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Regarding the calculations made by Crumpp, well I've talked to him over PM and his calculations are based on actual flight data on the a/c, stall speed, thrust etc etc.. So they are in the right ballpark, and are good for comparing a/c.
I didn't disagree about 'ballpark' - I noted to you (and Gene - and he agrees) that each comparison must be made for the altitudes and power curves of the engines - which they do. A Mustang will kick into a high horsepower rating under automatic boost than an Fw 190... ditto an Fw 190D or whatever. So, if you wish to present each curve - note the altitude and rated Hp of the engine at that condition? Take the rated Hp of the Fw 190A-8 against the P-51B Mustang at say, 15, 20, 25 and 30,000 feet - then make your case.
Sea Level to 5,000 feet should be easy, above that it will get more complicated
By looking at the power available to the Dora-9 and the lower drag it's quite obvious it was a better turn fighter than the A-8, and the German comparative reports and the opinions of the vets who flew the a/c agree with this.
Then by definition of low drag as the criteria, it should be 'quite obvious' that the Mustang is a better turn fighter than either of the Fw's or 109's?
And part of this debate is that the comparisons that some made, as reflected in JG26 were in opposite opinion - so what are we to believe when one set of vets disagree, anecdotally, with the others?
And where are the Comparative reports you just mentioned? I can find them from the RAF and the USAAF but nowhere else?
Even CALCULATIONS, if founded on the drag results from Flight Tests are useful
As for Caldwell, I never said he was full of it, I infact said otherwise. What I did say is that he has little insight into technical aspect of these fighters, where'as Dietmarr has covered this area extensively.
Soren - this is cut and pasted from your comments
"In short, Caldwell is talking trash and knows nothing of what he's talking about as all the vets, experts physics tell a much different story from the one told by Caldwell in that article.
This is ofcourse not your fault Bill, I'm just letting you know that the article is pure BS."
How did I mis interpret what you wrote? It isn't obvious to me.
PS: I really don't appreciate your accusations of bias Bill, I haven't been biased or selective I have just looked at and compared the data I have and have been made available. So I hope for the sake of this debate that you don't continue with these blind accusations, either that or I will cease to participate.
It says "Optimum take off" which means the setting which yields the quickest take off, it doesn't say flaps werent used.
80% of 1600 ft (487 m) is 1280 ft (390m), which sounds reasonable at take off power. I'll happily believe that (1600 ft did sound a little high).
As to your personal experience with a restored P-51, well the P-51's in service were heavier as they were stacked with ammo and also different electrical systems I'd presume?
Soren, this is what I wrote
"I wonder if your source confused the landing roll with Take Off stats? Or was using flaps 'neutral' instead of short field 15-20 degrees. If so, their figures make sense but doesn't tell the whole story
the extra 560 pounds fro full fuse tank would mean perhaps another 100-120 ft to generate the airspeed to lift the extra weight.
These numbers closely approximate my own experience, which for the one I was flying in - would have been around 9300+ (me in back, no fuse fuel, full wing tanks, no guns/ammo, extra radio/nav/flight controls) and routine take offs in 1000 feet with flaps at 20 degrees"
The airplane had GI issue electrical and plumbing. Only Mod was, canopy, second cockpit/remove fuselage tank, no guns/ammo, second set of oxygen equipment - essentially what would be found in a TF-51D with very little weight difference.
Then by definition of low drag as the criteria, it should be 'quite obvious' that the Mustang is a better turn fighter than either of the Fw's or 109's?
Soren - this is cut and pasted from your comments
"In short, Caldwell is talking trash and knows nothing of what he's talking about as all the vets, experts physics tell a much different story from the one told by Caldwell in that article.
This is ofcourse not your fault Bill, I'm just letting you know that the article is pure BS."
How did I mis interpret what you wrote? It isn't obvious to me.
Bill, stop being anal. The P-51 features a lower lift wing, lower HP engine, is heavier etc etc, in short it's another a/c. The reason the FW-190 A-8 D-9 can be compared so directly is because they both use the same wing, but one has less drag and more power, hence a better turn rate. It's very simple really, and I'm pretty astounded that you haven't gotten it yet.
