More than 200 unique and expertly drawn colour profiles

GERMAN WW2 DESIGNS BY CLAES SUNDIN

DETAILED AIRCRAFT
SPECIFICATIONS AND
MILITARY HISTORIES

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 INTRODUCTION
t the beginning of the Second World War, the place as casualties mounted on both sides.

A Luftwaffe dominated the skies over Western

Europe – its highly trained pilots flying some
of the most advanced fighter aircraft yet built.
It was instrumental in achieving some of the Nazis’
Towards the end of the war, advances in jet and
rocket technology gave the Luftwaffe a new edge but
by then its fate was sealed.
Today it remains difficult to reconcile the skill and
greatest victories during the early months of the conflict courage of the Luftwaffe’s pilots in combat with the
yet it met its match when faced with the outstanding poisonous ideology of the regime for which they fought,
courage and tenacity of British and Commonwealth yet the statistics tell their own story.
pilots during the Battle of Britain. German day and night fighter pilots claimed around
As the war progressed, the Luftwaffe found itself 70,000 aerial victories during the war, 25,000 British
fighting above the frozen wastes of the Soviet Union in or American aircraft and 45,000 Russian. There were
winter and above the blistering deserts of North Africa 103 German fighter pilots who shot down more than
in summer. It was provided with ever more advanced 100 Allied aircraft each and some 2500 German fighter
aircraft yet its might was steadily worn away by pilots who reached ‘ace’ status by shooting down at
ceaseless fighting on multiple fronts. least five aircraft. Combat losses, however, totalled
When waves of RAF bombers began a campaign of 40,000, including 21,452 fighters.
night raids over occupied Europe and Germany itself, Luftwaffe Fighters examines the fighter aircraft flown
yet another front opened up. The Luftwaffe’s night by the German air force during that time and presents
fighters hunted their targets in the dark and the bomber detailed illustrations of notable individual machines.
crews sought to evade them. A desperate struggle for
supremacy in radar and electronic technology took Dan Sharp

llustrator and author Claes was born in 2 (2013), Tiger and Panther Tanks (2014), Luftwaffe

I 1957 and lives in the southern part of Fighter Aircraft, Profile Book No 3 (2014), and
CLAES SUNDIN

Sweden. Since finishing four years of Luftwaffe Attack Aircraft, Profile Book No 4 (2015) and
studies at the University of Uppsala, he has Profiles of German Tanks (2015). In addition, he has
been active as a teacher, marketer, photographer and provided aircraft and tank profiles, photo refinement,
art director, among other occupations. and artwork for many other books and papers.
Since childhood, Claes has had a strong interest Claes says: “As a long time profile artist, I am
ABOUT

in everything concerning the combat aircraft of the well aware that a few of the profiles included in this
Second World War and later. This interest stems from publication will be the subject of some criticism.
the time when he, as a boy of seven, started building The reader however, must acknowledge that all the
and collecting plastic scale models. Simultaneously, profiles included are based on solid photographic
he has been a keen draftsman for as long as he can documentation. I will always use at least one
remember, as well as an accomplished CGI artist in reference photo, more if available, of the subject. I
more recent years. At present, Claes is producing seek the best photos available for the related close-
books, writing articles and lecturing. Up to now he up details as well.
has produced more than 2000 CGI profiles, mostly of “However, misinterpretations could naturally occur,
aircraft, but also of Second World War armour. especially regarding the colours I’ve chosen for the
His previously published books include: different profiles. One has to appreciate the difficulty
Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft in Profile (1997), Deutsche of interpreting the colours from dated black and white
Jagdflugzeuge (1998), More Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft photographs. But know that I have, together with my
in Profile (2002), Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft, Limited colleagues, made the utmost effort to determine the
Edition (2011), Luftwaffe Fighter Aircraft, Profile Book actual appearance and colouring of the individual
No 1 (2013), Allied Fighter Aircraft, Profile Book No aircraft profiles presented here.”

LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS 003

LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS CONTENTS

6 MESSERSCHMITT
BF 109
!

062 FOCKE-WULF

!
FW 190/TA 152

108 DORNIER
116 MESSERSCHMITT
!

DO 17/215/217
! ME 163

All illustrations: Marketing manager:

CLAES SUNDIN CHARLOTTE PARK
Design: Commercial director:
[Link] NIGEL HOLE
Publishing director: Published by:
DAN SAVAGE MORTONS MEDIA
Printed by: WILLIAM GIBBONS AND SONS, WOLVERHAMPTON
Publisher: GROUP LTD,
STEVE O’HARA MEDIA CENTRE,
ISBN: 978-1-911276-25-8
Reprographics: MORTON WAY,
JONATHAN SCHOFIELD HORNCASTLE,
© 2016 MORTONS MEDIA GROUP LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PART OF THIS
& PAUL FINCHAM LINCOLNSHIRE PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY
Production editor: LN9 6JR. MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL, INCLUDING PHOTOCOPYING, RECORDING,
OR ANY INFORMATION STORAGE RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WITHOUT PRIOR PERMISSION
DAN SHARP Tel. 01507 529529 IN WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER.

004 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 048 MESSERSCHMITT
BF 110

!
100 JUNKERS

!
JU 88

112 HEINKEL
!

HE 219

118 MESSERSCHMITT
ME 262
!

126 HEINKEL
!

HE 162

130 COLOUR CHART

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 005
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

!
BF 109 C-1 BF 109 E-3
!

Hauptmann Gotthard Handrick The personal aircraft of Oberleutnantt

of Condor Legion fighter group Hans ‘Schmolly’ von Schmoller-Haldyy
2.J/88 flew 6-56 during the of 3.J/88, based at Tarragona, Spain,
Spanish Civil War, based at in March 1939 was 6-123. The beer
Estracón, Spain. Handrick, a gold mug, his personal emblem, bears
medal-winning athlete at the 1936 the initials ‘CP’ in reference to an
Olympics, shot down a Polikarpov international pilots’ drinking club in
I-16 on May 18, 1938. Belgium known as Cardinal Paff.

MESSERSCHMITT
BF 109 It is difficult to exaggerate
1935-1945

the importance of the

legendary Messerschmitt
Bf 109 to the Luftwaffe
during the Second World
War. Small, lightweight and
fast, the single-seater was
he story of the Bf 109 to tender for a new RLM

T
continually upgraded and began with the founding requirement. This called for a
remained at the cutting of a new aircraft single-seat day fighter armed
edge of piston-engined company in Augsburg in with two fixed forward-firing
1926 – Bayerische Flugzeugwerke machine guns, radio gear
fighter technology right up AG. This firm was forged from the enabling air-to-air and ground-
to the bitter end. Flown by remnants of another company, Udet to-air communications and pilot
all of the Luftwaffe’s most Flugzeugbau, which had collapsed equipment including a harness,
only months earlier. Young aircraft oxygen system and heating
prolific aces, it has become designer Willy Messerschmitt with room for a parachute. The
an iconic symbol of German was appointed as the firm’s chief fighter would have to maintain
aerial prowess. Today it designer in 1927 and a string of a speed of 400kph for up to
successful lightweight sports and 20 minutes at 6000m, remain
remains one of the world’s commercial aircraft followed. aloft for an hour, reach that
most recognisable aircraft. In July 1933, Bayerische altitude in 17 minutes and have
Flugzeugwerke was invited a service ceiling of 10,000m.

006 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 BF 109 E-1
!

Oberfeldwebel Kurt Ubben of 6.(J)/

JG 186, based at Wangerooge in
Germany, was flying Brown 13 on May
10, 1940, when he shot down a Dutch
It also had to be suitable for Messerschmitt set to work Fokker [Link] fighter over Holland.
pilots of average ability, easy on an aircraft that would meet
to recover from a spin, capable these conditions but then, in
of flying in fog and cloud, be September 1933, Bayerische to the design and the result
small enough to transport by Flugzeugwerke was contracted was the ve ery modern-lloo
oking
rail, have protection against to build a new four-seater all- M 37 low-wing monoplane.
leakage of fuel and be able to metal aircraft to participate in the Even before this made its
land on an airfield of 400m by 4th Challenge International de first flight, the firm submitted its
400m with a 400m approach. Tourisme competition in 1934. fighter design to the RLM and
Range was not mentioned, Messerschmitt’s M 23 design received a development contract
nor was any further requirement had already won it twice, in for it in February 1934. Even as
for additional armament or load 1929 and 1930, and Bayerische the M 37 made its first flight,
carrying ability. The winning design Flugzeugwerke naturally took detail design work was already
would be the aircraft that replaced the job. Messerschmitt applied commencing on the new fighter.
Germany’s then-standard Arado some of the ideas he had been Powered by a 247hp Hirth HM
Ar 64 and Heinkel He 51 fighters. working on for the fighter project 8U inverted V engine and now

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTER
RS 007
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT
under the official designation
Bf 108, the sports aircraft was
flown by four of the 13 German
participants in a field of 34
competitors during late August
and early September 1934 – the
others flying Fieseler Fi 97s and
Klemm Kl 36s. Defeated overall by
Polish teams flying RWD 9s, the
Bf 108 nevertheless took the top
three places in both the maximum
speed and fuel consumption trials.
The design was a success
and orders began to roll in. But
while the Bf 108 was enjoying BF 109 E-1

!
very public success, Bayerische
Flugzeugwerke’s new fighter was Black 4 was flown by Oberfeldwebel
Anton ‘Toni’ Hackl of 5./JG 77, based
taking shape behind closed doors. at Kristiansand-Kjevik, Norway, during
A mock-up was inspected in late June 1940. On June 15, he shot
January 1935 and the type received down two RAF Lockheed Hudsons,
the RLM designation Bf 109. then he destroyed a Handley Page
Its competitors were Arado’s Hereford on June 21 and then another
Ar 80, the Heinkel He 112 and Hudson on June 27.
latterly the Focke-Wulf Fw 159.

