Bill Greenwood wrote:
Connery, the question I picked the 109 on was which was Most Important fighter. The FW was not around in the early years, nor used in the numbers as the 109. And even at the end of the war the top aces, Rall, Hartmann did not switch to the FW. So don't sell a 109 short.
As for the 51A, like the P-40 it was fine for its time. But if it was really that good it would not have changed so quickly. Why do you think the Brits put the Merlin in it? In the early form it had decent speed down low. But the Germans came over England at 20 or even 25,000 feet, well above the effective altitude for an Allison. Later at 25 or 30,000 feet the 109s would have mauled them as they did the P-38s.
A good pilot may be an ace, like Joe Foss, Bader, etc. in an early model. It doesn't mean the plane is on a par with th later fighters.
I totally agree. The British put the Merlin in the P-51 because of the poor performance of the Allison at higher altitudes and made an already great airframe even better. However, the British continued to use the P-51A in the RECON role throughout the war because of it's performance down low.
The -109 was definitely a major factor in the early years of the war and it continued to be refined right up until the end. However, in the last year of the war the 190D was the more capable bird and even Rall said in an interview that the knew it was a better fighter but he stayed in the 109 because it was what he preferred.
Of course it also depended on who was flying any particular aircraft. A skilled pilot in a older less capable aircraft stood more than a fair chance against an experienced pilot in a better weapon system.
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