Which night fighter would you fly?

in what way was it so tough - the P-61 ? night ground attack yes as a night fighter no......even with so called brakes it still overshot as did the LW crates. the AI was really troublesome according to the crews in the ETO, ID recognition was also of some concern.

 

to answer Huffle yes a 109G with FuG 217 was used for night fighting but soon removed the G-14/AS and G-10's of NJGr 10 and NJG 11 flew against Mosquito's and BC heavies till wars end and were effective if they could get within the bombers and find them. Fw 190A's were also fitted with FuG 217 and 218 Neptun in the wings to chase Mosseis and bombers as well. in NJGr 10 but because of lower altitude ceilings were replaced by the Bf 109G-6/AS and above variants.

E ~

 

Hate to sound pedantic, but the type in the photo is a BXVI ( bomber ).

The Nightfighters ( especially the later ones ) lost some of their prettiness. Here's the NF30.....

http://www.flightglobal.com/airspace/photos/historicalpostwar/images/15526/fa-21980s-jpg.jpg

 

Considering the original question not sure why anyone would want to fly an Axis aircraft, as considering the situation meant you would be flying for a losing side. I am partial to either the Mosquito or the P-61 myself.

 

Alot of times the Bf-109 was often used in this role but pretty much unmodified, there was no room in the aircraft to add anything except a drop tank or two. The Me-109 was a poor choice as a night fighter for that reason plus also limited visibility in the very cramped cockpit and poor canopy design, but it was the most numerous German fighter (34,000 of all variants built by April 1945 vs the next most numerous German fighter FW-190, 20,000 built) and often simply pressed into the night fighter role for that reason. The ju-88 and me-110 were better choices sinces there was more room to add new radars as they came into service, also both these aircraft had much longer loiter time then the ME-109 (fuel capacity of the Bf-109 without drop tanks was only 75 gallons). And multiple crew members of these larger aircraft also meant more people to operate new radars, and more pairs of eyes to find the enemy bombers.

The P-61 was the ultimate purpose-built night fighter and had state of the art radars etc. and did indeed outclass anything anybody else mentioned except possibly an me-262 carrying lots of extra fuel and newest German radars used. What you say about flying for the losing side is indeed true - i think the point of the point of the question is about overall effectiveness i.e. number of kills and viability as a night fighter. And lets face it few people in WW2 got to pick the side they were fighting for.

 

I totally disagree through extended research the P-61 in any form was superior to the Ju 88G-6. the 262 A-1a was indeed the heavy hitter but too short a fuel load that was to be redone in the 262 B-2a with redesigned fuel nacelles.

for it's purpose in 43-45 the 109G did what it had to do even night ground attack in spring of 45.

 

The P61 was no match for a Mosquito XXX fact

 

Thanks, Erich. I had known the Germans used the regular variants of the two fighters at night, but I always wondered whether a night fighter variant of either one was actually designed.

 

Had you been flying a Bf110G-4 during the Winter of '43-'44, you may not have felt as though you were on the losing side.....

 

You make a good point.

 

I'll go with the P-61. Everything that TA Gardner said, plus if you have the .50 turret on top, you not only have your own version of schrage musik, but can fire throughout a 360º circle. You can still get in a killing burst even if you are over shooting your target.

Martin Cadin made a point that with the full span spoilers and large elevators, the P-61 could probably turn inside a Mosquito.

 

Definately the He-219 UHU. It was specifically designed as a night fighter. Was the first WW-2 aircraft with a pressurized cabin and ejection seats. On it's first mission it shot down 5 British bombers.
And yes the Germans did have a Bf-109 Folke-Wolfe nightfighter.:cheers:

 

until a Mossie NF got on your tail when you did not pick it up on your rear warning radar since you did not have any. funny thing is that most of the I./NJG 1 birds did not ahve them nor did any Bf 110G-4's until very very late in the war. Ju 88G-6 it was standard from November 44 till wars end.

yes Streib shot down 5 BC bombers but so did several notable aces with other A/C. the Uhu was plasterde all over the airfield with a nice broken back upn landing, a wonder and God was obviously watching over both of them as they should of been killed