The Ar 80 suffered from an overly

complex landing gear retraction
system, resulting in its gear
eventually being fixed in place.
It also had an open cockpit and
performed poorly. Similarly, the
Fw 159 had gear problems and its
BF 109 E-4 !
parasol wing arrangement made Oberleutnant Werner Machold of 9./
it look fragile and old fashioned. JG 2, based at Le Havre-Octeville,
flew Brown 5 and shot down nine RAF
The He 112, however, was the
aircraft during September 1940. On
Bf 109’s real competition. It had June 9, 1941, he force-landed near
a sturdy wide-track retractable Swanage, Dorset, and became a PoW
undercarriage, low-set gullwings for the rest of the war.
and an enclosed cockpit. With the
Ar 80 and Fw 159 eliminated early
on, the He 112 went head-to-head
with the Bf 109 and was initially
the favourite of the two to win.
It could out-turn the Bf 109 due
to its larger wings but the Bf 109
was faster at any altitude, more

008 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 BF 109 D-1

!
The first RAF Bomber Command aircraft to be
shot down during the Second World War was
a 49 Squadron Handley Page Hampden on the
night of April 26/27. The fighter responsible
was Black N+7, flown by Oberfeldwebel
Hermann Förster of 11.(N)/JG 2, based at
Oslo-Fornebu, Norway.

agile and able to perform aerobatic

manoeuvres much more easily.
The contest had begun on

AND MORE AGILE THAN

COMPETITOR THE HE 112
February 8, 1936, and less than

THE BF 109 WAS FASTER

a month later, on March 2, the
Bf 109 V2 and He 112 V2 were to
perform spin tests. The Bf 109 V2
was able to spin and recover with
ease – but the He 112 V2 was not,
and crashed. The following month,
after repairs, the latter was flown
again but crashed again and this
time was damaged beyond repair.
On March 12, the RLM
produced a policy document

ASTER
indicating that the Bf 109 was the

HAN ITS
preferred design but nevertheless
a series of 10 pre-production
aircraft were ordered from each
company. Four He 112s in different
configurations had been tested
by the end of September 1936

!
BF 109 E-4
Before his promotion to high command, Adolf
Galland was a front line fighter pilot. He was
flying this aircraft, Chevron Bar, with Stab/JG
26, from Audembert, France, on September 24,
1940, when he shot down a Hawker Hurricane
– possibly P3878 flown by HAC Bird-Wilson of
17 Squadron.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 009
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

but none of them had proven to BF 109 A-E AND T

be a match for the Bf 109s. The Bf 109 V1, powered by a
Ultimately, the He 112 was Rolls-Royce Kestrel VI, was used different engines, various cockpit
let down by its heavier and less for the design competition, as and gun ventilation apertures and
aerodynamic design and the were the V2 and V3, each fitted numerous oil cooler alterations.
Bf 109 went on to become the with Jumo 210 A engine. The Each was armed with just a pair
Luftwaffe’s standard fighter. It latter two were sent to Spain for of engine cowling-mounted MG
was a mistake that Heinkel was operational evaluation during 17 7.92mm machine guns.
determine to undo – prompting him November 1936 but neither saw The first Bf 109 B was the
to commission the He 100 which any action and neither did the first version to see action –
would briefly hold the world air seven pre-production Bf 109 As being sent to serve with the
speed record in 1939. The search that were built shortly thereafter. Condor Legion during the
for a truly clean aerodynamic They were used to test a
layout would continue to inform variety of configurations including
Heinkel’s designs throughout
the Second World War.

010 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

BF 109 E-4
!

Hauptmann Helmut Wick of Stab [Link] 2, based at

Mardyck in Belgium, was flying this aircraft on October
5, 1940, when he shot down three Hurricanes over
Bournemouth, then two Spitfires over the Isle of Wight.
BF 109 E-4

!
Double Chevron flown by Hauptmann Rolf
Pingel of Stab I./JG 26, based at St Omer-
Claimairais, France, during December 1940.
Pingel had 23 victories by this point.

BF 109 F-1
!

Oberstleutnant Werner Mölders of Stab./

JG 51, based at Mardyck, France, shot down
a Spitfire on May 8, 1941, while flying this
aircraft – his 82nd victory of the war.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 011
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

!
BF 109 F-2
The aircraft flown by Stab II./JG 53’s
Hauptmann Heinz Bretnütz during
May 1941, while the unit was still
based at St Omer-Arques in France.
Bretnütz led II./JG 53 during the
invasion of Russia but was badly
injured on June 22 and died after
having his leg amputated.

BF 109 F-2
!

Some of Oberleutnant Egon Mayer’s

earliest aerial victories were won in
June 1941 while flying White 1 with 7./
JG 2 from Thèville in France.

BF 109 E-4/B !
Yellow F of 6.(Schl.)/LG 2, at
Praschnitz, Poland, on June 22, 1941.

012 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Spanish Civil War in 1937. It was Just 58 Bf 109 Cs were made.
powered by a Jumo 210 D but The Bf 109 D was based on
still only armed with a pair of the C but with the Jumo 210 D
MG 17s. Three firms produced from the Bf 109 B fitted instead
the Bf 109 B – Messerschmitt of the Jumo 210 G. The D-1

THE FIRST BF 109 TO BE MADE IN

TRULY ASTONISHING NUMBERS
itself, Fieseler and Erla. became the Luftwaffe’s standard

AND A WIDE VARIETY OF SUB-

Production of the next variant, fighter just before the beginning

TYPES WAS THE BF 109 E

the Bf 109 C, began during the of the Second World War and 657
spring of 1938. It featured a new were made, all but four of them
oil system with a larger capacity by subcontractors AGO, Arado,
tank and strengthened wings Erla, Fieseler and Focke-Wulf.
that could now carry another All these early types had been
MG 17 each, for a total of four just a precursor of what was to
including those mounted on the come however. The first Bf 109
engine cowling. The biggest to be made in truly astonishing
change, however, was a newly numbers and a wide variety of
upgraded engine – the Jumo 210 sub-types was the Bf 109 E,
BF 109 E-7
!

G which produced 690hp and entering production in late 1938.

White 12, flown by Oberleutnant boasted direct fuel injection. Again, the biggest change was a
Joachim Müncheberg of 7./JG 26, Minor detail changes included new engine – this time the Jumo
based at Ain El Gazala in Libya during larger exhausts, improved 210 being replaced entirely by the
June 1941. instrumentation, a reduced much more powerful Daimler-Benz
windscreen angle, the external DB 601 A. It was longer and 400lb
electrical socket being moved heavier but it gave the Bf 109 a
from below the cockpit sill on respectable 1085hp, compared
the starboard side to fuselage to the Jumo 210’s 690hp.
frame 2 and the oxygen filler Rather than enlarge the existing
point being relocated aft of the nose-mounted radiator to provide
cockpit on the starboard side. the necessary cooling for this

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 013
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

BF 109 F-2
Double Chevron flown by Hauptmann
Dietrich Hrabak of Stab II./JG 54 from
Ostrow in the USSR, July 30, 1941.

