to react, apparently lulled into complacency
by its own government's constant claims of aerial success. On 17 July,
Sholto Douglas put the matter bluntly in a letter to his superiors:
'We are now in a position of inferiority. . . . There is no doubt in
my mind, nor in the minds of my fighter pilots, that the FW 190 is the
best all-round fighter in the world today.'
Go to Part II
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