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Mr Juha
There are memoiries from many German pilots. I am surpised you dont know them. Knocke? Ah yes, he is unreliable. Willie Rescke ? Of course unreliable and leir . Norbet Hanning? Herman Buchner? Hans Ekkehard Bob? Alfred Grislawski ?( dont tell me he was a jg 52 pilot!) ,quotes from dozens other, Rall,Krupinski,Bar,Buhligen,Schroer and dozens others( its pointles to report them all)?Just read Jg 26 war diary.it is full of them Unreliable too? ( Overclaimers without a doubt) Why you"forgot" them? BecauseThey do not fit your claims?
What is reliable? The stories of the winners about "tail fork devils" and "whispering deaths"?
Lipferts (JG52) book says that he could outmanouver the P51 (without Mw50) all times he encountered it. Its report according to you is "of no use"?
Also according to you Finish air force knew the 109 better than the germans? Its tests were correct and the german unreliable? Was reliable the soviet tests that show their aircrafts massively superior but at the same time refuse to publish their airforce losses losses?
Also about the P47 outurning the 109. for the lates P47D s i calculated { wiki data) 284 kgr/m2 wing loading and 3,131 kgr/h power loading
An unboosted 109G6 had 196kgr/m2 wing loading and 2,13 kgr/hp power loading. Do these numbers justify the claim of P47 superior in turning given an equal energy status starting the fight? Wide blade propellers was helpful but enough? Later 109s had wide blade propellers too and more power. Fw 190 also had much better numbers than p47s
In his 56th Fighter Group book pp. 21 and 23 Freeman writes on early 47Cs "As combats had taken place near same level as the bombers, many of the group's pilots had been forced into slow turning and climbing actions. It was clear that the P-47 was no match for the Bf 109 or Fw 190 in such circumstances..."
Juha
What is interesting is that Soviet tests were in line Finnish tests and combat experiences. The only exception from that rule is LaGG-3 Series 28 which Finns thought was clearly poorer turner than the Soviet tests showed. Here the combats were as typical to Eastern Front mostly fought at fairly low level, so nearer to the circumstances in which the Soviet tests were flown.
One must remember that the Soviet tests were flown at 1000m (3048ft) and most of Jug combats were fought at much higher level. Jug was designed for high altitude fighter but on the other hand 109G would also have suffered less from its heavy control forces higher up..
combat reports are reports by the winners, loosers usually didn't write reports, especially those shot down over enemy territories. And because there are so few LW combat reports around we have little info from LW winners. I have read several memoirs of LW aces, but most of them are written by JG 52 aces, so not much use here and IIRC Knoke's memoirs isn't very reliable..
This reminds me of an amusing American quote, not really related but just for fun: "We designed the P-47D for high-altitude fighting and the P-51 for low-altitude bombing: Given where they ended up, it's a wonder we won the war!"
I think you've jumped on the wrong person here.
It is Gaston who is basing his thesis on combat reports - mainly from ww2performance.com, which I would guess are predominately allied reports.
Again it is Gaston making the claim.
Somehow he thinks that the P-47 can out turn P-51s and Bf109s, and he also believes that the Fw190 outturns the Spitfire.
I think Gaston even claims that German tests show that the P-47 out turns the Bf109. The rest of us are sceptical.
I think if you look at previous posts Juha's numbers do not agree with this at all.
Heuschrecke was the vehice with detachable gun turret, not depicted in this image. Superstructure clearly shows this vehicle is based on a modified tank chassis, not on the special-made Geschützwagen. See the image linked above for a real Heuschrecke. The Sd.Kfz.165/1 was never named Heuschrecke.As far as I'm aware the December 1941 version is the only version of the Heuschrecke ordered into mass production. If not for the war Germany would have procured at least 200.
Procurement of any other Heuschrecke model is only speculation. Personally I have my doubts about the turret unloading crane making it past prototype. I think Heer artillery personnel would prefer additional armor protection over the weight of the crane.
Maybe your great science can explain this?:
http://www.spitfireperformance.com/mustang/combat-reports/339-hanseman-24may44.jpg
It does seem to show the P-51 turning like crap for a long while at low speed before the throttle is cut, and stays cut, saving the day...
Gaston
Last the Me 109 had automatic slats. If the Me 109 were traveling fast eniough so the slats didn;t open, it was less maneuverable. Once the slats open, it is moer maneuverable, though the slats DO open asymmetrically if not in coordinated flight and momentarily spoil an aim.
... Note however that being "forced" to slow "turning and climbing actions" suggests to me spiral climbs, which still leaves room for the Me-109Gs not coping in pure horizontal turns. The FW-190A might still be able to contest horizontal turns with the P-47C at this height, but was not climbing competitively compared to a Me-109G...
... Take for instance the Spitfire Mk V being significantly out-turned by the Mk IX, 18.8 to 17.5, which Grep P said was the reverse of what "Planes of Fame" observed... (Brit tests showed a very close parity at all altitudes in sustained turns: I lean a little towards "Planes of Fame" on that!)...
Another US test has the P-51B getting behind the P-47D Razorback in around 3 turns: Absolutely laughable when you compare the sum of their respective combat accounts, but in agreement with Soviet Tsagi tests and the above Zero comparison... It's either or: Either you choose the tests, or you choose the combat accounts.