BF 109 E-7 TROP

Feldwebel Günther Steinhausen
of 1./JG 27 flew White 10 from
Ain-El-Gazala, Libya, during
August 1941. He shot down two
Hurricanes of 1 Squadron SAAF
on August 2 and then a P-40
flown by Sergeant M S Hards of
250 Squadron RAF on August 26.

new power plant, Messerschmitt

instead moved the main radiators
to the underside of its wings. The
oil cooler that was positioned
under the nose appears as little
more than a streamlined slot.
Putting the radiators under the
wings meant they had to be almost
completely redesigned to cope
with the weight but this also served
to provide a counterbalance
to the weight of the engine.
The aircraft’s armament,
however, remained the same.
After an initial batch of 10
pre-production E-0s, the E-1
production version was ordered
and 1183 were built. The E-2
kept the usual cowling MG 17s
but supplemented them with a cannon but kept the other two. with better armour protection
single MG FF 20mm autocannon The various subcontractors for his head. A new cockpit
mounted in the engine that could turned out 1276 examples. canopy was introduced too,
fire through the aircraft’s spinner At the beginning of the Battle offering a wider field of vision.
and two more MG FFs in the of Britain during the summer of The production run went to 496
wings. This combination did 1940, the E-3 was in the process E-4s, with some 65 E-3s being
not work as well as expected, of being replaced by the E-4 – with upgraded. Later examples were
however, and only a small number many E-3s being updated to E-4 fitted with the 1159hp DB 601 N
of E-2s were made. Instead, standard. This meant swapping engine, designed for high altitude
production switched to the the MG FFs for improved MG work. Both the E-5 and E-6 were
E-3 which deleted the engine FF/Ms and providing the pilot reconnaissance platforms based

014 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 BF 109 E-7
Flying Yellow 1 on August 19,
1941, from Chudovo in the USSR,
Oberleutnant Erbo Graf von
Kageneck of 9./JG 27 downed a
pair of Polikarpov I-180s for his
46th and 47th victories.

on the E-1. The E-5 was fitted rather than a long-range fighter. fighter-bomber of sorts. With
with a Zeiss Rb 21/18 camera in It was the first Bf 109 able to the introduction of the E-7
its fuselage behind the cockpit, carry a drop tank, specifically at the end of August 1940, a
while the E-6 had the smaller Rb the Luftwaffe’s standard 300 litre programme of upgrades was
12,5/7 x 9. Just 29 of the former unit mounted on a rack under the begun to bring all other Bf
were made and nine of the latter. centreline of the fuselage, and 109s in service up to the same
The E-7 was intended to range was consequently increased standard. A total of 438 purpose-
address the horrendously limited from 410 miles to 820 miles. built Bf 109 E-7s were made.
range of the earlier versions – the The same rack could, One final Bf 109 E was
Bf 109 having been originally alternatively, be used to carry produced, the E-8, but these were
envisioned as an interceptor a bomb – making the E-7 a created by modifying existing

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTER
RS 015
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

E-1s, E-3s and E-4s. To squeeze

additional range out of the E-7 examples completed, the whole
with drop tank configuration, carrier project was cancelled.
armament was downgraded to The remaining 63 were built
DELIVERIES OF THE NEXT MAJOR
LUFTWAFFE BEGAN TO RECEIVE

just four MG 17s – which were as the T-2, retaining the 11.8m
REVISION OF THE BF 109 - THE F
ENTERED ITS FINAL STAGE THE

substantially lighter than MG FFs. wings but without the hooks and
BF 109 F-2

!
AS THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN

Overall, more than 3400 the other naval gear. They were
Bf 109 Es were made. On top of assigned to I/JG 77 and proved Major Hannes Trautloft, flew this
these were 70 Bf 109 Ts. Before useful in Norway where their longer aircraft with Stab./JG 54 from
the war, the Germans had set out wings made landing and taking Siverskaya, Russia, during
February 1942 when his tally stood
plans to construct a fleet of four off in strong crosswinds easier. at 31 victories.
aircraft carriers and although this
was subsequently reduced to BF 109 F
just two, it was still necessary to As the Battle of Britain entered
produce specialised aircraft for its final stage, during September
them – specifically navalised 1940, the Luftwaffe began to
Bf 109s and Ju 87s. The ‘T’ in Bf receive deliveries of the next
109 T stood for Träger or ‘carrier’. major revision of the Bf 109 – the
The type, based on the Bf 109 F. Having been in development
E-7, did not require folding wings, since 1939, this was an
since the lifts on the German improvement on the E in almost
carriers would be designed to every respect. Wing mounted
accommodate its increased weaponry was deleted entirely
11.8m wingspan, but it did need in favour of a single engine-
an arrester hook and catapult mounted MG FF/M 20mm cannon
fixings. An initial production batch and the two cowling MG 17s.
of 70 Bf 109 T-1s was ordered
from Fieseler but with only seven

BF 109 F-4 TROP

!

During a 10 minute engagement on February 15,

1942, Oberfeldwebel Otto Schulz of 4./JG 27,
based at Martuba, Libya, shot down five RAF
Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks – one of them flown
by British ace Squadron Leader Ernest ‘Imshi’
Mason of 94 Squadron, who was killed.

016 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 BF 109 F-4
On October 23, 1941, III./JG 52 was
ordered to relocate to Perekop in the
Crimea. During the transfer flight,
Unteroffizier Alfred Grislawski’s Yellow
8 suffered engine failure and he was
forced to make a belly landing. He
survived the incident without injury.

BF 109 F-4/B
!

Oberleutnant Frank Liesendahl of 10.(Jabo)/JG 2, based at

Beaumont-le-Roger in France, specialised in sinking merchant
ships in the English Channel. This is his F-4/B as it appeared
on March 31, 1942. Liesendahl was killed while attacking a
merchantman off the Devon coast four months later.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 017
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS MESSERSCHMITT BF 109

BF 109 F-4
!

Shooting down an Il-2 Sturmovik and a MiG-1

while flying White 4 was just another day at
the office for Feldwebel Hans Schleef of 7./JG
3, based at Tschugujew in the USSR on May
22, 1942. Between February and September
that year he accounted for 72 Soviet aircraft.

018 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 The engine cowling was
BF 109 F-4 redesigned to become more
Leutnant Hermann Graf of 9./JG 52, based at aerodynamically efficient and the
Kharkov-Rogan in the USSR, flew Yellow 1 propeller spinner was enlarged to
during late March 1942. On March 23 he shot blend smoothly into the cowling.
down two Yak-1s and an Su-2, on the 25th he Armour protection for the pilot’s
got another Yak-1, then another on the 27th
along with a MiG-3. On the 28th he destroyed
head was improved again and his
two I-16s, another Yak-1 and another MiG-3, seat was reshaped to be smaller
and on the 30th he got another I-16. and more figure-hugging, although
it also became non-adjustable.
A new self-sealing fuel tank was
also provided with armour, the
hydraulic system was completely
redesigned, the radiator flaps
became thermostatically controlled
and the oil cooler was enlarged.
These alterations, particularly
the aircraft’s more streamlined
shape, helped to significantly
increase range – up to 1060 miles
with a light alloy drop tank.
Other alternations included a
slight reduction in rudder area,
the horizontal tailplanes were
repositioned slightly down and
forward and lost their bracing
struts, the tailwheel became semi-
retractable and the undercarriage
BF 109 F-2 mainwheel legs were angled
On March 31, 1942, Hauptmann Hans Philipp forward by six degrees with
became only the fourth Luftwaffe pilot to the aim of improving handling
achieve 100 victories. He was flying this while taxiing. The whole tail
aircraft with Stab I./JG 54. structure was also reinforced.
The Bf 109 F also featured
completely redesigned wings,
with the tip shape being changed
and their overall area being
reduced slightly. New shorter,
thicker leading edge slats were
fitted and the underwing radiators
became less prominent and were
repositioned further to the rear.
It was intended that the
Bf 109 F should be powered by

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 019
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS
S ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

BF 109 F-4 TROP

Yellow 14, flown by Leutnant
nant Hans-
Joachim Marseille of 3./JG G 27, from
Tmimi in Libya on June 1,, 1942. A short
while later Marseille, a classically
assically
trained pianist, was flown n back
to Germany and required to
perform for dignitaries
including Hitler, Göring,
Goebbels, Arthur Axmann n
and Erhard Milch. He
was killed in action three
months later.

the new DB 601 E but this was

initially unavailable so pre-
production F-0 machines, plus January 1941, all of them by
F-1 and F-2 production machines, Messerschmitt, and with the same
received the DB 601 N. Both armament as the F-1. The F-4
Messerschmitt itself and Wiener also had the DB 601 E but had
Neustädter Flugzeugwerke the same armament as the F-2,
(WNF) produced the F-1, with including its new MG 151 20mm
208 being built all together. cannon. Production lasted a full
For the F-2, the MG FF/M year, from May 1941 to May 1942,
engine-mounted cannon was with 1841 F-4s built – including
replaced by a 15mm Mauser MG 544 F-4/Zs, which had a GM-1
151 cannon – which itself was boost feature added for high-
replaced by the 20mm version altitude operations, and 576 F-4
of the same gun as it began to Trops, which had filters fitted for
become available. From October dusty or sandy environments.
1940 to August 1941, AGO, Arado, The Bf 109 F was the
Erla, Messerschmitt and WNF standard fighter of the Luftwaffe
managed to construct around as the invasion of the Soviet
1380 F-2s between them. Union, Operation Barbarossa,
The F-3 finally saw the commenced on June 22, 1941.
introduction of the DB 601
E – though only 15 were made
between October 1940 and

020 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

BF 109 E-7/B
S9+AS served with 8./ZG 1, based at Belgorod in the
USSR, during June 1942.

