Recent content by DJ_Dalton

M... If you want to pay this test any mind, ask them to go back and fly the Spitfire with a drop tank and then we can talk. This 109 WITH GONDOLAS was easily faster in a dive (despite Lunatics claim the IX could outdive the 109) It was faster in level flight at certain altitudes and it...

Maestro I have no idea what you're talking about. I've read accounts from the Experten and others. The Blonde Knight, Rall's Book and several others. The IX is widely recognized as the best Spit dogfighter. It still retained a little bit of its former dexterity with the up engined...

hmmmm, Not Exactly.......first off let me refer you to your erstwhile Spitfire fanatic "Krazy Kanuckistani". From his voluminous library he produced the following regarding maximum dive speeds for the IX and the 109G: http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=59426#59426 Please...

Yeah, I'd say so too. But, it needed the speed and climb rate to get out of the "duck on a pond" mode with the FW190. But what it got changed it from a nimble plane to a plane that better show up in large numbers because there weren't gonna be many tail shot hose downs. If became more like a...

Yes it was poor. It did not take damage very well. Handled horribly damaged and had an inline motor that could fail with minimal damage. I looked at squadron kills once for the Luftwaffe and they were huge, but it got bad at the end of the war against Jugs and Stangs. Most of their 109's...

Range isn't the reason the Spitfire was withdrawn. It was fighting over France and escorting British bombers until they went night action and America stepped in with large scale daylight bombing and long range fighter escort. Whenever the Spitfires flew over France they attrited in significant...

Cheddar, you are correct. I neglected this plane. It was the best of motors in a very aerodynamic design. I don't know how many they made but it was exceptional. http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Ferone/3961.htm

Ok, good point about comparing contemporaries. By the time they compared the "captured" FW190 to the up motored XIV, (1944) the FW190 was in a new series of motor with higher boosts and they weren't all up armored for bomber interception. Well, first off, I'm not contesting that the Mustang...

Maestro, you're coming a bit unglued, so left me try and address you're tangential and unspecific points one at time so that you are quite clear upon the fact that the Spitfire was a useful plane as a weapon, but not one you'd ideally equip yourself with if you had a choice.] Yes, thats easy...

I'll rest my case on the photos shown and the photos not shown. I don't know what Robert Johnson said for sure or what he was stated to have said, but this P-47 is in a lot better shape than scores of others I've seen photos of. It may be the story broke well after the war. Case Dismissed.

Yes, reading is a terrible thing to waste. One thing you might read Krazee Kunuckistani are the accounts of how exasperated the Spit Pilots were with 109's. They could not catch them unless the 109's chose to turn with them. They couldn't catch them in dives and they couldn't catch them in...

I don't know anyone that regards the Spit XIV as the best plane of the war. It had a counter rotating engine to the Merlins (Griffin engine you know) and the Spit pilots didn't even consider it a spitfire. It was almost an entirely new plane. It did not have much of a performance edge over the...

You only need look at those pictures above to realize theres something rotten in Denmark. Not only do the pictures fail to depict 21 20 mm shell hits, they fail miserably to depict 200 7.92 round hits. The poster tried to pawn off 5 20 mm PROPELLOR hits and 9 unobservable wing hits for an...

I guess what Crazy Kanuck is saying is that the Bf-109's couldn't outdive Spitfires. You'd think someome making that implied assertion would link to the whole document. 6/10/41 max speed of 248 at 36K? Maybe. The 109F did have some early structural issues and I wouldn't be surprised if this is...

Its more likely you've never run across anyone that is more familiar with the air war or anyone that spent more time looking into the details rather than listening to those who ultimately prevailed awarding their own laurels. You're problem is going to be you can't point to anyone or...