A couple of questions about tactics and planes for the experts :)

[the_somme]

first off, i'd just want to say that a forum like this, where alot of you have so much knowledge and are so eager to share it with other people are incredibly hard to find. especially when it comes to video games. i'd say this forum and the brothers in arms forum over att gearboxity.com are the best.

anyway, here's a chance for you people to enlighten me even more. i spent a couple of hours yesterday reading about some of the highest scoring aces of ww2 and it amazed me how some of the pilots with 200-300+ kills never got shot down by another plane or even lost a wingman. how is this possible? i'd guess superior planes but to a greater extent superior tactics. but it still seems highly unlikely to never lose a wingman or get shot down during so many years and sorties?

i have come to the conclusion that the pilots must have been really calculating and good with probability-mathematics. if they knew they were in a bad position, maybe outnumbered or fighting against superior planes they would just trying to get away. but if they had the advantage they quickly engaged or jumped unawared pilots.

don't take my conclusion too seriously because i really dont have much of a clue

and another quick question: i've always thought that the fw190 was a better plane than the bf109 but reading about the aces it seemed like all the best german and also finnish aces were flying the bf109. was it a case of the bf109 were more common on the eastern front and met inferior pilots and planes?

sorry for the long post and if anything is unclear. english isn't my first language.

[BadByte]

I cant remember the source (book) the feling was that 190 was a brute force weapon while the 109 was a more for the experienced pilot

[David603]

The Fw190 is rather unusual in its characteristics. Most fighters with a good reputation get it because they are very fast, have a very good turning circle or climb very well. The Fw190 is pretty average in all these respects. On the other hand, the Fw190 has some of the best high speed control responses of any fighter of WWII. This means the 190 can change direction very fast at speeds when most of its competitors are losing their ability to turn and roll. The 190 is also fast at low altitudes(the D model is even quicker and retain much of this speed higher up too), and has a good deal of firepower, with a fairly typical model such the Fw190A8 being fitted with 4 20mm cannon and 2 13mm MGs as standard(the outer 2 20mm cannon could be replaced with either 2 30mm cannon or gun pods with 2x2 20mm cannon).

The Bf109 is a rather different beast, and there is such a lot of variance between the models that I will only look at the G model. It is fast, and has a very good climb rate. Against most of the Russian fighters you can comfortably pull off Boom-n-Zoom tactics all day, and Erich Hartmann, the greatest ace of all time with 352 victories, described how he would use a slashing attack, diving on his victims from altitude making one firing pass and then pulling back up again, never slowing down or getting involved in turning dogfights if it wasn't strictly necessary. Compared to most late war fighters the Bf109G is at best an average turner, and it suffers from very heavy controls at high speed, but used the way Erich Hartmann used it it can still be very successful. Firepower is decent, with a centreline 20mm or 30mm cannon, though the 30mm is best used against bombers only, and two fuselage mounted 13mm guns. Optional wing pods for another 2 20mm or 30mm guns could be fitted, but these had a considerable effect on both performance and manoeuvrability and are therefore best for bomber killing only.

[the_somme]

thanks for the answers!

so.. the 109 was used alot against the russians and could pretty easily rack up kills while the 190 was used primarily in the west encoutering better fighters and thus doesn't seem as succesful in the statistics?

[HauptmannMolders]

Hartmann even tried the Me 262 and didn't like it. It really came down to ones favoured tactics Hartmann liked to use the 109's ability to dive and climb. Take a look at Walter Nowotny, one of the top ace's (3rd overall I think?) and he racked up the vast majority in a 190.

[HauptmannMolders]

...and yes the 190 was used on both fronts.