BF 109 F-4
On the night of June 22, from 10.45pm to midnight,
Oberleutnant Erwin Leykauf of Stab III./JG 54, based
at Relbisy, USSR, shot down six Soviet Polikarpov R-5
bombers while flying this F-4.

BF 109 F-4 TROP

Leutnant Friedrich Körner of 2./JG 27, flying Red 11 from
Sidi Barrani in Libya, shot down three RAF P-40s and a
pair of Spitfire Vs of 145 Squadron on June 26, 1942.

LLUFTWAFFE
LUF
UFTWA
UF WA
AFF
FFE
FFE FI
FIGHTERS
IGH
GHT
HT
TERS
ERS 02
021
021
2 1
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

BF 109 F-2
!

Hauptmann Hans von Hahn of Stab I./JG 3 flew this aircraft from Lutsk
in the USSR on July 6, 1942. Hahn’s final victory of the war had been 11
months earlier, on August 16, 1941. In June 1942, he had been relieved of
his command and confined to quarters after allegedly shooting a sentry.
He was subsequently reinstated.

BF 109 F-4
!

The Staffelkapitän of 1./JG 3, Oberleutnant Helmut ‘Pitt’ Mertens, downed

a Yak-1 west of Stalingrad on August 1, 1942, while flying White 111 – his
50th victory. The unit was based at Frolov in the USSR at the time.

022 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

BF 109 F-4
Yellow 1 was flown by Leutnant Rudolf Sinner of 6./JG 27,
based at Temimi in Libya, at 6.40pm on June 26, 1942, when
he destroyed a Hurricane south east of Marsa Matruh.

LU
UFFT
TWAFFE FIGHTERS 023
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS
RS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

BF 109 F-2
!

During three sorties on August 1, 1942,

Oberfeldwebel Franz-Josef Beerenbrock of
Stab IV./JG 51 shot down nine Soviet aircraft
– pairs of MiG-3s and Il-2s in the morning,
followed by another Il-2 at lunchtime, then
three Il-2s and Pe-2 in the afternoon. He was
stationed at Dugino in the USSR.

BF 109 G
During February 1942, with the
Bf 109 F-4 still in production,
Messerschmitt introduced yet
another upgrade in the form of the
Bf 109 G. Largely based on the
F series, the G was developed in
response to ever-increasing Allied
capabilities and was intended to
give the Bf 109 greater flexibility
to fulfil a wide variety of different
roles. One particular variant, the
Bf 109 G-6, would become the
most heavily mass produced
fighter variant of the Second World
BF 109 G-2
!

War with some 12,000 built. It

alone accounted for more than Yellow 4 flown by Leutnant Hans Beisswenger of 6./JG 54 from
a third of all Bf 109 production. Dugino in the USSR during August 1942. That month he shot down
The Bf 109 G series was 23 Yak-1s, five Pe-2s, two Il-2s and a LaGG-3; his overall tally
powered by the DB 605 – standing at 97 by August 28. He was killed on March 6, 1943, when
effectively a DB 601 with bored- Yellow 4 was rammed by Soviet ace Starshii Leitenant Ivan Kholodov.
out cylinders, altered valve timing
to increase revs and a more
powerful supercharger. It was
identical to the DB 601 in size
and near-identical in shape but
produced 1455hp compared to
1332hp, albeit with an increase
in weight from 700kg to 756kg.
Consequently, the earliest Gs
were externally very similar to the
F but came with a host of further
detail changes. The fuel filler point
was relocated close to the spine
of the fuselage in frame 3 on the
left side and a new heavier cockpit

024 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 BF 109 F-4
Based at Petsamo in Finland with
Stab II./JG 5, Hauptmann Horst
Carganico was escorting a Fw
189 reconnaissance aircraft in this
machine on August 12, 1942, when
he was attacked and hit by Soviet
fighters. After making an emergency
landing behind enemy lines near
Motovsk, he evaded capture and
returned to his unit the next day.

BF 109 G-2
!

The second aircraft of Alfred Grislawski, of 9./JG

52, to feature in this chapter is Yellow 10. It was
flown by Grislawski, now an oberfeldwebel, from
Gonstakovka in the USSR on September 8, 1942.
That day he shot down four lend-lease Douglas
A-20 Bostons operated by 244 BAP, VVS.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 025
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT
PRODUCTION MACHINES WERE

PLANNED, AND NONE OF THEM

BUILT, THOUGH 40 HAD BEEN

SAW ACTIVE SERVICE.

JUST FOUR G-0 PRE-

BF 109 E-4/B
Double Chevron flown by Major Alfred Druschel,
Gruppenkommandeur of I./Sch.G 1 during September 1942.
Druschel was active over all areas of the Eastern Front,
providing close support to German army units.

BF 109 G-2
Eastern Front ace Feldwebel Anton ‘Tony’ Hafner moved to
Tunis-El-Aounia in Tunisia with 4./JG 51 during the autumn
of 1942 and opened his score in that theatre on November 16
while flying White 5, shooting down a Spitfire of 81 Squadron.

026 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

canopy was introduced. This was
a welded structure, where the F’s
canopy had had a light tubular
structure, and came with a built-
in armour glass windscreen.
A windscreen washer was
also introduced in the form of
a small tube which ran along
the screen and could spray fuel
onto the glass to clear away oil
or other obstructions. Ventilation

scoops were introduced below the

windscreen too. Unpressurised
Bf 109 Gs usually also had a
rectangular ventilation inlet
on either side of the cockpit,
although these were sometimes
sealed up or omitted altogether.
A deeper oil radiator was
now fitted and emergency shut-
off valves were installed which
would allow the pilot to isolate
the wing radiators in the event of
a coolant leak – to prevent the
vital fluid completely draining
away, which would result in near-
instantaneous engine seizure.
The tailwheel of the G could also
be locked in position to make
take-offs and landings easier.
Practical operational experience
was also applied to the Bf 109’s
cockpit instrumentation, with
a combined artificial horizon/
turn and slip indicator replacing
what had previously been just
a turn and slip indicator.
Just four G-0 pre-production
machines were built, though
40 had been planned, and
none of them saw active
service. The remaining 36
airframes were constructed
as full production model G-1s

BF 109 G-2
Unteroffizier Werner ‘Quax’ Quast
flew White 9 with 4./JG 52 during
early Februaryry 1943 while based at
Slavy
vyansk
y in the USSR. That month he
destroyed 10 Soviet aircraft including a
pair of Polikarpov I-153 biplanes.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 027
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

instead. Unusually, the Bf 109 had three times the range of its
G-1 and G-2 entered service at predecessor and offered a huge
the same time in June 1942. improvement in signal clarity. The
In fact, the G-2 was the antenna for this was moved to a
standard fighter version with an position between frames seven
unpressurised cockpit while the and eight on the fuselage spine.
G-1 was a high-altitude type. The Later G-4s differed a little more
latter had a small, horn-shaped air in having larger mainwheels –
intake for the cockpit compressor 660 x 160mm compared to the
just above the supercharger previously fitted 650 x 150mm
intake, on the left of the upper ones. There were also alterations
cowling. The usual angled armour to the undercarriage legs so that
plate behind the pilot’s head was the wheels were more vertical,
replaced with a vertical plate that rather than sitting in parallel
sealed off the cockpit from the to the oleo legs. In order to
rest of the fuselage. Each pane of accommodate this change,
the double glazed canopy had a teardrop-shaped fairings were
small silica gel capsule inserted to added to the upper wing surfaces
soak up any moisture that might above the wheel wells. The
have become trapped inside. tailwheel was also enlarged to 350
In contrast, the G-2 had only x 135mm from 290 x 110mm.
single glazing and the F-4’s A number of factory
standard angled head armour. modifications were available for
G-2s were often fitted with drop the G-4, including the G-4/R2
tanks and underwing gondolas reconnaissance version, the G-4/
for 20mm MG 151/20 cannon. R3 long-range reconnaissance
While 1586 G-2s were built, version featuring a pair of 300
there were only 167 G-1s. litre underwing droptanks, the
The G-3 and G-4 mirrored G-4 Trop with filters for operating
the G-1 and G-2, with the G-4 in harsh environments, the G-4/
being the standard unpressurised U3 reconnaissance version and
fighter. The G-4 appeared first, in the G-4Y command fighter.
November 1942, and was initially Production of the pressurised
exactly the same as the G-2 G-3 began in January 1943 but
except that it had the powerful only lasted a month, whereas G-4s
new FuG 16 VHF radio set. This continued to roll off production

BF 109 G-4
Having just completed his flight training in the autumn of 1942, Feldwebel Heinz
Sachsenberg’s first posting was to 6./JG 52, based in the southern sector of the
Eastern Front. Between April and June 1943, he destroyed 15 Soviet aircraft. By
June the unit was based at Anapa, USSR, and Sachsenberg’s aircraft was Yellow 8.

