FW-190A vs Spitfire, Me-109G, P-47D in dogfights

[Gaston]

It is an interesting picture: The high speed turn preference to left is correct, as is the low-speed preference to right! (Though I had, perhaps wrongly, assumed that at low speed this reversal of preference was due to the deployment of flaps in low speed fighting: See Eric Brown's description of the landing configuration stall: The stall wing drop direction is reversed from a harsh left to a gentler right wing drop with flaps down: The side of the wing drop is the better turning side)

According to Closterman, FW-190As did not initially use their flaps to turn in combat, but later in the war they did, and it did tighten their turning ability...

At high-speed, use of flaps is very costly in speeds because the engine does not accelerate enough to compensate, at these speeds, for the extra drag, in addition to turning.

Combining downthrottling and flaps should, in real-life, allow out-turning at low speeds, in sustained turns, any major later war Western Front Allied fighter, with only the Spitfire being a question mark and maybe the P-38 at extremely low speeds. The FW-190A Western ace stated, despite his exclusive turning tactic: "I feared no other fighter in my FW-190A-8"

Turning, sustained or not, above 250 MPH MIGHT be about equal or better to the Me-109G if flying an early short-nose FW-190A-3/4, but DEFINITELY not for any later Anton variant (see A-5 test vs P-47:
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/3950/pag20pl.jpg

). These later variants above 250 MPH IAS should be worse in turns and pull-outs than most other fighters.

So for late war Antons, the Il-2 picture at high speed is wrong: The Me-109G should be superior, as it should be superior to the FW-190A's vertical maneuvering except maybe for the first zoom from a very high speed. The Me-109G's absolute superiority in climb rate is what impressed the Soviets the most, and this made it an essential complement to the Anton on the Eastern Front at least.

Interesting note: Starting the turn fight at high speed, hoping to decelerate into the better lower speed while turning, is a dangerous idea in a Fw-190A... Maybe especially so for later longer-nose Antons: As the Fw-190A decelerates into its more favorable lower speed turn speed region (around 220 knots-250 MPH IAS) it abruptly changes pitch, which has to be compensated by the pilot instantly by pushing forward on the stick... Or it will stall: This is why the FW-190A Western ace described downthrottling long PRIOR to the merge: Decelerating from faster into lower speed while turning was risky... E. Brown also mentions this abrupt change in pitch, but did not find it dangerous on a short-nose Anton. It may have been worse on later Antons, as a few combat anecdotes seem to indicate...

The Me-109G was better in the vertical, but still inferior in zoom or dives to US fighters!

The Me-109G was better off downthrottling into very slow flat turns at 160 MPH against US fighters. The spiral climb might have helped, but it was very rarely used, so it must not have been convenient to use... Downward spirals are a bad tactic for all chased fighters...

The firepower and strenght of the Fw-190A made countering dive and zoom tactics by turning to face head-to-head into the attack worthwhile.

You say throttle variations, but once committed to lower speed turn fights, there is usually no upthrottling except maybe for catching up to a zoomer or a diver...

I don't think it is likely the FW-190A liked abrupt pitch transitions... You had to work the stick gently...

I will post later an English test of the FW-190D-9 that shows it to have far inferior maneuverability to the Anton, to the point of nullifying its climb and speed advantages over the Anton in the opinion of the tester...

Thanks for your picture of the FW-190A's handling in Il-2: It could be reasonably accurate for early shorter-nose FW-190A-3/4s...

Gaston