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The disparity in developmental time frame between the two fighters which represents a good four years of aviation progress. The high performance P-51 Mustang was conceived during 1940/41 and didn't really come into its own until 1943 over Europe while the FW-190 'Butcher Bird' was a 1937 project and no thoroughbred seven years later. Tank was a WW I infantry soldier turned aircraft designer - his creation was a 'workhorse', powered by a massive air-cooled radial engine and suited for a range of operating environments and mission types - lethal in its early incarnations but rather long in the tooth for 1943-1945. In the battles fought high over the Reich during 1944 the P-51 was 'cutting edge' while the Fw 190 was a lumbering bludgeon totally unsuited for fighter vs. fighter combat. The A-8 variant - produced in greater numbers than all the other FW 190 sub-types put together - weighed in some 2,000 kg heavier than the first Fw 190s to see service over the Channel during 1941 while powered by essentially the same BMW 801 engine. Fw 190s were generally deployed as bomber destroyers - only the odd Staffel of Fw 190s might be deployed as cover against P-51s and these were generally machines stripped of their heavy armament and flown by the handful of pilots that had achieved successes against the P-51s.
didn't claim it was my work, but 100% accurate,
roll your eyes all you like.
Ummmm...
Are we not forgetting that any fighter is only as good as its pilot?
Cheers
John
the guy that got there first shot down the most of them.
somewhere i read yeager said similar comments, i certain trust their opinion more than us wanan be's here, me included
here is from the history of the 20th fighter group, i am sure old cryboy know better than them too.
The Luftwaffe's Last Push
Germany launched its final major air defense operation on 19 January 1945. This last full-scale attack against Allied bombers lasted approximately 20 minutes. In those 20 minutes, over the German homeland, aircraft of the Eighth Air Force downed a total of 121 out of 214 attacking aircraft without the single loss of a fighter aircraft. Only nine B-17s, two percent of the total force, were lost.
19 January 1945:
EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS
STRATEGIC OPERATIONS
(Eighth Air Force):: Mission 800: 2 B-17s and 9 B-24s drop leaflets in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany during the night.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): Bad weather cancels bomber operations; fighters fly patrols and armed reconnaissance; the XIX Tactical Air Command also supports elements of the US III and VIII Corps NE of Houffalize, Belgium and around Clervaux, Luxembourg, and the 5th Infantry Division around Bettendorf, Germany.
20 January 1945
(Eighth Air Force):: Mission 801: 772 bombers and 455 fighters are dispatched to hit synthetic oil plants at Sterkrade and rail targets and bridges in W Germany using H2X radar; they claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; 4 bombers and 3 fighters are lost:
1. 36 of 309 B-17s hit the Holten oil plant at Sterkrade; 225 hit the secondary target, the marshalling yard at Rheine; 1 B-17 is lost, 2 damaged beyond repair and 68 damaged; 8 airmen are KIA, 33 WIA and 61 MIA. Escorting are 189 of 199 P-51s; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
2. 187 of 223 B-17s hit the Heilbronn marshalling yard; 8 hit the secondary, the Pforzheim marshalling yard and 2 hit a target of opportunity; 2 B-17s are lost, 1 damaged beyond repair and 18 damaged. Escort is provided by 39 of 48 P-51s without loss.
3. 170 of 230 B-17s hit the Mannheim marshalling yard and rail bridge; targets of opportunity are Stuttgart (24), Mannheim (21) and other (1); 1 B-17 is lost, 4 damaged beyond repair and 29 damaged. The escort is 130 of 137 P-51s; they claim 1-0-0 aircraft; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
4. 36 of 39 P-51s fly a fighter sweep in the Frankfurt area; 1 P-51 is lost (pilot MIA).
5. 16 of 16 P-51s fly a sweep in the St Vith/Duren area without loss.
6. 16 of 16 P-51s fly a scouting mission without loss.
TACTICAL OPERATIONS
(Ninth Air Force): Bomber operations are cancelled due to weather; fighters fly armed reconnaissance, alerts, and night patrol; the IX Tactical Air Command also supports the 7th Armored Division on the Dutch- German boundary.
I would guess many more P-51's were lost on the search and destroy part of their mission and flak then fighters.
Even more to consider is the P-51 dominated the skies deep in enemy territory. Something no other fighter of that time could do, it's obvious what the best fighter was, the P-51. We can bicker about small facts, but I think it's pretty obvious the facts.
yea i bet you rank right up there with anderson and yeager, in your dreams