028 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 BF 109 G-4 TROP
Black 1 flown by Oberleutnant Franz
‘Nawratil’ Schiess of 8./JG 53, based
at Tunis-El-Aounia in Tunisia, during
late February 1943.

BF 109 G-4
Leutnant Ulrich Seiffert of 8./JG 53
flew Black 16 from Tindja in Tunisia
during April 1943.

BF 109 G-2
Leutnant Theodor Weissenberger of 6./JG
5 shot down four Soviet P-39 Airacobras
while based at Petsamo in Finland on May
13, 1943. This is his aircraft, Yellow 4.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTE
ERS 029
LUFTWAFFE
WAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

BF 109 G-6
Oberst Günther von Maltzahn of Stab/JG 53 flew this
aircraft from Vibo-Valentia, Italy, during July 1943.
Three months later he left JG 53 with a total of 68
victories to take up a succession of staff posts.

lines until July 1943. Just 50 G-3s and in their place was fitted a pair
were built compared to 1242 G-4s. of 13mm MG 131 machine guns.
The same one-pressurised, These larger guns required more
one-unpressurisedi d pattern
tt was room so a pair i off large
l blisters
bli t
repeated with the G-5 and G-6. appeared on the cowling over
Once again, the unpressurised their breeches. In fact, this new
standard fighter appeared first – in bodywork was so substantial
February 1943. The Bf 109 G-6 tests revealed that it reduced the
finally saw the engine cowling- aircraft’s top speed by 6mph.
mounted 7.92mm MG 17s deleted The G-5 did not appear until

030 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 BF 109 G-2
Yellow 2 flown by Uffizier Kurt ‘Poldi’ Leopold of 3./JG 4,
based in Mamaia, Romania, during August 1943.

PRODUCTION OF THE G-6 HAD

MORE THAN 16 MONTHS. THE
CEASED IN JUNE 1944 AFTER
PRECISE NUMBER MADE IS
IMPOSSIBLE TO DISCERN.

BF 109 G-6Y
Oberfeldwebel Alfred Surau’s Yellow 6 on September 6, 1943. Surau was a
member of 9./JG 3 based at Bad Wörishofen in Germany. On October 14,
he shot down a B-17 for its 46th victory but was hit and badly wounded by
return fire. He bailed out but died in hospital that same day.

May 1943 and except for its added to the design – and that metal tail unit. This me
eant that a
pressurised cockpit was largely of later G-6s. Fitment of this new counte erweight had to be fitted
identical to the G-6. Although alteration was not standardised to the nose and the airrcraft’s
it came nowhere near the vast across alll prod
ducttion lines, overaall weight was increased.
production totals of its sibling, however, and numerous G-5s and Prroduction of the G-6
the G-5 was still produced in later G-6s were built without it. had ceased in June off 1944
appreciable numbers, with 475 The new tail improved after more than 16 mo onths.
being built up to August 1944. At ground handing and served to The precise number made is
the time of the G-5’s introduction, reduce production costs but impoossible to discern since
an enlarged wooden tail unit was weighed more than the usual survivving factory recorrds are

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 031
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

contradictory, but 12,000 is likely

to be a conservative estimate.
While G-6 production BF 109 G-6
i
was ongoing, severall other
th Hermann Graf, now a major, became the leader of JG 50 in
improvements were steadily August 1943 but the unit was disbanded in October 1943 and
introduced into production lines. absorbed into I./JG 301. This is his Green 1 of Stab./JG 50
A new armoured glass head rest during September 1943 – a month when he shot down two
was developed which started B-17s and a de Havilland Mosquito.
to replace the original armour
plate and towards the end of
1943 the new Erla Haube canopy
was introduced. This featured a
completely redesigned structure
with larger areas of Perspex
giving the pilot substantially
improved visibility. In addition,
where only the central portion of
the old welded canopy opened
on a hinge, the whole of the Erla
Haube aft of the windscreen could
be swung open to starboard.
The new canopy was steadily
added to new-build Bf 109 lines
and retrofitted to some existing
aircraft. Eventually it replaced
the original canopy altogether.

032 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

BF 109 G-6
Feldwebel Horst John of 3./JG 300 flew Red 12
during September 1943 from Hengelar, Germany.
On the night of September 5/6, he shot down an
enemy four-engined bomber near Mannheim.

BF 109 G-6

!
Operating from Kalamaki in Greece,
Oberfeldwebel Heinrich Bartels of 11./JG 27
was flying Red 13 on November 17, 1943,
when he shot down a pair of B-25 Mitchells
and a P-38 Lightning.

BF 109 G-6
Two B-17s were shot down by Hauptmann
Joachim Kirschner of 5./JG 3 flying Black
1 from Amsterdam-Schipol, Holland,
during September 1943. He was appointed
Gruppenkommandeur of [Link] 27 the following
month but on December 17 he was shot down
by USAAF P-47s, captured on the ground by
partisans and executed by firing squad.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 033
LUFTWAFFE
FE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

BF 109 G-5
A force of 300 RAF bombers raiding Mannheim in Germany on the night of
November 18/19, 1943, was attacked by fighters from 1./JG 300 based at Bonn-
Hangelar – including White 4 flown by Feldwebel Hermann Wischnewski. He
claimed two of the bombers shot down for his fifth and sixth victories.

BF 109 G-6
!

Oberleutnant Robert Weiss of 10./JG 54, based

at Libau in Latvia, was flying White 10 on
January 17, 1944, when he shot down a trio of
Il-2 bombers. The first went down at 10.50am,
BF 109 G-6 and the third at 10.56am.
!

Hauptmann Gerhard Barkhorn of Stab II./JG

52, based at Bagerovo in the USSR, destroyed
a pair of Yak-1s and a Soviet P-39 Airacobra
on January 23, 1944, flying this G-6.

034 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 CREATED BY ADDING A SECOND

THE G-12 TWO-SEAT TRAINER

VERSION OF THE BF 109 WAS
COCKPIT TO EXISTING G-4
Another version with relatively controls, was bowed out slightly

AND G-6 AIRFRAMES.

few example made was the G-12 so that he had a clearer view.
– a two-seat trainer version of A range of equipment upgrade
the Bf 109. These were created kits was also available for the
The G-8 was another version by adding a second cockpit to G-series. These included the R I
of the G-6, this time modified for existing G-4 and G-6 airframes. under-fuselage bomb rack, R II
reconnaissance work with only This was done at the expense under-fuselage bomb rack, R III
the engine cannon or the cowling of fuel tank capacity and meant fuselage droptank rack, R IV MK 108
guns fitted. In its fuselage, it that 300 litre drop tanks had to be underwing cannon gondolas and R
carried either an Rb 12.5/7x5 or Rb fitted as standard. Armament was VI MG 151/20 underwing gondolas.
32/7x9 camera and an Rb 50/30. reduced to just one or sometimes In addition to these, the G-6
It saw only limited production. both cowling machine guns. The was also offered with a vast range
instructor’s cockpit, which was of factory modifications to help
at the rear and featured full flight it fulfil the widest possible range
of functions. Among these were
the G-6/R2 recce fighter with MW

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 03
35
LUFTWAFFE
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

50 boost, the G-6/R3 long-range been added to the G-6 piecemeal

recce fighter with droptanks, the in different factories so as not to
G-6/R4 with underwing cannon interrupt production. It offered BF 109 G-6
gondolas, the G-6 Trop, the G-6/ MW 50 water injection, which
U2 with GM-1 boost, the G-6/ boosted power output to 1775hp, Leutnant Paul Müngersdorff of 5./JG
2, based at Creil, France, was flying
U3 recce fighter, the G-6/U4 and the Erla Haube canopy was
White 28 on March 18, 1944, at 3.20pm
with MK 108 engine cannon, fitted as standard. A high altitude when he shot down a B-17 in the
G-6Y command fighter, G-6N version, the G-14/AS, was also Strasbouurg area.
night fighter which incorporated brought into production. This
the R4 gondolas, and the G-6/ was equipped with the DB 605
U4 N which was the same as ASM engine which had a larger
the G-6N but also featuring capacity supercharger and was
the MK 108 engine cannon. able to offer significantly improved
The major Bf 109 G-6 performance above 24,000ft.
production lines switched to Conservative estimates place the
building the G-14 in June-July combined total number of G-14s
1944, with the earliest examples and G-14/ASs built at 5500.
reaching front line units in France Throughout the production
before the end of July. The G-14 life of the G-6 and its offspring,
was an attempt to standardise the Messerschmitt had been working
Bf 109 again after the enormous on the next evolutionary step in the
variety of modifications that had Bf 109’s development – the

036 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

BF 109 G-6
3./JG 300 Wilde Sau night fighter
ace Leutnant Manfred Dieterle’s
Yellow 1 as it appeared at Bonn-
Hengelar in Germany on March 6,
1944. The aircraft is fitted with a set of
Eberspächer acoustic pipes over its
forward exhaust stubs – intended to
create a distinctive whistling sound as
an identifier for German flak crews.

