Best Luftwaffe Fighter

Red B :

Huh ? what has this to do with best Luftwaffe fighter ? I do understand your statement if it is comparision of fighter vs fighter combat.

E

 

Ok....please this is not an easy topic:

Nighfighter: Junkers Ju-88G-1
Day interceptor: Messerschmitt Me-163B
late fighter: Focke-Wulf Ta-152C

and we canot forget about the greats Dornier Do-335, Messerschmitt Me-262 (pushed by angels) and the Heinkel He-162A Volksjäger...and even in the last months of the war the eternal Messerschmitt Bf-109

 

Greetings A :

Interesting proposals you have come up with. Ju 88G-1 was only a stop gap for the successful Ju 88G-6 with updated Jumo engines and radar.
Ta 152 C, only a handful if that ever flew in combat since it was an experimental test bed for the H-0 and H-1 series of III. and Stab./JG 301.
Me 162B was a hot ticket and claimed more lives than B-17's. He 162 was the same, a killer of pilots and maybe claimed 1/2 RAF a/c. Do 335 never flew ops......sorry.

E

 

The Me-109 was around before the war started and was around in Spain after the war was over. Next to the Waco glider, I think it was the most produced aircraft of the war. That is the best fighter. Just had bad landing gear.

My own favorite is of course the Ta-152, it looks like a killing machine. The Me-262 was advanced but the engines only lasted 10 or less hours before you needed to replace them and you can't win a war like that.

 

It may have won the poll, but....

 

martin where di you find this interesting pic of the 190A-8 or 9 ?

it appears the wheel strut is camo'd on this a/c ?

 

It is Major Karl Kennel's 190 A-8 of II/SG2, surrendered at Kitzingen alongside Rudel on 8th May 1945.

I linked to the photo via 'Bookie's 190 Site'.....

 

I'm surprised why the FW-190D and TA-152H aren't in the poll, both were clearly superior to the old 190A.

 

wow this poll sure hasn't had many response since 2002.

The Fw 190A-8 was superior in the bomber killing role while the Dora and Tank were superior in altitude to engage P-51 escorts. The Ta 152H was so seldom used and when it was it engaged Soviet and RAF a/c and mid altitude at heights it was not really to excel in. The Dora was a stop gap and was not superior against RAF a/c or P-51's in my opinion. Did quite well against Soviet a/c/pilots though for the last battles for Berlin.

E ~

 

The Dora was not superior against the aforementioned planes because of lack of pilot training, not quality of the plane itself. Schroer said it was better than the mustang.

 

That's a fair comment, Tirpitz. 'Best' is perhaps a contentious term here ; after all, I'd say the Me262 was 'better' in very many respects than the 109.....But the context of the time is important particularly bearing in mind the rapid pace of wartime development. By this token, I'd rate the early Fw190 as 'better' against the opposition in 1941 than the 190D was in late '44/'45.

 

Well Martin I think the British channel coast pilots would agree with that. When the 190 1st appeared, the british noticed a much more willingness to mix it up instead of running for the deck as 109 pilots would sometimes,( not always ),do.

I should mention here that the 109 F-4 was an exellent plane. Rall said it could follow "any" fighter through any manoever.Werner Moulders met a Mk 5 Spit in his F & went through all the usual manoevers, scissors etc. The Spit pilot was Canadian & claimed he could beat anyone in his squadron. He saw the lone 109 & thought it an easy kill. They ended in draw. The Canadian said; Jeez I would have hated to meet that guy in a Spit!. Next day he heard over the radio that his opponent was Moulders.

Oskar Romm said the Dora handled better than the A series. It did not bleed off speed in turns near as much as the A series did. very important in dogfighting, keeping up ones speed in hard maneuvers.
The brain box was a neat advantage the 190 had. It automatically controlled prop pitch, & fuel mixture. The pilot need only work throttle & stick, instead of fiddling with knobs while fighting. It was a pilots dream said Eric brown. American jet pilots that also flew prop jobs in WW2 have said they loved flying the jets as one only had to control throttle & stick & rudder. Just like 190.

 

The Focke Wulf 190 was slightly better than the Messirschmitt Me-109, considering that the 190 was capable of out manuevering other fighters compared to the 109 which was less manueverable, and additionally the 190 had stronger weaponry. The Messirschmitt Me-262 was not fully powered leaving more room, then the Germans would like, for improvement. Obviously the Volksjager simply not the best, being that it was far underpowered, was not properly armored, and didn't retain the proper armaments capable of taking on opponents.

 

Well, fair statements. The 109 could outturn the 190 by a bit. Even the G-14 AS could outturn the A-9 at 20.000 ft.

The controls however got heavy at high speeds in 109 whereas they remained light on 190.

 

the He-162 had one registered kill it was a RAF Spitefire