You have the drag figures for comparison between the Anton and Dora?
So, Soren, explain how the P-51B was faster than both with inferior aerodynamics and power. Ditto on climb, or every close performance comparison in all regimes?
It is pretty clear that I'm a little 'slow' because I challenge quite a bit of what you say when not accompanied by a fact base... and, if the Dora was so clean, why the issues with the engine seal in attaining predicted speeds from wind tunnel drag?
And the engine power of a P-51B/D is less than an Fw 190A-8? at what altitudes? and if the performance of the 51B is better than the Dora, how could that be for a heavier aircraft with lesser aerodynamics
Hey if you cut and paste out of context you can make it look like I said anything you want!
Please illustrate how I took your specific words out of context?
You might want to note that I posted that response BEFORE Kurfürst presented other datas from the book, data which conflicts with yours.
Go back and look at what Kurfurst reproduced. Do you see one comparison of Fw 190D versus Mustang? And it conflicts with the Diary entry from the same book, How?
Now I don't have Caldwell's book, so I took it was an article you were posting Bill, hence my first remark. That having been said Caldwell clearly hasn't got any insight into the technical aspect of these fighters, if he did he wouldn't make such claims.
Best fighter interceptor is, as usual, difficult to nail down. I am going to address the interceptor part and assume the fighter part follows along.
In order to be a great interceptor, an aircraft must have several excellent characteristics as follows:
1. Time to climb. The interceptor must reach the altitude of the bomber, or higher, in a minimum time.
2. Firepower. The interceptor must have sufficient fire power to quickly dispatch heavily armed bombers. Most American fighters are short in this area (no need, no heavily armed bombers to shoot down).
3. Evasive capability. The interceptor must be able to evade escort fighters. This does not necessarily mean to defeat them, only evade them. I would assume airspeed and high altitude performance, for attack from above, is most valuable for evasion.
4. Endurance. The interceptor must have enough endurance to do severe damage to the bomber formation. The job of the interceptor is to disrupt the bomber formation and inflict severe losses on the attacking force.
The primary bomber threat falls into three categories, small and medium bombers, and fighter bombers, all usually operating below 15k ft., early heavy bombers, B-17 et.al., at 20-25k, and the B-29, operating above 30k.
For comparison purposes, I will address bombers at 25k and 33k. Two aircraft that should be included are the P-38L and Bf-109K. I have little data on the P-38L and limited data on the Bf-109K.
Time to climb, 25k ft.- quickest first
Spitfire XIV 6.6 minutes
P-51B 7 minutes (75"hg boost)
P-51H 7 minutes
P-47M 7.3 minutes
F4U-4 7.5 minutes
Bf-109G about 7.5 (7.8 at 26k) minutes
Fw-190D-9 7.6 minutes
Ta-152H 8 minutes
P-51D 9.2 minutes (67"hg, probably a bit longer than the P-51B at 75"hg)
Time to climb, 33k
Spitfire XIV 9.5 minutes
P-51H 9.8 minutes
Ta -152H 10.1 minutes
Bf-109G 11.9 minuets
P-51B 12.4 minutes
Fw-190D-9 12.5 minutes
F4U-4 12.8 (mil power only)
P-51D 12.8 minutes
P-47M 13.4 minutes
Firepower – best first (a guess)
Bf-109G two 15mm, two 20mm, one 30mm-excellent
Ta-152H one 30mm, two 20mm-excellent
Fw-190D-9 two 13mm, two 20mm Very Good
Spitfire Mk XIV two 20mm, two 30 caliber-very good
F4U-4 six 50 cal-(Medium), or four 20mm (very good}
P-47M eight 50 cal.-Probably Good