BF 109 G-6
Black 18 flown by Unteroffizier
Hermann Berdelmann of 1./JG 300,
based at Herzogenaurach in Germany
during June 1944.

BF 109 G-6
During June 1944 Unteroffizier
Klaus Lambio of 9./JG 300, based at
Jüterbog-Waldlager, Germany, flew
Yellow 13.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 037
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

K series. It was meant to be fitted

with the new DB 605 D engine
but delays at Daimler-Benz meant
that the Bf 109 K did not enter
BF 109 G-14/AS
!
production until August 1944.
By now the manufacturing of Bf Tussling with USAAF P-47s on October 6, 1944, the G-14 of
109s was a nationwide industry Leutnant Walter Köhne, Yellow 1, suffered critical damage,
in Germany and it took time forcing him to make a belly landing at Bretscheid. He was
to gear up for the K. So in the able to return to his unit, 6./JG 11, based at Wunsdorf in
meantime, with the engines now Germany, unscathed.
available and starting in October,
established G-14 production lines
at Erla, WNF and Messerschmitt’s
own factory at Regensburg
began building DB 605 D-2-
powered G-14s as the G-10.
The first G-10s began to enter
service in November 1944, some
of them apparently with both their
original G-14 data plates and new
G-10 plates following the fitment
of the DB 605 D-2. G-10s were
also fitted with the MW-50 boost
as standard and had a slightly
larger oil cooler fitted than that
of the standard G-14s. Some
2600 G-10s are thought to have
been made – with production
continuing until the end of the war.

BF 109 K
The final version of the Bf 109,
the K was the fighter’s ultimate
development. As early as
March 1943, Reichsmarschall
Hermann Göring had said: “The
Me 109 is still an aircraft of very
high performance. However,
it has now reached the peak
of its performance; no further
improvement is possible: the
aircraft cannot take a more
powerful engine, whereas the
British began to improve the
Spitfire series very early with the
result that this aircraft is now

038 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 WERE FITTED TO G-14 AIRFRAMES
MEANTIME DB 605 D ENGINES
FOR THE BF 109 K SO IN THE
IT TOOK TIME TO GEAR UP
BF 109 G-6

TO CREATE THE G-10.

White 1 was flown by the Staffelkapitän of 1./
JG 300, Leutnant Erwin Stahlberg, while the
unit was based at Bad Worishofen in Germany
during July 1944.

BF 109 G-6
!

The top scoring fighter ace of all time,

Hauptmann Erich Hartmann, was flying White
1 with 6./JG 52, based at Deutsch Brod in
Czechoslovakia, on October 27, 1944. He shot
down at Yak-9 that day for his 305th victory.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 039
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

BF 109 G-14/AS
An American flak battery opened up on Oberleutnant Ernst Scheufele of 14./JG
4 while he was flying Black 2 over Saxony on December 3, 1944. His aircraft was
wrecked and he was wounded. Having bailed out, he was taken prisoner on the
ground. At the time, his unit was based at Frankfurt-Main in Germany.

absolutely and unquestionably previous model through the

superior to the Me 109.” extensive use of plywood parts.
Messerschmitt had proven The only version to see quantity
him wrong time and again. production was the K-4. This
And now, with the Bf 109 K, could be distinguished from earlier
the company succeeded in models by a relocation of the radio
producing one of the best piston- equipment hatch to a position
engined aircraft of the war. It was higher up between frames four
intended to iron out old flaws in and five, and a repositioning of
the type’s design and provide the fuselage fuel tank filler point
full interchangeability of parts, to between frames two and three.
as well as being easier to build The D/F loop moved rearwards to
and using up fewer strategically a point between frames three and
important materials than any four on the fuselage spine. The
Bf 109 K-4 rudder had a Flettner
tab as standard and a long fully
retractable tailwheel was added;

040 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

BF 109 K-4
Yellow 10 was flown by Leutnant
Heinrich Hackler of 11./JG 77, from
Neuruppin, Germany, during November
1944. Just over a month later, on
January 1, 1945, he took part in
Operation Bodenplatte and was killed
when his aircraft hit the cables of a
barrage ballon near Antwerp –
tearing off the left wing.

BF 109 K-4
White 13 of 5./JG 11 as it appeared
at Strausberg in Germany during
February 1945.

BF 109 G-14/AS
Unteroffizier Herbert Maxis of 13./JG
53 flew White 13 during the ill-fated
Operation Bodenplatte on January ryy
1, 1945. The 24-year-old strafed
American positions along the road
from Felsberg to Boulay but was shot
down. As he approached for a belly
landing he fired all of his aircraft’s
guns. Then, stepping out of the aircraft
with his hands raised he was shot in
the head and killed by a member of ‘A’
battery
ry of the 739th FA Battalion.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 041
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS SS SC
MESSERSCHMITT 09
BF 109

th
he wheel itself measuring 350 x
135mm. Two small doors closed
THE MK 108 CANNON EVIDENTLY DID NOT
REA WELL TO VIOLENT MANOEUVRING

over the tailwheel recess to provide

a smooth aerodynamic form.
THE COWLING MACHINE GUNS.
JJAMMED – LEAVING THE PILOT WITH
DURING COMBAT AND FREQUENTLY

There were large rectangular

fairings for the type’s big 660
x 190mm main undercarriage
wheels and doors covered the
wheels when they were retracted –
though these were often removed
by front line units. The K-4 was
fitted with a FuG 16ZY radio
set, the aerial extending from
the underside of the port outer
wing, a FuG 25a IFF and FuG
125 Hermine D/F equipment.
Standard armament was an The MK 108 evidently did not
engine-mounted MK 108 or MG react well to violent manoeuvring
151/20 and a pair of MG 131s during combat and frequently Early K-4s were powered by the
in the nose with 300 rounds per jammed – leaving the pilot with DB 605 DM but this was quickly
JUST
REACT

gun. Underwing gondolas fitted just the cowling machine guns. replaced with the DB 605 DB/
with additional MG 151/20s were The Bf 109 K-4’s gunsight was DC. This versatile unit included an
J

an occasional upgrade and other the standard Revi 16C. There had adjustment screw which allowed
alternative Rüstsätze included been plans to replace it with the mechanics to set it for either B4
300 litre drop tanks, bombs up to EZ 42 Gyro gunsight but none fuel with MW 50 Methanol Water
500kg and [Link]. 21 rockets. of these were ever installed. injection or C3 fuel with or without
MW 50 boost. Running on C3 fuel
with MW 50, the DB 605 DC could
supply an astonishing 1971hp –
BF 109 K-4 with the fully loaded K-4 weighing
Yellow 13 was flown by Feldwebel Bruno Nüser of 15./JG 53,
based at Stuttgart-Echterdingen, Germany, on March 13, 1945.

042 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

BF 109 K-4

!
White 6 of 9./JG 27, Kirrlach,
Germany, March 1945.

BF 109 K-4
!

Oberfeldwebel Friedrich Scheer flew

Yellow 15 with 11./JG 53, based at
Kirrlach in Germany during March 1945.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 043
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS
GHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

BF 109 K-4
White 12 of 9./JG 3 at Pasewalk,
Germany, March 1945.

BF 109 G-10
1./NJG 11’s White 43 was stationed at
Fassberg in Germany during April 1945.

BF 109 K-4
A typical late production
K-4 without markings as
it appeared at Nürnberg in
Germany on April 20, 1945.

044 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 standing at 1593 by the end of
March 1945. When the war drew
to a close, around a quarter
just 6834lb. By comparison, the of all Bf 109s were K-4s.
late war Supermarine Spitfire’s Towards the end of 1944,
Rolls-Royce Griffon 65 generated Messerschmitt and its
2050hp against a fully loaded subcontractors were struggling
weight of 8574lb – giving the K-4 a to meet their production targets
slight power to weight advantage, and corners were frequently cut.
though only while using MW 50. Unskilled labourers regularly
Top speed with boost was 440mph made serious mistakes during
at 24,610ft. Even without MW construction of the aircraft
50, however, the K-4 could still and slave labourers would
manage a respectable 416mph. sometimes attempt sabotage
The K-4’s propeller was by cutting cables or failing to
a 3m diameter three-bladed tighten screws in areas where
wide-chord VDM 9-12159A, this was likely to go unnoticed
the same one used on the G-6/ – or deliberately installing
AS, G-14/AS and G-10. parts the wrong way round.
By the end of November 1944, All of this meant that brand new
a total of 534 Bf 109 K-4s had Bf 109 K-4s frequently failed to live
been built by Messerschmitt up to Messerschmitt’s performance
at Regensburg, with the total stats. In peak condition and in
the hands of a skilled pilot, the
K-4 was capable of going toe-
BF 109 G-10 to-toe with the very best Allied
fighters. But the Luftwaffe of
White 14 flown by Hauptmann
Waldemar Wagler of Stab III./JG 51, 1945 had too few pilots truly
based at Usedom, Germany. On April capable of making the most of
24, 1945, Wagler was supposed to Messerschmitt’s last Bf 109. •
lead his men to Junkertroylhof in East
Prussia but took off late and ended up
flying to Rinkaby airfield in southern
Sweden instead.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 045
5
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 109
MESSERSCHMITT

BF 109 K-4
!

