Was there any preferences between submodels (FW190 A-x and Me-109
E-x, G-xx, K-xx)?


Howdy, Jukka. Always a pleasure to hear from you.

I never tabulated how many flyers preferred specific models, but Galland had a
gorgeous old Bf 109 F as late as October 1944! (He used it to fly from Berlin
to Jüterbog to save Dahl from Göring's wrath the day he got his Eichenlaub to
the KC.) I think it was more a "personal transport" than his actual "war
mount" (although even short relocation hops were highly dangerous by that
time).

I have never heard of any German say they'd pick a Bf 109 G-6/R6 (the
cannon-schiffe with underwing pods), although Gustavs with traditional weaponry
seemed popular. The Erla haube made a huge difference, as did the addition of
cockpit armor. Never heard anyone mentioning a preference for any model prior
to the Emil. As Art pointed out, the Emil, particularly with the centerline
cannon, was very popular with the pilots. By the time the K-4 came out, pilots
didn't even care what model they had, the 'kites' were judged on an individual
basis: some G-6s were preferred over G-10s and Ks, if the former were
considered to be of better manufacture.

"My" guys, the Mosquito hunters stationed at Jüterbog, had access to any Bf 109
available and they tested each new acquisition for their speed - didn't matter
how new or which model it was, if it couldn't catch a Mosquito. All of their
109s were AS-engined, and although no one believes this, several pilots in the
unit claim they tested a "3-stage blower".

The fastest machine in the unit was an overall blue G-6 with cockpit armor and
wing guns pulled. It beat every other machine and the pilot had a shooting
star painted on the beule (similar to how other units had). Late in the war,
when 10./JG 300 went over to NJG 11 as its 5th and 6th Staffel, they still had
a mix of G-6, G-10, and G-14s; no one in the entire Gruppe cared one bit about
which model they were riding, as long as it got them home.

Of the very few FW 190 pilots I've talked to, the FW "could beat anything"
(cof) up to medium altitudes and they were easy to bail out of - which all of
them (5 or 6?) had done; mention 190 Ds, they just smiled. In the 190
D-series, the pilots felt they could handle any individual Allied fighter - but
the problem was, our guys never "...fought you fair, one on one - it was always
our Schwarm against 800 Indians!" Perception, I guess.

v/r
Gordon
Stormbirds.com/recon