P-51D six 50 cal.-Medium
P-51B four 50 cal.-Poor
P-51H four 50 cal.-Poor
Evasive potential-25k, top speed, rate of climb, service ceiling-fastest first
P-51H 466 mph, 2350 ft/min, 41,600 ft
P-47M 453 mph, 3000 ft/min, >33k
Ta-152H 449 mph, N/A (2854 ft/min at 30k), 48,500 ft
F4U-4 448 mph, 2600 ft/min, 41,600 ft
Spitfire XIV 446 mph, 3100 ft/min, 43,500 ft
P-51B 440 mph, 2120 ft/min, 38,500 ft
P-51D 440 mph, 2100 ft/min, 41,600 ft
Fw-190D-9, 422mph, 2280 ft/min, 39,370 ft
Bf-109G, 420mph, (2135 at 26k), 38,700 ft
Evasive potential-33k, top speed, rate of climb, service ceiling
P-47M 475 mph, N/A (2200 ft/min at 30k), >33k
Ta-152 458 mph, NA (2854 ft/min at 30k), 48,500k
P-51H 440 mph, 1250 ft/min, 41,600 ft
Spitfire XIV 438, 2000 ft/min, 43,500
F4U-4 434 mph, 1600 ft/min, 41,600 ft
P-51B 423 mph, 1200 ft/min, 38,500 ft
P-51D 418 mph, 1250 ft/min, 41,600 ft
Bf-109G 398 mph, 1175 ft/min, 38,700 ft
Fw-190D-9 391 mph, 984 ft/min, 39,370 ft
Endurance-longest first (a guess)
P-51B With 184 gallons of main fuel and a 85 gallon extended range tank-excellent
P-51D Probably a mite less than the P-51B-excellent
P-51H Unknown, probably excellent
Ta-152 With 263 gallons, excellent
P-47M With 250 gallons and a 100 gallon reserve, endurance should be excellent
F4U-4 With 237 gallons, endurance should be excellent
Fw-190D-9 No data, probably medium
Spitfire XIV With 134 gallons, medium
Bf-109G No data, probably medium
Conclusion based on this data, at 25k feet, best to last:
1. Spitfire XIV. Excellent time to climb beating the next fastest by 20-30 seconds. Good firepower. In top mix of airspeed, best in rate of climb, and very good ceiling. Let down a bit by endurance.
Next four are very close.
2. F4U-4. Very good time to climb. Excellent firepower with 20s medium with 50s. In the top mix of airspeed, good rate of climb, good ceiling. Excellent endurance.
3. P-47M. Very good time to climb. Good firepower. In the top mix of airspeed (second to P-51H), second behind Spitfire in rate of climb, good ceiling. Excellent endurance.
4. Ta-152. Good time to climb, excellent firepower. In the top mix of airspeed, rate of climb among the best, excellent ceiling. Excellent endurance. Great performance, only let down by time to climb, almost a minute and a half slower than the Spitfire.
5. P-51H. Among the best in time to climb. Poor firepower. Excellent airspeed-best in class, very good rate of climb, very good ceiling. Firepower prevents competing for best at 25k.
The next four are all pretty equal
6. Fw-190D-9. Very good time to climb. Very good firepower. Much slower in airspeed than other contestants except the Bf-109G, 18 mph slower than the next slowest on the list. Very good rate of climb, among the lowest ceiling in mix. Airspeed would make it difficult to penetrate an equal number of escort fighters including P-51B/D/H and P-47s.
6. Bf-109G. Very good time to climb. Excellent firepower. Slowest of the bunch, so comments similar to Fw-109D-9.
7. P-51D. Probably reasonable time to climb with max boost (probably would have scored higher if I had the data for 75" Hg boost). Medium firepower. Very good airspeed, good rate of climb, good ceiling. Forte is long range escort.
8. P-51B. Excellent time to climb-tied with P-51H for second. Poor firepower. Very good airspeed, good rate of climb, lowest ceiling (maybe early model). Forte is long range escort.
Conclusion based on this data, at 33k feet, best to last:
1. At 33k, only one aircraft contending, the Ta-152H. The only aircraft in this bunch with any advantage at all at 33k ft. is the P-47M with a 17 mph airspeed advantage, but not much else.
