WWII FW190's, how good were they in dogfights?

Subject: WWII FW190's, how good were they in dogfights?
From: nt (Krztalizer)
Date: 5/21/04 1:08 AM Pacific Daylight Time

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

Also almost all Lufttwaffe pilots I spoke to in those mid-1945 conversations
hated the "K: model. Said they were unreliable.And one even said it was
designed to beat the P-51, which it could never do. But only one guy ever said
that. Unfortunately I never persued the point and asked any of the others about
that.

Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

Also almost all Lufttwaffe pilots I spoke to in those mid-1945 conversations
hated the "K: model. Said they were unreliable.

Although its aethetically one of the more attractive of the 109s, I haven't
heard of anyone being a fan of them. You'd think with that big tail and all
the other "end-time" improvements that they'd be good ships, but by then
quality was down quite a bit.

And one even said it was
designed to beat the P-51, which it could never do. But only one guy ever
said
that.

I'm sure that was Willi's intent, but it never worked out that way - the P-51
was simply superb in a fight; add in the quality of our pilots and the K-4 was
never going to be good enough. The 109 was inadequate after 1943 and should
not have remained in production.

But, Speer didn't ask my opinion.

v/r
Gordon

====(A+C====
USN SAR

An LZ is a place you want to land, not stay.

Subject: WWII FW190's, how good were they in dogfights?
From: nt (Krztalizer)
Date: 5/21/04 11:43 AM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id:

Also almost all Lufttwaffe pilots I spoke to in those mid-1945 conversations
hated the "K: model. Said they were unreliable.

Although its aethetically one of the more attractive of the 109s, I haven't
heard of anyone being a fan of them. You'd think with that big tail and all
the other "end-time" improvements that they'd be good ships, but by then
quality was down quite a bit.

And one even said it was
designed to beat the P-51, which it could never do. But only one guy ever
said
that.

I'm sure that was Willi's intent, but it never worked out that way - the P-51
was simply superb in a fight; add in the quality of our pilots and the K-4
was
never going to be good enough. The 109 was inadequate after 1943 and should
not have remained in production.

But, Speer didn't ask my opinion.

v/r
Gordon

====(A+C====
USN SAR


It was clear to me just to hear these guystalk that as the war raged on they
developed a sense of hopelessness. That is a tragic way to fight a war. We were
gung ho and they were fighting but without conviction or hope of any success.
And I think it was the beer that made them relax and talk frankly about how
they felt. And they sure could hold their beer. I still remember those days in
the Hofbrau Haus in Munich 60 long years ago. Like it was yesterday. BTW, that
same Hofbrau Haus just opened a branch here in Las Vegas. Be funny if I walked
in and found those same Luftwaffe guys in there waiting for me swinging their
steins as I came in.. (sigh)


Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer