Plane Replacement?

[Erkki]

ORIGINAL: Nikademus

ORIGINAL: ool

Yak models 1,7,9. Of the Yak 9 over 16K were built. The Mig 3 was the first Soviet fighter to fight on a equal footing with the 109F and G models.

MiG-3 was designed as a high altitude interceptor but ended up fighting much lower where it was not a good match for the Bf-109. Neither was the LaGG-3 which had poor maneuverability and acceleration. Early on, only the Yak-1 was considered to be a full match for the Bf-109F.

MiG-3 could sometimes disengage a 109, but in a dogfight, it was not a match. At higher altitude it was faster, but suffered from horrible compressibility problems.

Jak-1 was no match to 109F either. Below 4000m-ish it could somehow fight back(better than LaGG-3), but above that, it was hopeless. VK102PF2 engined, bubble-canopy Jak-1BPF of early 43 was a match to 109G at some areas(and in roll, superior), but like others it was crap at higher altitudes.

However, the Soviets had no real need for a high altitude fighter. Later Jaks and Las did their job there, too, apparently well enough those times it was required - one must remember than the Germans' main target, Il-2s and bombers, usually flew NOE or max 4000m.

EDIT: forgot to mention that in 41, I think only half of the 109s at the Ostfront were 109Fs(mostly F4s and F4/Bs I think). The rest were Emils, though this time, all with propeller pitch automatics.

[Nikademus]

ORIGINAL: Erkki
Jak-1 was no match to 109F either. Below 4000m-ish it could somehow fight back(better than LaGG-3), but above that, it was hopeless.

The before-mentioned Black Cross/Red Star series placed the Yak-1 on roughly equal footing with the BF-109E and F. Pilot accounts seem to reflect a similar POV. The bulk of combat on the Eastern Front tended to occur below 4000meters anyway. The 109G gave a boost in the dept of speed and acceleration over the intial Yak varients but could be overcome if the VVS pilot reacted quickly enough.

[Rainerle]

ORIGINAL: Hard Sarge

by our terms, the G-2 is a Trainer, LW units that use it, are School units, so they don't get the best of planes to use

later once certain levels are reached (believe date, or large number in stock, thought it was 500) then they can move up to standard fighters (and once they reach standard, then they can make any normal change)

the 190 A-5 is still the pure fighter, it is good as a fighter, the A-6 and beyound, were starting to be set up for anti bomber work, so while better vs a bomber, they are starting to get too heavy for good fighter vs fighter work (other then with the good pilots)

Hi Hard Sarge,

will the Co-axis (hungarian, croatian, rumanian, bulgarian) change to 'normal' fighter usage as well? They are stuck with the same mix as the Trainigsgruppen.
Respectfully
Rainer

[ool]

Once you hit 500 ME-109G's in the pool the SW will automatically start replacing the older models for the 109G. At least thats the way it happened to me. Instead of waiting I went around and changed all of my allies planes en masse in one fell swoop of swap outs. It makes defending Ploesti a lot easier with better planes. Also once you have them into 109's you can change to other types if you wish.

[Rainerle]

Yep, I did so (increasing the pool of G-6 above 500) then either manual or automatic swapping is possible. However you have to be careful as you cannot swap back. Which means that those units which can use all types can no longer use the poorer types (i.e. Ljastuvka, MS406, IAR, D-520, G-50, the Ga types).
I can see, that there is function for the AI to not run out of front line aircraft but how about eleminating this feature for player controlled axis?

[Turner]

Kurt Tank had for some time wanted access to the DB engine production to use in his 190 design. RLM had denied his requests time and again but later on agreed to give him the Junkers Jumo 213A production, a smaller engine of 35 liters instead of the DB 45 liters. This resulted in the 190D-9 which was intended as a stop-gap solution until the 152 production started. The pilots who were initially introduced to the D model were sceptical at best, as the Junkers engine was designed as a bomber engine it wasn't popular among fighter pilots. However they soon learned that the Dora accelerated faster and achieved higher speeds than the Anton.
The Ta152A and B versions were fully developed and on RLM's table in late '43 only to be given thumbs down. They were intended as zerstörers, replacing the aging fleet of Bf110s. Armed with up to 9 cannons (engine, cowling, wing roots, outboard and underwing mounts) of 20-30 mm caliber they would indeed have lived up to the name zerstörer. The 152A/B could have been produced in numbers by early '44 at the latest, had the RLM made the decision. This seems to be a widely unknown fact. It would be interesting if the player was given these options in the game.

The most serious issues with the 109 was imo its inability to cope with combat damage and compression at high speeds. The 190 was more robust, better armed and was a pure high speed fighter. It's a world of difference to enter compression at 550 mph instead of 450, and the buildup of stick force was not as brutal in the 190 as in the 109.

What I wanted to conclude is that had the RLM approved Tank's idea of a DB powered 190 earlier and recognized its superior performance over the 109, the air war over Europe would have looked very different. Corruption was widespread in Germany at the time, I don't think I have to say, but Messerschmitt also enjoyed political connections which he used to gain the upper hand on the competition, mainly Kurt Tank. So to the point that RLM turned down the ready-to-produce Ta152A/B types in favor of the Me209 which was in a prototype stage at the time and later cancelled because of development difficulties. Then by mid '44 the RLM was in panic and approved the stop-gap solution that the D-9 offered until the 152 could be produced in numbers.

The 262 project was delayed by the master chief himself, you all probably know that story too well. It wasn't a very good high altitude fighter anyway. I'd argue that the Ta152H would have been more effective high-altitude fighter than the 262, not that the Ta152H ever got the chance to prove it.

/end rant [;)]