2. Spitfire
3. F4U-4
4. P-47M
5. P-51H
6. Everybody else.
Overall, of the above choices, I think the Ta-152H would be preferred, due to its outstanding high altitude performance, and its very good capability at lower altitudes.
I think the best interceptor at all altitudes is the Me-262. Its higher speed and powerful armament supersedes slower climb and lesser ceiling than most of the listed aircraft. In flown appropriately, and with protected airfields, I think the Me-262, with a reasonable amount of aircraft available, could have stopped daylight bombing in Europe.
This is just my rationale. All of these aircraft were superb aircraft and proved to be deadly. In addition, variation from the mean has a big impact on assessment. For example, it was noted in this thread that Fw calculated data was guaranteed to 3%. Well, at 400 mph, that means it could be anywhere between 388 mph to 412 mph, a 24 mph spread. Flight test also has range variable. I have found both calculated and test data on the P-51B at SL of between 374 mph and 386 mph. And we tend to compare aircraft doing 453 to one doing 448. So, anyway, this is kind of a guess based on what I think is important and what data I have found, and so, in general, is up for interpretation.
Davparlr,
Pretty good comparison there, although I'm unsure about the 109G figures as it depends allot upon which version we're talking about.
Some corrections;
The Ta-152H-1 will definitely reach 25 kft allot quicker than 8 min, being a much quicker climber than the Dora-9 from SL and up, something which is quite clear from just looking at the time to climb to 10 km and the much shorter take off run.
Also the service ceiling of the Ta-152H-1 is 15.1 km (49,540 ft) with GM-1.
And top speed is 760 km/h (475 mph) with GM-1.
Note: The GM-1 system doesn't kick in unti atl 11.5 km.
drgondog said:As far as firepower, there were no bombers the LW or Japanes put in the air that six 50 calibers had to struggle with -
You have the drag figures for comparison between the Anton and Dora?
So, Soren, explain how the P-51B was faster than both with inferior aerodynamics and power. Ditto on climb, or every close performance comparison in all regimes?
Please illustrate how I took your specific words out of context?
Soren, for what it is worth you are an amateur Aero Engineer by your own admission
I have a MS Aero Engineering from University of Texas, was a practicing Aero for two years at Lockheed and then a practicing Structures engineer at Bell Helicopter for four years and pioneered NASTRAN acceptance by US Army and Marine Corps for Cobra programs. You make continuous snide remarks about my intellectual capability.
Go back and look at what Kurfurst reproduced. Do you see one comparison of Fw 190D versus Mustang?
YES! Read my posts for crying out loud! I've already added two charts, one with flat plate comparisons and another from FW with the aerodynamics of the FW190 Ta-152 series in detail!
Didn't see either one or I wouldn't have asked
Christ! I wasn't even talking about the P-51 !! I was comparing the FW-190 A-8 to the D-9. And I never claimed that the P-51 had inferior aerodynamics! Infact if you took the time to actually read my posts you'll notice that the chart I presented just below prepared by Lednicer shows that the P-51 has markedly less drag than the other a/c pr. surface area (Thank the laminar wings). Take a look at the flat plate comparison, if you even know what this is (Sorry couldn't help myself seeing how you just tried to patrionize me in the roughest manner), the flat plate area of the P-51 is 4.65 sq.ft. vs the D9's 4.77 sq.ft.
Why, yes I do Soren. The subject has never come up in posts you and I have debated. I knew the answer before I posed the question. Perhaps I was too subtle for you? Drag is a major factor in retaining energy in a turn.. having said that direct me to the flat plate comparisons that you posted.
All I ever said about the P-51 was that it features a lower lift wing (Albeit also a lower drag one) and a lower HP engine than the A-8 D-9, and so it's a DIFFERENT aircraft (The design is completely different) and thus can't be compared directly with the FW190 when you have an increase in HP and decrease in drag.
