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View Poll Results: Best Bf 109 subtype:

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  • Bf 109 A/B/C/D

    1 1.89%
  • Bf 109 E3/E4/E7

    4 7.55%
  • Bf 109 F2/F4

    12 22.64%
  • Bf 109 G1/G2

    5 9.43%
  • Bf 109 G6 variants

    10 18.87%
  • Bf 109 G14

    2 3.77%
  • Bf 109 G10

    6 11.32%
  • Bf 109 K4

    13 24.53%
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Best Messerschmitt Bf109 subtype

Polls Discuss Best Messerschmitt Bf109 subtype in the World War II - Aviation forums; This poll thread area has been kinda slow lately. I'm curious, what in your opinion was the best Bf109? There ...

  1. #1
    Senior Member claidemore's Avatar
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    Best Messerschmitt Bf109 subtype

    This poll thread area has been kinda slow lately.
    I'm curious, what in your opinion was the best Bf109? There are a lot of choices, but I'll go with eight general subtypes that should encourage some discussion, Bf109 A/B/C/D, E3-7, F2/F4, G2, G6, G10,G14, K4.



    Claidemore
    Last edited by claidemore; 04-01-2008 at 01:19 PM.
    The trouble with most people isn't what they don't know....it's what they do know that simply isn't so.

  2. #2
    Der Crew Chief DerAdlerIstGelandet's Avatar
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    I personally like the G-6 the best. I think it was a good all around varient. It combined good speed with decent handling. Was it the best fighter of the war? By no means but it was a competitor.


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  3. #3
    Senior Member Juha's Avatar
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    To me definitely 109F-4, IMHO the best fighter around when it began its front-line service, maybe a bit lightly armed but anyway MG 151/20 was an effective cannon with very good ammo.
    E-3/-4/-7 were also top class at their time but IMHO not so outstanding as F series in its haydays.
    IMHO early Gs lost the relative supremacy of Fs, mostly because problems with DB 605A. In itself for example the thicker skin of the wings was necessary improvement but because the use of 1,42 ata in DB 605A was forbidden rather long time the extra weight had negative effect. IMHO during the reign of early Gs other fighters catch up and some even overtook 109.

    IMHO with G-10 109 again reached at least near parity with the best enemy fighters.

    Juha

  4. #4
    Senior Member kool kitty89's Avatar
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    Erich has posted that the G-10 was the fastest (even more than the K-4 at 460 mph iirc) on several threads, but this doesn't seem to match up with figures I've seen.

    Most sources show it was still quite fast though with most figures giving ~440 mph as max speed.

  5. #5
    Senior Member drgondog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Juha View Post
    To me definitely 109F-4, IMHO the best fighter around when it began its front-line service, maybe a bit lightly armed but anyway MG 151/20 was an effective cannon with very good ammo.
    E-3/-4/-7 were also top class at their time but IMHO not so outstanding as F series in its haydays.
    IMHO early Gs lost the relative supremacy of Fs, mostly because problems with DB 605A. In itself for example the thicker skin of the wings was necessary improvement but because the use of 1,42 ata in DB 605A was forbidden rather long time the extra weight had negative effect. IMHO during the reign of early Gs other fighters catch up and some even overtook 109.

    IMHO with G-10 109 again reached at least near parity with the best enemy fighters.

    Juha
    I am torn based on 'the mission' - I would favor the F in the east where high altitude performance was not as critical as bomber defense in West.

    Then the question of G-10 versus G-6 is another of those questions about 'what are we trying to fight?

    The A/S certainly had good performance where they needed to fight US Escorts - so did the -10 and the -10 had better mid altitude/low altitude performance than the G-6 if I recall correctly?

  6. #6
    Senior Member pbfoot's Avatar
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    this is my reason
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    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Best  Messerschmitt Bf109 subtype-img_0111-1_1_1.jpg  

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    Senior Member claidemore's Avatar
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    My pick of this litter is the 109 G1/G2. The G2 was in IMO, the ultimate 109, because it was the model flown at the zenith of Luftwaffe power. 1942 saw the furthest expansion of the Reich in the east, and the G2 was a big part of that. Earlier models didn't have the performance superiority the G2 enjoyed over it's enemies, and later models were faced with fighting a retreating battle against better and better planes in ever increasing numbers.

