Merlin Bf -109 V. DB Spitfire (1 Viewer)

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andy2012

Airman 1st Class
196
1
Feb 12, 2012
I just recently heard about a captured Spitfire being pared with a DB engine. Then there is the Spanish HA-1112, which in later years was fitted with surplus Merlin engines. Does this switch make any plane superior to the other, or was it just a novel idea?
 
I think it was just the Hispano Suiza powered version of the Ha-1112 that had the opposite rotation engine, that combined with the airfoil shaped vertical stabilizer added to all Me109 airframes F and after, ( meant to help counteract engine torque, but for a engine rotating the other way) made for a hard to control aircraft as soon as you got on the power.
 
AFAIR similar comments were made by Avia S-199 pilots but extended to take-off AND landing.
 
If these two planes had ever been in a dog fight would things have gone differently, or would one be more superior? Is this even possible to tell?
 
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AKAIK the Spitfire with DB 601 didn't suffer any of the instability of the Merlin Bf 109.

I think the DB Spitfire would have been superior to the Merlin Bf 109 in a dog fight.
 
I believe it was Flying Review that printed a story by the German pilot of the DB-Spitfire, where he said the engine was too heavy or possibly mounted too far forward for good balance, but on the whole, there wasn't much diff in performance. The lower thrust line probably destabilized it, too. Besides, it looked funny!
 

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