Soren, you completely freaked out when I posted the JG26 pilots recounts of their disappointment regarding turn performance of Dora versus Anton. You went into a deeper depression when they (the JG26 pilot author of the comments) expressed dismay regarding the relative performance of the Dora versus the Mustang - go back and read your comments
No problem. I made the remark in question BEFORE Kurfürst presented completely contradicting info from the book compared to the article presented by you!
Go back for the third time Soren. The anecdotal quotes from Ossenkop (That Kurfurst accurately captured) made in reference to Dora Performance versus Allied Fighters made no mention of contrasts against the Mustang - which was one of the points (anecdotal) that Caldwell's book captured. You dismissed all of his 'transcript' as BS - how would you know what Caldwell's academic or theoretical expertise is?
Take a look at the quote presented by Kurfürst please, and then tell me what does it say?
I have, and have again, and once more posed the contrasts. The circular argument we seem to be in is as follows.
One set of Luftwaffe pilots say they are disappointed in Dora performance (from expectations) against the Anton in turn and roll. You boldly claim that Caldwell is BS and ALL LW pilots hold a different point of view.
So far, its anecdotal, right?
Next the same batch of pilots in Caldwell's book that expressed disappointment in Dora versus Anton also are concerned that it isn't outperforming the Mustang. You boldly claim that the Dora is far better and that all LW pilots that REALLY flew the Dora would agree with you.
So far, it's anecdotal
I ask for technical data from you that would prove your thesis regarding your anecdotal claims. You produce one set of charts with no context that look official and you reproduce the charts Gene posted regarding G loads versus airspeed. I point out that the charts are for one set of power range at one altitude and have always conceeded that the Anton and the Mustang turn equally well in most altitudes.. and anecdotally that the Dora and Mustang are pretty close also.
But you do not have flight test info, no have you ever had any to show the results of Mustang versus Anton or Dora - other than the well documented tests of RAF and USAAF which you dismiss out of hand.
I suppose you do so, because your intellectual and academic and industry practices enable you to make those statements -anecdotally- and everyone will agree? Well they don't!
Furthermore I later made it clear that Caldwell isn't trying to descieve anyone, he just says what he knows. HOWEVER Caldwell has clearly shown that he knows little about the technical aspect of these fighters.
And you have proven this how?
I am a fully educated engineer Bill, and I've had an interest within the aerodynamics field for many years, studying the subject, and so far it seems I have a better understanding of how things work than you. (Again sorry, but you get what you give)
So I'm no freaking amateur!
Yes, you are. Despite my own academic and industry practice which far exceeds your own in this field, I am also an amateur.
Funny then how you don't seem know what the flat plate area refers too..
Amusing that you make this statement with no context, proof points or, in this specific case, knowledge of what I know.
We were comparing the A-8 to the D-9 because Caldwell claimed that the A-8 turned better than the D-9, which is untrue.
Ah, of course. Caldwell is a liar, for believeing cowardly liar JG26 pilots who would make such lying statements?
Kurfurst then presented quotes from Caldwell's very own book completely contradicting what Caldwell claimed in that article presented by you !! The P-51 wasn't even part of it!!
The Mustang comparison WAS part of Caldwell recount as noted above and several posts in this thread. Interesting that Caldwell would pose reflections from both sides of this discussion, anecdotally, and you choose one while dismissing the other? and your feelings are hurt when someone says you are biased?
You need to learn to focus on the subject at hand Bill, cause now you're all over the place!
The wandering is you sir. No test facts to substantiate any claim you have made with respect to turn for example. No LW test reports for one on one comparisons of Fw 190 versus Me 109 versus Mustang - but you will dispute the words of one of LW greatest pilots Rall on this subject.
It seems that you blow up in a wild rampage anytime someone mentions the P-51, emmidiately turning on the defensive as if someone had just said that the P-51 is the worst a/c on the planet! Cool the f**k down for crying out loud and don't pull things out of context!
LOL - illustrate "rampage" Sir.
So take you own advice, let the testosterone emotions drain from your body and come back!
So bloody ridiculous!