Were there any great ME-110 Day Fighter Aces?

[Conslaw]

The Me-110 has a reputation for being especially vulnerable to single-engined fighters, but were there any pilots who were so good they could dogfight enemy fighters repeatedly and come out on top? If so, who were these exceptional pilots?

 

[fubar57]

There are 31 colour plates in here of aces aircraft....

 

[Shortround6]

110 aces may have tended to boom and zoom vrs dog fight?

 

[pbehn]

The Me-110 has a reputation for being especially vulnerable to single-engined fighters, but were there any pilots who were so good they could dogfight enemy fighters repeatedly and come out on top? If so, who were these exceptional pilots?

When ordered to escort close and at a low cruising speed, Spitfires over France were only less vulnerable because they were smaller.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The Me-110 has a reputation for being especially vulnerable to single-engined fighters, but were there any pilots who were so good they could dogfight enemy fighters repeatedly and come out on top? If so, who were these exceptional pilots?

You'll need to click through these to find any Bf 110 pilots.

List of World War II aces from Germany - Wikipedia

 

[Admiral Beez]

Here's some good info Sign in - Google Accounts

 

[Maarten]

Helmut lent

PS sorry my mistake! didn't see the day fighter part. (he had 8 day victories so technically he is an ace .)
Dear moderator please remove this post .

 

[Vincenzo]

110 aces may have tended to boom and zoom vrs dog fight?

i suppose this was common also in single engine fighter, in WW2 and following

 

[azador1606]

I believe that most of the Me-210 were used by Hungarian pilots. My memory is not what it was, however I think there was a Hungarian ace that flew Me-210 - a prince or noble as well. Most German Me-210 units were quickly converted to Me-410. The Hungarians by all accounts liked the Me-210, while the Germans did not. However, it was the way they used it that explains the difference.

Also, as it has been pointed out, sometimes the myths are just that and the way that the aircraft was employed gave it a reputation (for good or bad). Examples: the invincible Zero (early on), Bf-110 not a good fighter, P-51 won the war.

 

[Milosh]

I believe that most of the Me-210 were used by Hungarian pilots. My memory is not what it was, however I think there was a Hungarian ace that flew Me-210 - a prince or noble as well. Most German Me-210 units were quickly converted to Me-410. The Hungarians by all accounts liked the Me-210, while the Germans did not. However, it was the way they used it that explains the difference.

Also, as it has been pointed out, sometimes the myths are just that and the way that the aircraft was employed gave it a reputation (for good or bad). Examples: the invincible Zero (early on), Bf-110 not a good fighter, P-51 won the war.

Weren't the Hungarian 210s modified with an extend fuselage?

 

[Snautzer01]

Hungarian 210 were licenced me210c models model c is the long or lenghtened version. So me210c with the a1 meaning export version.

 

[taly01]

Hans-Joachim Jabs is probably the most famous, his name didn't come up on "google search bf110 aces" so you may not have easily found him. He had 19 day fighter kills and flew Bf110 the entire war.

His most famous combat was in 1944 and he was coming in to land and realised his airfield was under attack by Spitfires, but by zipping into clouds and doing head on attacks he shot down two Spitfires.

His wiki page is very good Hans-Joachim Jabs - Wikipedia

 

[Denniss]

All Me 210C had the lengthened fuselage + they had more power than the german Me 210As via the DB605 engine. Me 210Ca-1 was the ID for Hungarian-built Me 210 C-1 used in german service (lowercase 'a' in this position indicates foreign production)
Most german Me 210As were recalled and rebuilt with longer fuselage.
It's possible the hungarian Me 210 were assembled using lengthened fuselages that were produced and stored by Messerschmitt. Mtt even had sufficient fuselages stored to have many Me 410s assembled from those.

 

[Snautzer01]

All Me 210C had the lengthened fuselage + they had more power than the german Me 210As via the DB605 engine. Me 210Ca-1 was the ID for Hungarian-built Me 210 C-1 used in german service (lowercase 'a' in this position indicates foreign production)
Most german Me 210As were recalled and rebuilt with longer fuselage.
It's possible the hungarian Me 210 were assembled using lengthened fuselages that were produced and stored by Messerschmitt. Mtt even had sufficient fuselages stored to have many Me 410s assembled from those.