The aircraft of Major Adolf Borchers in May 1945 at Deutsch

Brod in Czechoslovakia. Borchers became the commander of
III./JG 52 on February 1, 1945, and surrendered to US forces
when the war ended – only to be handed over to the Soviets. His
fina al total of victories was 132.

BF 109 K-4
!

The aircraft of Stab II./JG 52’s Hauptmann Wilhelm Batz as it

appeared at Zeltweg in Austria on May 5, 1945. At the end of the
war, Batz and his Gruppe evaded Soviet captivity by escaping
from Hungary, where they had been stationed, and returning to
Germany via Austria. He scored a total of 237 victories.

046 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

BF 109 G-14/AS
Red 8 flown by Oberfähnrich
Othmar Schwendmayer of 2./EJG
2, based at Schleswig-Jagel in
Germany, May 4, 1945.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 047
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

MESSERSCH Doomed to forever play second

1935-1945

fiddle to Messerschmitt’s
world-beating Bf 109, the twin-
engined Bf 110 nevertheless
became a success in its own
right. The type’s early
promise evaporated
when it suffered
heavy losses during
the Battle of Britain
but later in the war,
when it was deployed as a radar-
equipped night fighter against
the RAF’s heavy bomber fleet,
it became a fearsome hunter – Bf 110 D-0
!

picking off Allied aircraft as they The enormous Dackelbauch ventral fuel tank
intended to significantly extend the Bf 110’s
traversed occupied Europe to and range is evident on M8+FH of 6./ZG 76. This
from their targets. is how it appeared at Stavanger-Forus in
Norway during June 1940.

hen plans for Germany’s new air force were being with orders for prototype aircraft. Focke-Wulf produced the

W laid during the early 1930s, it was decided that

among the categories of aircraft required would be
a Kampfzerstörer – a twin-engine two-seater heavy
fighter with the ability to carry bombs or other equipment to
physically massive and enormously heavy Fw 57, Henschel
built the Hs 124 which was similar to the Fw 57 in layout if not
size, and Messerschmitt constructed the Bf 110.
During mid-1935, however, it was decided that an
fulfil a wide range of roles. aircraft expected to do so many jobs would be too much
A requirement for this multirole machine was issued in 1934 of a compromise and a new requirement was issued which
to Arado, Focke-Wulf, Gotha, Henschel and Messerschmitt. effectively divided the Kampfzerstörer concept into two: a
The Arado and Gotha designs were evidently dismissed at an Schnellbomber or ‘fast bomber’ and a Zerstörer or ‘destroyer’,
early stage but the other three manufacturers were presented a heavy fighter. The Focke-Wulf and Henschel designs were

048 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Bf 110 C-1
A Gloster Gladiator flown by Sergeant Per Schye
of the Norwegian Fighter Wing was shot down
over Bratenjordet on April 9, 1940, by Leutnant
Helmut Lent. Lent, of I./ZG 76, based at
Fornebu in Norway was flying M8+DH.

MITT BF 110

deemed incapable of meeting either requirement and were the air for the first time on Octtober 24, 1936. The V3 was the
dismissed, leaving only the Bf 110 in the running for the first example to be fitted with weapons – a quartet of MG 17s
Zerstörer contract. Another version of the Bf 110, the Bf 162, in the nose.
was designed to compete as a Schnellbomber against two new The 986hp DB 600 was proving to be unreliable however,
designs – the Junkers Ju 88 and the Henschel Hs 127. and for the first batch of Bf 110 A-0s a pair of 610hp Jumo 210
The Bf 110 V1 first flew on May 12, 1936, with the civilian Bs was substituted. Just four A-0s were built, between August
registration D-AHOA. It was a low-wing monoplane with twin 1937 and March 1938, due to the engine’s poor performance.
rudders, Handley Page leading edge slats and a retractable Two examples of a revised variant, the Bf 110 B-0, were
tailwheel, powered by a pair of Daimler-Benz DB 600 A produced during early 1938. This featured a non-retractable
engines. Further test flights followed and the Bf 110 V2 took to tailwheel, slightly lengthened fuselage and reshaped nose, and

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 049
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS MESSERSCHMITT BF 110
Bf 110 C !
One of the most successful Zerstörer pilots
who flew during the Battle of Britain was
Oberleutnant Theodor Rossiwall of 6./ZG 26.
He is credited with five victories during the
battle and shot down 19 enemy aircraft during
400 missions overall. 3U+AP was his aircraft
during July 1940 while based at St Omer-Crècy
in France.

was intended to receive the DB 600 A now that Daimler-Benz

had seemingly got to grips with its earlier difficulties. However,
the two machines were initially flight tested with Jumo 210 Gs.
Armament was upgraded to include a pair of MG FF 20mm
cannon in addition to the MG 17s and a single MG 15 machine Bf 110 C
gun was installed in the rear cockpit. The Staffelkapitän of 6./ZG 26, Oberleutnant
With the DB 600 still unavailable, another eight B-0s were Heinz Nacke, piloted M8+NP during August
then built with 210 Gs. These were soon supplemented by 40 1940. Based at Cherbourg-West in France, he
production model B-1s which all had the same powerplant destroyed two Hurricanes on August 15 and
another three on August 30.
– easily identifiable by the large radiator fitted beneath each

!
engine. By the end of 1938 the DB 600 had been
dropped and the DB 601 B-1 engine chosen to
power the next Bf 110 variant – the C series.
The DB 601s’ radiators were fitted under
the aircraft’s wings, slightly outboard of
each engine nacelle. Beneath the nacelles
themselves were small oil coolers and air
scoops. Rounded wingtips, which had
been a feature of all previous Bf 110s,
were replaced with squared off tips.
A series of 10 pre-production C-0s
were built, followed by the full production
C-1. The first of these were delivered to
Luftwaffe units in early 1939 and a total of 195
were made up to the beginning of the Second
World War. Further variants of the C series
included the C-2, which had a FuG 10 radio fitted,
the C-3 which had its MG FF cannon upgraded
to MG FF/Ms, the C-4 which had better armour
protection for the crew and the C-4/B which added a
pair of bomb racks to the basic C-4. The line was further
extended with the C-5 reconnaissance version, which had
both MG FFs removed and an Rb 50/30 camera installed,
the C-6 with a single MK 101 30mm cannon attached via an
under-fuselage mount and a C-7 based on the C-4/B but
with centreline bomb racks able to carry double the
payload – two 500kg bombs compared to the earlier design’s
two 250kg bombs.
Work on the Bf 110 D long-range variant had begun during
the second half of 1939. This was designed, initially, to extend
the standard Bf 110 C’s operational range by adding a large
and ungainly-looking fuel tank to the aircraft’s underside.
This streamlined tank extended from halfway back under the
nose to the rear of the crew canopy and could hold 1050
litres of additional fuel. Its bulbous appearance resulted
in it receiving the nickname ‘Dackelbauch’ or
dachshund’s belly and the huge additional
drag it created meant it was largely
dropped after the initial run of Bf 110
D-0 pre-production machines, which
had been converted from existing C
series aircraft.
The D-1 was set up to
accommodate a pair of 900 litre drop
tanks, one under each wing, but was also
designed with fittings for an improved Dackelbauch.
Those that actually received the tank were designated
D-1/R1, while those that had the drop tanks instead were
the D-1/R2 – the ‘R’ standing for Rüstsätz.

050 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

Bf 110 D
Oberleutnant Alfred Habisch and radio
operator Unteroffizier Ernst Elfner, of
2./Erprobungsgruppe 210 based at Calais-
Marck, France, were shot down in S9+CK and
captured on August 15, 1940.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 051
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 110
MESSERSCHMITT

Bf 110 C
!

Flying the aircraft of his unit’s commanding

officer Erich Groth, Oberleutnant Hermann
Weeber of Stab II./ZG 76 made an emergency
landing at Cousley Wood, East Sussex, on
September 4, 1940. Groth’s victory markings
are recorded on the tail of M8+AC.