Maybe dropping the flaps had something to do with it. It is also unclear what measures the German pilot took.
Surely if cutting power enabled the P-51 pilot to turn tighter than the Bf109 pilot that would also hold true for the Bf109 pilot?
Soviet Spitfire tests give wing area, and its clear that the Mk V tested was a clipped wing version, while the Mk IX tested was a full wing version.
This helps explain the difference in turn times.
If the P-51 was going faster than corner speed (about 265 mph) then cutting the throttle would help the turn until he got to corner speed. After that he is just losing ground. Also, if he was going faster than corner speed, the correct response is either to cimb until corner speed is reached or dive away and extent for either escape or reengagement..
Gaston, how does increasing the propeller blade area hurt turning ability?
That doesn't make sense. All it did was to increase thrust, particularly at lower speeds...
Last the Me 109 had automatic slats. If the Me 109 were traveling fast eniough so the slats didn;t open, it was less maneuverable. Once the slats open, it is moer maneuverable, though the slats DO open asymmetrically if not in coordinated flight and momentarily spoil an aim..
According to everything I have read, the bubble-top P-47D was a step forward, not backward. You might notice we are still, to this day, flying mostly bubble canopies. Think of the F-22, F-35, F-18, Eurofighter, Su-27/35/37, J-10 ... I can't think of many modern fighters without a bubble canopy.
All based on flying a PC sim?!?!OK, guys, let's keep the 265 mph "corner speed" in mind (which is really 320 mph as measured in 1989 by the SETP, but no matter):
http://www.spitfireperformance.com/mustang/combat-reports/339-hanseman-24may44.jpg
The fight starts with the P-51 closing on a landing Me-109G at the huge altitude of 150 ft,, the shooting starting at 300 yards, which shooting is carried on to 50 yards, indicating a moderate closing pace over the Me-109G's landing speed: 300 mph? Doubt it: Let's say 250 mph... OK, let's say 300 mph just to be 35 mph above the "corner speed" (at this unproven horizontal corner speed value, at full continuous power, which turned out to be 55 mph below the actual reality when tested in 1989 with modern instruments by the SETP, remember?)... I say "horizontal", because a dive pull-out unloads the prop's load during the dive, which could "artificially" lower the true 320 mph horizontal corner speed as measured by the SETP...
He then pulls up to avoid AAA. Let's say 290 mph at the very most now... 25 mph above the mythical Corner Speed...
Then a turn fight starts at 500 ft.... He is being out-turned by a Me-109G-6 (given the May 1944 timeframe). He then cuts the throttle and this and immediately stops the Me-109G-6's gains.
This happens over several 360s, because "every time I got close to the airdrome they opened fire with light AA guns".
He gradually works the Me-109G away from his airfield, suggesting again that this occurs over several 360s. Speed could not be above 220-230 mph now, at best... 35-45 mph below corner speed...
He then went to do some further downthrottling, going from stopping him "to cut inside me" to "commenced to turn inside him as I decreased throttle settings", all this after numerous 360s, at 500 ft. altitude at the most...
The striking thing is there is no delay mentionned: If he was at a much higher speed that prevented him to turn tightly, how come there is no delay between the lowering of the throttle and the reduction in speed gradually improving his turn?: It would take a delay for the speed to go down, if he was in fact going too fast: No such thing here, where the turn superiority is instantly gained the moment the throttle is lowered: This is mentionned twice in clear language:
-"He stopped cutting me off as I cut throttle"
-"I commenced to turn inside him as I decreased throttle settings"
If this was lowering speed to a very hypotethical "Corner Speed", it would have been:
-"He stopped cutting me off after I cut throttle"
-"I commenced to turn inside him after I decreased throttle settings"
Confirming that the effect is both immediate and permanent, and not transient, is that there is no mention of throttling back up, but two mentions of throttling down: Throttling down produces instantly a superior turn rate permanently compared to a fixed reference point, the chasing Me-109G-6.
And if you don't want to believe it, show me where he mentions that he throttled back up to save his life, for which he cared as much as you do, in addition to providing a combat report of some use to his fellow pilots...
This jives rather well with Karhila's opinion of an optimal, very downthrottled, 160 mph sustained turn speed for the Me-109G-6 does it not? As well as his comment: "When the enemy decreased power, I used to throttle back even more." No mention of throttling back up here either, what a curious coincidence...
virtualpilots.fi: 109myths
You mean Karhila doesn't make sense?: " I found that when fighter pilots got in a battle, they usually applied full power and then began to turn. In the same situation I used to decrease power, and with lower speed was able to turn equally well." virtualpilots.fi: 109myths
I've explained many times over why thrust is leveraging wingload when it comes from so far down the nose. That is why needle-tip prop P-47Ds (which are always Razorbacks for needle tip props), out-turn the Me-109G in sustained turn, as the Germans themselves found out in their own tests.
It is the same with downthrottling: Less trust gains you more reduction in radius than loss in speed, up to a point, and that, unlike what you say, does make perfect sense...
That doesn't explain why the P-51's turning performance suddenly improves relative to that, at clearly very low speeds, when the throttle is cut.
As I said, it has to do more with a lesser maximum power and skinnier needle-tip props than the canopy...
Gaston