    I feel the G2 was the last improvement of the 109 (except 109 K4) where it didn't lose substantially in one capability or performance area to gain in another. I think from a design standpoint, the G2 was a highpoint before they started moving away from Messerschmitts original concept of building the lightest plane possible with the most powerful engine available. The K4 was a return to that philosophy, but a day late and a dollar short.
    The trouble with most people isn't what they don't know....it's what they do know that simply isn't so.

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    Member Fokker D21's Avatar
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    The 109 F is praised by Luftwaffe pilots as the best flying one. The 109 K4 had superb climbing capabilities and a high speed. I choose the K4.
    Ceteris Paribus (meaning everything else is considered to have no influence on our investigation)

    http://members.tele2.nl/harmstolk/gunpower.htm

  9. #9
    Senior Member Konigstiger205's Avatar
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    I'll go with the G6, highly versatile with lots of mounts, it could be adapted to fighter, bomber and ground attack plane.I also like the K version but that appeared late in the war and the materials used were not so good.

    These airplanes we have today are no more than a perfection of a child's toy made of paper."Henri Coanda"

  10. #10
    Senior Member rochie's Avatar
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    i voted for the G6 it seems to be the best allrounder but the emil looks to me to be the classic bf109


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  11. #11
    Junior Member Zarathos's Avatar
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    F2/F4 - it was the plane, that kicked RAF during Kanalkampf and, in my personal opinion, the final stage of Bf 109 developement. G and K were just an attemt to make use of outdated airframe by placing stronger engine in it.

  12. #12
    Senior Member Juha's Avatar
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    I admit that G was a logical response to changing requirements of air war but
    my reasoning went like this, 109E was better than other fighters but Spitfire in 1939-40 and E and Spit Mk I/II were more or less equal.
    109F was better than any other fighter in 41-mid 42. Especially F-4 from mid41 to mid-42.
    109G-2 superiority lasted only a couple months before Spit Mk IX arrived, after that IMHO Spit IX was a better fighter than G-2/-4/-6. And anyway Spit Mk IX , LaGG-3 Series 66 , La-5F or La-5FN were more dangerous enemies to 109G-6 than Spit V, LaGG-3 series 3, MiG-3 (very high altitude excluded), I-16 or P-40 had been to 109F-4. So I have looked the question from a bit different viewpoint.

    Juha

  13. #13
    Member Fokker D21's Avatar
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    Was an early Spitfire MK9 really better than a Me 109 G2?

    Topspeed of the 109 G2 at combat rating (30 minutes) is 649 km/h.
    Topspeed of the Spitfire Mk9 F at emergency rating (5 minutes) is 656 km/h.

    That makes the 109 relative the much faster plane.
    Ceteris Paribus (meaning everything else is considered to have no influence on our investigation)

    http://members.tele2.nl/harmstolk/gunpower.htm

  14. #14
    Senior Member drgondog's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fokker D21 View Post
    Was an early Spitfire MK9 really better than a Me 109 G2?

    Topspeed of the 109 G2 at combat rating (30 minutes) is 649 km/h.
    Topspeed of the Spitfire Mk9 F at emergency rating (5 minutes) is 656 km/h.

    That makes the 109 relative the much faster plane.
    Not for the five minutes that may count the most? how is 7km/hr slower 'much faster'..

    If the 109 was chasing a Spit on a long run he would have an edge. Most fights didn't last more than 5 minutes at WEP..

    But the argument is best 109. I have said for me that its tough to say. I agree with Juha that for its time the F2/F4 may have been the best relative to its opponents. I would have a far harder time making the statement that any Me 109 variant was better than say a Spit XIV or a P-51B or an Fw190D-9 or Tempest V. Pilot skill and numbers dictated fortunes in 1944 and 1945.

    I ended up picking the -10 based on observations Rall and several others made even though the K-4 had better performance.. for some reason more than a few of the 'old hands' felt more secure in the G-10 than the K-4.. all that I have ever talked to liked the F2/F4 but the competition the F2/4 faced was not the same as the G and K series in a much more hostile environment.

    Regards,

    Bill

  15. #15
    Senior Member Hunter368's Avatar
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    Agreed Bill,

    I like your comment "Pilot skill and numbers dictated fortunes in 1944 and 1945", thats so very true.


    "Ivan the Terrible or Russian Achilles" Ivan Kozhedub - Hero of the USSR (x3), Order of Lenin (x2), Order of Red Banner (x7), Order of Alexander Nevsky, Order of the Great Patriotic War (x2), Order of the Red Star (x2), 62 kills during 1943-1945

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