Why do Spitfires turn better than Hurricanes?!

[Viper2000]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

questionable.. he wasn't the only pilot, only the one that bothered writing a somehow interesting (albeit incomplete and biased) text on his experience. RAE had to make a lot of compromises in their testings, so if you're looking for an accurate testing, look somewhere else.

Having met the man a few years ago I must say that I found him convincing, and most impressive.

The biggest problem with his books is the fact that the typist doesn't understand engine power settings and therefore incorrectly converts between psi boost and ata throughout the text, littering it with parenthetical errors which were obviously absent from the original manuscript.

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

Brown's tests of our interest were mainly made during war years, the postwar years were more devoted to jet planes (he's claimed as the only Allied pilot who flew a Komet, but in fact he only glided in it).

Actually he illicitly flew it under power in 1945; see the latest edition of Wings on my Sleeve. He also tested a number of piston engined types post war, most notably the Ta-152 (albeit with neither MW50 nor GM1) and Do-335.

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

The Luftwaffe had an extensive testing of captured planes (they even bothered to install a DB601 on a Spitfire to check its performance!).

I suspect that they did this after an engine failure in order to make the best possible use of a rare captured airframe; there might also have been some political purpose (both internal, so that DB could demonstrate their good works to their masters) or external (IIRC they were quick to suggest that the DB engine was an improvement).

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

I found some literature of interest:

"Luftwaffe Test Pilot, Flying captured Allied Aircraft of World War 2" Published in German in 1977 and English in 1980. Author: Hans-Werner
Lerche.

Got it somewhere. It's interesting, though rather less technical than Brown's books. I seem to recall that quite a lot of emphasis was placed upon taking captured aeroplanes to German fighter squadrons so that they could see them up close. His observation that the B-17 was only fast due to its turbochargers is obviously correct, but of course all's fair in love and war!

I don't recall as much interest in tactical Mach numbers as was displayed by the Allies, because in the late war period the Germans often found themselves climbing into battle, whilst the Allied escort fighters were diving from on-high.

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

1. Strangers in a Strange Land Vol. 1 (Squadron Signal pub) by Hans Heiri Stapfer. Usually available on the web for
$ 10 - $ 15 used condition. A number of photos and color drawings are included as well as interesting discussions on specific aircraft that were captured.

2. Fremde Vogel unterm Balkenkreuz I have scanned photos from this book, but haven't been able to find a copy for sale.....it contains a number of photos of captured
aircraft in Luftwaffe service organized by country of origin. This book was published in the early 1980s I think.

3. Il Ricco Bottino (The Rich Booty) by Hans Werner Neulen. Excellent book on captured Italian aircraft in Luftwaffe service. around $ 18.

4. The Luftwaffe from Training School to the Front (Chapter 10) by Meyer and Stipdonk. Chapter 10 provides a number of photos of captured aircraft.

5. Foto Archiv Band 8. Although several Band in this excellent publication include at least one or two photos of captured aircraft..Band 8 includes by far the most with
several types I not seen elsewhere. You can order this one online at the following site:
www.stormbirds.com/flugzeug/ (http://www.stormbirds.com/flugzeug/)

Flugzeug magazine and Jet & Prop magazine, also available at this web address, have published excellent articles on this subject. Included are: Fiat G-12; Bloch SO 161;
Hopfner Ha 11/33; Brequet Br 521 Bizerte (2 parts); SM-75/SM 82; Rechlin September 1943 display; SE 200 etc.

6. Luftwaffe Fledglings 1935 - 1945. by Ketley and Rolfe. Although not exclusively about captured aircraft, this book nevertheless contains quite a bit of interesting
information, photos and drawings concerning captured aircraft used as trainers.

7. Modell Fan magazine ran a series of articles in the late 1970s and early 1980s entitled 'Sie Flogen mit dem Balkenkreuz' there were at least 13 or 14 articles in this
series, maybe more.

8. The Czech magazine REVI has published comprehensive articles by Igor Mrkvanek on captured Czech aircraft in Luftwaffe service. Very informative.

9. Flypast has published at least two very interesting articles on captured British aircraft in Luftwaffe Service.

10. Luftwaffe Codes, Markings and Units (Barry Rosch) contains quite a bit of information on captured aircraft organized by Luftwaffe unit. Some photos and drawings of
captured aircraft are included throughout the book.

11. The Luftwaffe Verband Journal has published several articles on aircraft evaluated at Rechlin or operated by Versuchsverband.