Drop tanks for BF 109

[Darth Sarcastis]

Would the Battle of Britian have been lost if each 109 had been equipt with a drop tank. Or would the british switched tactics and still prevailed.

thanks in advance D/S

 

[Kevin J]

Would the Battle of Britian have been lost if each 109 had been equipt with a drop tank. Or would the british switched tactics and still prevailed.

thanks in advance D/S

Of the Luftwaffe's 600 Bf 109 losses, 100 of them was because they ran out of fuel. An insignificant number. However, they did have a good air sea rescue system. I don't see how this makes a difference if you haven't got enough pilots to fly them. IDK how many pilots were saved. More important was the bomber crew losses. Their bombers are still going to get walloped by the RAF. Their fighters are still going to have to jettison their drop tanks early. The Luftwaffe is still going to have to change to a high altitude fighter bomber and night time medium bomber campaign.

 

[tomo pauk]

Would the Battle of Britian have been lost if each 109 had been equipt with a drop tank. Or would the british switched tactics and still prevailed.

thanks in advance D/S

Still no win for the Luftwaffe. They 'lost' the chance of wining the battle for many reasons, one of major being due to over-committing to the Bf 110 production, that amounted to perhaps 35-40% of total German fighters' production between Sept 1939 and Sept 1940. Look at the production totals, attached below, for the important 4 months; British production stated is mostly Hurricanes and Spitfires.
The attacking force needs to out-number and/or out-perform the defenders in an air war, Luftwaffe was unable to do that. They will be loosing more pilots and aircraft due to battle damage for geographical reasons, even the Germans can change that in their favor
My suggestion is that while drop tanks are necessary to improve the German odds, the production of Bf 110 needs to be slashed by early 1939, and 'production' of pilots is to be increased. Bf 109E3 and E4 could also use bigger drums for their cannons, at least.

 

[Denniss]

For all of 1940 I have 1231 Bf 110 and 1868 Bf 109 produced. On the other hand I have 2184 Ju 88, 827 He 111, 315 Do 17 and 611 Ju 87 produced.
I would actually blame the big fat man for having more bombers produced than the fighters would be able to protect. Plus the failure the protect the air crews with sufficient armor and self-sealing fuel tanks + getting the better pilots into bombers (instead of fighters) + the failure to train sufficient fighter pilots and so on. Despite being a fighter pilot himself in WW1 this guy was a complete and utter failure.

 

[pbehn]

Drop tanks were only needed to stay over London. The LW didn't manage to routinely catch the RAF on the ground or to force an airfield to be abandoned although Manston was close to being left. The LW was losing serviceable bombers for all sorts of reasons throughout the battle. By the time the raids on London started where range was an issue the battle was effectively over. On what is termed the hardest day (18 August) when both sides suffered their greatest losses the attacks were escorted, additional range wasn't an issue. On what is termed "Battle of Britain day" where it was clear that the LW were losing simply having a slightly longer range in the Bf 109 wouldn't have changed much at all. I wouldn't say Wiki is a great source but these two links give an idea of the situation.
The Hardest Day - Wikipedia
Battle of Britain Day - Wikipedia

 

[tomo pauk]

For all of 1940 I have 1231 Bf 110 and 1868 Bf 109 produced. On the other hand I have 2184 Ju 88, 827 He 111, 315 Do 17 and 611 Ju 87 produced.
I would actually blame the big fat man for having more bombers produced than the fighters would be able to protect.

Not having the DB-powered Bf 110s in production can give another 2000-2500 Bf 109Es for 1939-40.

Plus the failure the protect the air crews with sufficient armor and self-sealing fuel tanks + getting the better pilots into bombers (instead of fighters) + the failure to train sufficient fighter pilots and so on. Despite being a fighter pilot himself in WW1 this guy was a complete and utter failure.

Having a better training program is indeed a major requirement for LW of (not only) 1940. IIRC German aircraft were featuring protection in most of the cases.

 

[Denniss]

In Poland aircraft had almost no protection. Fo the campaign vs Britain they hastily uparmored bombers and fitted extra guns. Armor on fighters was either limited or not existent and was hastily fitted/upgraded as well. Can't tell for self-sealing fuel tanks, Fat man probably ordered bombers to be upgraded with them first.

EDIT: Drop tanks for Bf 109 would either add a lot more range or a lot more time for air combat over London