Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
Was that chart yours or out of an online charting application for a game? I ask only because I have seen similar charts from one of the gamesites. Hope it was yours!
Kryten,
I am going to stand by the information I have posted:
MESSERSCHMITT Me 109F PERFORMANCE - Aircraft Performance - The Great Planes : World War Two Warbirds
as the absolute best quick, readily comparable performance
on the web at this time. However, I would like to add that it is
very incomplete and is in need of some serious additions.
If that is not the answer you are looking for at this time, my
answer is; I'm working on it.
Hey Greyman,
Was that chart yours or out of an online charting application for a game? I ask only because I have seen similar charts from one of the gamesites. Hope it was yours!
Hi Kryten,
There is no mention of Bf 109F models being WAY faster than contemporary British Spitfires (probably the Spit V), and I am assuming the Bf 109F charts with top speeds in the 370 - 385 mph range are correct until I can find some evidence of greatly superior speed by the Bf 109 F. Lacking that, I can only assume these were later model F's or, alternately, special test models, as the Germans were fond of in propaganda campaigns, particularly earlier in the war. One can find their apparent claims of squadrons of He 100s in archives before the war started.
The Britsh pilots complained loudly and long about the new Fw 190 when it was faster by much less than 50 - 60 mph than a Spitfire, and that is well documented. Strange they would complain about the Fw 190 but ignore a much faster Bf 109, at least to me. That is the single reason I doubt the 410+ mph speed ... because it would run away from a Spitfire of the same vintage. And that didn't show up in contemporary combat reports that I have seen or heard about.
Doesn't mean they don't exist ... means I haven't seen or heard of them in any numbers. I've been reading about these planes for over 50 years and have been restoring / working on them, and talking with people who fly them for 11 years now. Haven't heard of any greatly superior performance by either the contemporary Spitfires OR Bf 109s. Mostly, they were well-matched throughout the war, with one or the other having a slight edge, probably up until fall 1944 when things started to unravel for the Nazis. Even at the end, a decent-running Bf 109K-4 flown by a good pilot was a match for almost anything it encountered ... with the understandable exception of tens to hundreds more enemy planes all at once.
40 Meserschmitts defending a 1,000-plane raid wasn't going have much impact, no matter WHO was flying them.
Cheers.
Without having read the whole thread
I would suggest strongly to read the whole thread before posting. Just an FYI, Jeff
I'd like to ask if a Me 109F-4 could challenge a Yak-3 given similar wing and power loading?
Any plane at any time could challenge another, and you are right about the wing and power
loadings.
And would the Yak-3 have an advantage at higher speeds because of the alleged
control stiffness of the Me 109 in that realm?
I believe Erich loved the pureness of the Bf.109F. It was of clean design.
...... It was not as forgiving as the Spitfire. Jeff
Also, the Bf 109F model introduced the airfoiled vertical fin to help with takeoff. The prop turned right, just like a Merlin, and the plane tended to go left, requiring right rudder on takeoff and initial climbout. They airfoiled the left side of the vertical fin to make it want to turn right a bit, and that helped. So, the F would have had easier ground handling than earlier Bf 109 variants, in addition to being light and aerodynamically improved.