D Denniss see #11

 

[Conslaw]

Hans-Joachim Jabs is probably the most famous, his name didn't come up on "google search bf110 aces" so you may not have easily found him. He had 19 day fighter kills and flew Bf110 the entire war.

His most famous combat was in 1944 and he was coming in to land and realised his airfield was under attack by Spitfires, but by zipping into clouds and doing head on attacks he shot down two Spitfires.

His wiki page is very good Hans-Joachim Jabs - Wikipedia

Yes, Hans-Joachim Jabs seems to qualify as a legitimate Me-110 day-fighter ace. His record with using the Me-110 as a day fighter seems to be exceptional. From good old Wikipedia:

Battle of France[edit]

Bf 110C of ZG 76 in France 1940, in the same camouflage and "sharks mouth" nose scheme as Jabs' aircraft
As a member of II./ZG 76, Jabs operated over France and the low countries during the blitzkrieg that swept the Netherlands, Belgium and France in the spring of 1940. He was credited with his first victory on 12 May with the destruction of a French Hawk 75A of the Armee de l'air. The following day he shot down a French Morane. Jabs' method with the Bf 110 was to approach from above and dive onto his opponents, using the weight of the aircraft and its heavy forward firing guns to advantage. He declined dogfighting, attempting instead to maintain speed and height, and was conscious of the need to put distance between his aircraft and the opposing fighters when the time came. Over the next five weeks he was credited with four more, two French aircraft and two RAF Spitfires. On 15 May Jabs was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class (Eisernes Kreuz zweiter Klasse), and two weeks later the Iron Cross 1st Class (Eisernes Kreuz erster Klasse) on 28 May.[1]

Battle of Britain[edit]
In the summer and fall of 1940 Jabs was engaged in a series of fierce air battles over the Channel and southern England during the Battle of Britain. At the outset of the battle the twin-engined Messerschmitt Bf 110 was expected to engage in air-to-air combat while escorting the Luftwaffe bomber fleet. The plane had proved effective in the Freie Jagd role, where it could attack at speed and regain altitude. The Bf 110 was faster than the Hurricane, and nearly as fast as the Spitfire, but its greater weight limited its ability to accelerate and manoeuver. When Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring insisted the fighters stay with the bombers as a close escort, the Bf 110 was unable to take advantage of its strengths. Subsequently Bf 110 losses mounted.[5] Acting as an escort, the ability Jabs possessed as a heavy fighter pilot became well apparent. The Bf 110 was not capable of holding its own against British Hurricanes and Spitfires. Though losses in the heavy fighter units were mounting, Jabs managed to stay alive and still meet with success.[6] Between 15 August and 11 September 1940 he was credited with 11 victories over the channel and southern England, bringing his total to 17.[7]

 

[Greyman]

His most famous combat was in 1944 and he was coming in to land and realised his airfield was under attack by Spitfires, but by zipping into clouds and doing head on attacks he shot down two Spitfires.

Funny bit from Shores' 2nd Tactical Air Force resource involving Jabs and Squadron Leader Geoffrey Page -- who had shot Jabs down in this engagement:

Many years later Page was to meet Jabs and become on friendly terms. Jabs recounted that he had been carrying bacon in his aircraft for his unit, but that this had been destroyed with the aircraft. Page at once sent him a side of bacon by way of recompense, in response to which Jabs telephoned him to say: "Geoffrey, I forgot to mention the case of brandy which was also on board!"​

 

[aircro]

German heavy fighter aces

 

[Maachi]

German heavy fighter aces

Look at the dates of their deaths. Not one of them survived the war.

 

[taly01]

Look at the dates of their deaths. Not one of them survived the war.

A lot of aces lists are like that

But more than one Bf110 day ace did survive, what list are you looking at? But its instructive the years they had worst losses of aces.

The bad years seem to have been 1942 then 1944. Perhaps in 1942 Bf110 began to be taken off day ops due to better enemy fighters, then obvious in 1944 things got tough.

 

[RandomSabatonFan]

The Me-110 has a reputation for being especially vulnerable to single-engined fighters, but were there any pilots who were so good they could dogfight enemy fighters repeatedly and come out on top? If so, who were these exceptional pilots?

I only know one, the spook of st trond, although yes he is known for hunting bombers he would usually engage with the escorts first via his nose guns (he had a custom 20mm on the top of the fuselage so he could easily get the blind spots of some earlier bombers)

(i remember this in a book i read long ago so i cant show my sources :/)