Friday Official Update, June 29, 2012 DISCUSSION THREAD

[csThor]

Originally Posted by Blackdog_kt

Probably an easy question for the 109 afficionados...

I always thought that the main difference was the type of nose gun (15mm in the F-2, 20mm in the F-4).

So, apart from people telling us that the 109 in the screenshots is a specific model, are there any external differences between an F-2 and an F-4 that we may distinguish them ourselves?

It's not exactly easy to discern them just via screenshots. The only external indicator for an F-2 would be two narrow metal plates on each side of the fuselage where it joins with the tail unit. I don't see them in the update, but that doesn't mean this isn't an F-2.

The major difference between an F-2 and an F-4 was the engine, the former having a DB 601N (requiring C3 100oct fuel) while the latter had a more powerful DB 601E which had the added bonus of running on B4 fuel.
The armament thing is not as clear-cut, even though the F-2 left the factory with the MG 151/15 and the F-4 with the MG 151/20. But because of the similarity of both weapons it became pretty common pretty soon to rebuild the original 15mm cannon with a new barrel and new breech parts into the more powerful MG 151/20 (the very first F-2 captured intact by the RAF already had a 20mm cannon).