Which was the best night fighter?

[Marshall_Stack]

Thought I would post something I found. Erich may have a problem with "what was considered Germany' best night fighter".

Night Fighters of World War II - Fun Facts, Questions, Answers, Information

 

[Erich]

that's ok Marshall I forgive you ..........

there isn't enough info from any of those posters to prove their point.

the chap posting the He 219 needs to follow through with more research as it was not the answer to the BC Mossie, just a short stop gap till the Me 262A could get online and in numbers which it never was

 

[Lezza]

Erich: A non-controversial question. Is your upcoming book going to be in English, and if so, what will be the title, who's publishing it and when can we expect it?

 

[parsifal]

Erich: A non-controversial question. Is your upcoming book going to be in English, and if so, what will be the title, who's publishing it and when can we expect it?

Welcome Lezza, I see that you hail from Albury....thats a relatively short step to my home, just north of Canberra

 

[Lezza]

Hi Parsifal,
Just north of Canberra? Goulburn? Brings back memories of long hauls through the night when tripping between Albury and Sydnery in my dim, dark youth. May I ask a question? Are you an aero engine nut?
Regards, Lezza.

 

[parsifal]

I live in Bungendore actually, Born in Orange, and spent some time up North and in Sydney. Spent some time in the navy, wanted to be aircrew but was rejected.

I love aircraft, but I dont consider myself an expert on engines, or any technical aspect really. There are a lot of guys here that know 50 times more than I do. I enjoy the history of the application of airpower in the war. Successes, failures common history, and not so common as well. I love ships and aircraft, but any part of WWII has always attracted my attention .

Next time you plan to come up this way, drop me a line, perhaps we can catch up

 

[20317]

Best?

hmm..... im thinking the Huns had the most experience with such a thing.

Best is such a complex term, seeing a sharp focussed crew could make a killer out of a Defiant whilst a bunch of idiots would quickly die in a Ju88 with all the late war bells and whistles....

I suppose it would come down to which aircraft gave easy flight, coupled with heavy guns, married to top notch equipment, all topped off by its results.

 

[Soren]

If jets are excluded: The Ju-388 by a lot.

 

[Erich]

sorry the Ju 388 not flown on operations

 

[Soren]

I thought the few they had were flown by squadrons to test the capabilities? At any rate they stood ready.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

How will testing prove that something is better operationally than aircraft that are operational?

 

[Soren]

Adler the a/c was basically a Ju-88 on steroids, it could carry the same equipment while attaining a top speed of over 650 km/ at altitude. Plus the 13.5 km ceiling might have proven useful

Btw, I was talking about operational testing, something which normally will give a good idea of how an a/c does in combat.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

An aircraft on "steroids" as you call it is going to operate differently.

I am with Erich, if an aircraft was not operational it can not be considered.

 

[Erich]

Soren the a/c was tested as a test unit by one test squadron. too many thing hampered this a/c from the start. the Ju 88G-6 was in effect the A/c of choice at the time in late 44 into 45 nothing else came close except the short term Me 262A-1a.

productivity of the G-6 as such was coming to a standstill as the plant and the extras to make this a/c whole were being bombed ruthlessly, there was not time for new experimentation anymore although the German techs and they must be given credit were still up in their sleeves trying to release new designs.

In fact if anything the G-10 with a longer fuselage would of been the carry over from the G-6 had war lingered and the persuance of different jet models trying to carve a space in the speed envelope with more streamlined designs of which I have spoken in the past of the 262 with a low down canopy and larger internal fuel cells

 

[Soren]

Roger that Erich, many thanks for the info

 

[Soren]

Btw Erich, I know that the Ta-154 project was cancelled because of the obvious shift towards jets being made within the LW for most future a/c. But the Ta-154 nonetheless featured some very impressive stats with a 670 km/h top speed fully equipped with radar (This was with Jumo 213A engines as I understand it, it was 632 km/h with the Jumo 211R).

Looks were good too :

 

[Erich]

it was tested by NJG 3

guess there may have been reports of 1-3 kills, still not looked in a good light they trusted their G-6's and 110's.

weak bonding issues from wing to fuselage funny it was called the name of it's counterpart in the air when this thing couldn't catch a Mossie if it wanted to. Again too many stroeks agasint this A/C as well

 

[Soren]

AFAIK the Mossie NF wasn't too fast with the antennas attached, around 630 km/h, same as the He-219.

 

[Erich]

sadly and this was proven over and over again test results are just that test results; not of use in the combat situation, promise promise. the Mossie XXX was a performer. In actual combat instances the He 219 could not hit over 400 mph unless balls out in a dive which it did too many times. for the combat situation it is fruitless in my opinion to even quote test results that are non-combative as even being factual for A/C involved.

 

[Hop]

AFAIK the Mossie NF wasn't too fast with the antennas attached, around 630 km/h

NF 30: 397 mph, 639 km/h with 2 50 gallon drop tanks attached.