Picture of the day. (44 Viewers)

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The caption was: "ME 109 shot down over Germany by P 51"

I am looking at this photo, and it just doesn't look right. My first impression is that it's a Fw190 BUT, I look at the tail and the rear of the cockpit (especially the antenna mast) and it points back to the Bf109. However, the cowling (shape and size) just isn't correct for a Bf109.

Then it occurred to me that this looks remarkably like the Bf109X (not the Bf109 V21) *if* it were in combat dress...



(perhaps it's just a crappy photo and it's a Fw190 playing tricks on my eyes...)
 
I don't think it is a Fw 190, especially if she would be a late one , I mean A-8 or D-9 for instance. Please look at the armament that can be noticed. These protruding barrels indicate the outer wing ones but where are these at the wing roots that should be seen as well. The Fw 190D-9 had mounted cannons at the wing roots only and the outer cannons exclude the variant. The A version of the Fw190 had there either MG 151 long barrels or shorter ones of the MK108. But always there were long barrles of the MG151 cannons at the wing roots. Also I would like to pay the attention to the camo layout. The shapes of the camo spots don't look like the ones of the standard Fw190 camo. It is more typical for a late Bf 109 version methinks. Additionally the shape of the wing tips indicates the Bf 109 that had it more round and pointy. A Fw 190 had the wing tips more "blunted". And one more thing I would like to make a focus on... the wing leading edges. I would say there can be seen slats that Fw 190 didn't have at all. And the leading edge of wing at the wing roots... Fw190 had there (similar to the P-51D) a different angle of the leading edge because of the wheel bays. A Bf 109 had it straight there because the main landing gear had the wheel bays in a different area of the wing. Back to the armament... of course a late Bf 109 didn't have the MGs installed in the wings. And these barrels may mislead. But the Bf 109G e.g. had there cannons in the underwing pods attached. And this is the reason these barrels can be seen in the pic. And therefore I would say this is one of the Bf 109G-6.
 
Oh.. I have forgotten ... an additional detail I have noticed in the pic.... the vertical stabilizers with elevators. A Fw 190 had them attached to the fuselage while the Bf 109 had them attached higher , I would say , to the fin. And the area looks like for the Bf 109 in my humble opinion.
 
It's definitely a '109G, with cannon 'gondolas'. I've got a slightly clearer shot (but not by much) in more than one of my books, where more detail can be seen, and in one book, the caption gives the details of the P-51 pilot and Fighter Group involved and, I think, the date and approximate location.
Which book it's in is a different problem !!
 
Here's a Bf109G being downed by W/O Bunting, 93 Squadron RAF over Italy.

In this photo, you can clearly see the taper to the cowling, from the cockpit to the spinner, unlike the photo I posted earlier, which shows the cowling to be enlarged, much like a Fw190.

That's why I kept looking at that previous photo, because you can clearly see the slats extended on the wings and the fuselage/tail plane assembly is clearly a Bf109 but again, the cowling just looks completely wrong.

Anyway, here's W/O Bunting's victory:

 
I think the reason for the wrong appearance of the engine cowling is the gun-camera and the angle the pic was taken with. I have noticed that almost all planes looked a little bit strange in a such kind of images. I would say these loook quite grotesquely, I mean unnatural thin or thick fuselages and wings. Also tails or just engine cowlings. And this is the reason for being misled.
 
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