Bf 110 C !
Bf 110s of V.(Z.)/LG 1, based at Ligescourt,
France, were escorting Ju 88s on a bombing
mission over England on September 27,
1940, when they were attacked by waves
of Hurricanes and their formation was
broken. L1+XB, flown by Hauptmann Horst
Liensberger, was chased by Flying Officer
Percy Burton of 249 Squadron until Burton
rammed him – causing both aircraft to crash.
Liensberger, his radio operator and Burton
were all killed.

The D-2 kept the drop tanks but added centreline racks for 1940 Messerschmitt was already lining up its replacement,
a pair of 500kg bombs, while the D-3 featured a lengthened tail the Me 210, which was expected to offer true multirole
so that a rescue dingy could be installed. Either 300 litre or 900 capability as well as far exceeding the abilities of the Bf 110
litre drop tanks could be added with the two bomb racks as an in all of its existing roles. However, the Me 210 was dogged
optional replacement. The final ‘D’ variant was the D-4, which by developmental problems that kept it from entering front
again retained the drop tanks but had both MG FFs removed line service in any great numbers. Messerschmitt therefore
and an Rb 50/30 camera fitted. continued to work on the Bf 110 – which had by now also
The Bf 110 had proven itself a capable enough fighter begun a new career as a night fighter.
up to the beginning of the war but during the Battle of Starting during the summer of 1940, night fighter units were
Britain it struggled to match the capabilities of the nimble equipped with a mixture of Bf 110 Cs and Ds and enjoyed
Spitfire and Hurricanes fielded by the RAF. By the end of some measure of success against increasingly obsolete RAF

052 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 FIGHTER UP TO THE BEGINNING
STRUGGLED TO MATCH THE

ITSELF A CAPABLE ENOUGH

THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN IT
OF THE WAR BUT DURING

THE BF 110 HAD PROVEN

NIMBLE SPITFIRE

!
Bf 110 E-3
German flak guns mistakenly opened fire on G9+BC, flown by
Leutnant Gustav Uellenbeck of Stab II./NJG 1, on May 9, 1941.
His aircraft was crippled and he was forced to make a belly
landing near Schleswig airfield. He survived without injury and
returned to his unit’s base at Deelen in Holland.

Bf 110 E-1
LN+FR flown by Leutnant Felix Brandis, of 1.(Z)/JG 77 based
at Rovaniemi, Finland, on September 1, 1941. Five months
later, Brandis hit bad weather while flying at low level and
crashed in zero visibility conditions. He was killed, though his
radio operator Feldwebel Herbert Baus survived.
!

LU
UFFT
TWAFFE FIGHTERS
S 053
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS MESSERSCHMITT BF 110
types such as the Handley Page Hampden, Vickers Wellington
and Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. Initially, the night fighter
Bf 110s were unmod dified and sought out their prey with the aid
of searchlights on the ground but they were quickly fitted with
features such as exhaust flame dampers and improved radios.
The Bf 110 was particularly well suited to operations against
the RAF’s bomber fleet after dark because its large canopy
offered much better visibility than that of a Bf 109, it could stay
in the air longer to stalk the enemy, and it packed a powerful
enough punch to quickly disable or destroy a large aircraft. At
night, its relative lack of manoeuvrability was not a problem.
The next step in the Bf 110’s development was the E, which
was designed as a fighter-bomber, rather than a bomber escort
or heavy fighter. It was fitted with four underwing racks able to
carry a 50kg load each plus a fuselage centreline rack. It also
offered further improved armour protection for the crew and the
fuselage was strengthened to cope with the heavy munitions
it was expected to carry. Pre-production E-0 examples were
powered by DB 601 B engines but Messerschmitt switched
to the newly available DB 601 P for the full production E-1.
Armament was the same as that of the C-4. There were only
two other variants though – the E-2, which had the same
fuselage extension as the D-3 and the reconnaissance version
E-3, which had the usual omission of MG FFs and Rb 50/30
camera installed.
The additional weight of armour and fuselage strengthening
combined to make the Bf 110 E unwieldy and difficult to fly
well. Production of it began in August
1940 and was still ongoing when
the Bf 110 F was introduced in
December 1941. A
total of 856 Es

were built
all together, up to January
1942. The Bf 110 F retained the armour
and stronger fuselage of the E but had DB 601
F engines that were powerful enough to restore the type’s
performance to adequate levels. There were four versions of
the Bf 110 F – the F-1 fighter-bomber, F-2 long range heavy
fighter with the bomb racks deleted, F-3 recce version and the
F-4 night fighter.
During 1941, the Bf 110 night fighters had been equipped
with a new device intended to help them identify their targets
in the dark – an infrared torch system known as the Spanner-
Anlage which was mounted within the pilot’s windscreen. This
was deemed a failure however, as was its replacement the
Spanner II which was meant to detect the heat from bomber
engine exhausts.
The Bf 110 F-4 differed from the rest of the F series in two
important respects: it was the first model to be fitted with the
FuG 202 Lichtenstein radar set – which required aerials that
protruded from the aircraft’s nose like antlers – and it had a
crew of three. Tests of Lichtenstein began in February 1942
and by the summer it was being used operationally. The F-4
was armed with four MG 17s, its rear-firing MG 15 and a pair
of MG 151s replacing the usual MG FFs. Some aircraft had
a pair of MK 108s fitted in a ventral pack too, providing truly
devastating firepower. A pair of drop tanks was also fitted
as standard.
Some 512 Bf 110 Fs were made before the series was finally
switched entirely to its final iteration – the Bf 110 G.

054 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

Bf 110 D-1
2F+MA of Stab/StG. 3, based at Gambut in
Libya, December 1941.

Bf 110 E-1
Oberleutnant Wilhelm ‘Willy’ Herget of 4./NJG 1
flew G9+HM from Herdla in Norway. This is how
the aircraft appeared on February 20, 1942.
!

Bf 110 F-2
LV+MR flown by Oberfeldwebel Theodor
Weissenberger of 6.(Z)/JG 5, based at Kirkenes
in Norway, June 1942. A month earlier, on May
10, he shot down five enemy aircraft between
4.45pm and 4.57pm during a Ju 87 escort
mission – becoming an ‘ace in a day’.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 055
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS SERSCHMITT BF 110
MESSERSCHMITT
Bf 110 D-3 !
On the night of May 30/31, 1942, St Trond-based 4./NJG 1 intercepted
RAF bombers heading for Cologne. Oberleutnant Walter Barte
destroyed a Wellington at 1.46am and another 11 minutes later. He
then went after a crippled Manchester being flown home by Flying
Officer Leslie Manser of 50 Squadron, based at RAF Skellingthorpe.
Manser was killed when Barte shot out the aircraft’s one remaining
engine. The British pilot was later awarded the Victoria Cross for
keeping the aircraft aloft long enough for his crew to bail out. This is
Barte’s G9+FM as it appeared in June 1942.

Powered by a pair of DB 605 engines, an initial batch of half

a dozen pre-production G-0s were built in June 1942 before
full series production began with the G-2 in December 1942 –
there was no G-1. Two additional base versions of the Bf 110 G
were built – the G-3 long-range reconnaissance version and the
G-4 night fighter, which had similar features to the F-4.
However, a huge range of assembly line modifications and
depot or unit-installed upgrades resulted in a bewildering
variety of Bf 110 G variants. Six of the former, named Umrüst-
Bausätz, are known including the U1, which involved the
addition of two MG 151/20s to update the G-3’s armament,
the U5 which was an upgrade of the aircraft’s radar to cover
a wider search angle and the U6 which installed an electronic
system intended to home in on Monica signals emitted by RAF
bombers. The U7 was a nitrous oxide power boosting system
for the DB 605, the U8 involved fitting additional fuel and oil
tanks in the rear cockpit and the U9 saw the four MG17s in the
aircraft’s upper nose replaced with a pair of MK 108s.
The R1 equipment upgrade was a Rheinmetall-Borsig 37mm
cannon mounted in a centreline fuselage gondola, the R2 was
another name for the U7, the R3 was the same as the U9, the
R4 was both the R2 and R3 fitted together, the R5 was the R1
and R3 together, and R6 was the R1 and R2 together. The R7

Bf 110 E-4
!

C9+BD of Stab./III./NJG 1, based at

Juvincourt, France, December 1942.

Bf 110 G-2 !
A trio of Soviet Polikarpov R-5s was shot down
by Oberfeldwebel Josef Kociok of 10./ZG 1,
based at Crimea in the USSR. This is his
aircraft, 2N+GU, during the summer of 1943.

056 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

Bf 110 E-1
!

Oberfeldwebel Willi Dibowski of 5./ZG 1

Wespe, based at Konstantinovka in the
USSR, was hit by Soviet flak and forced
to belly land S9+EN on July 13, 1942.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 057
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS MESSERSCHMITT
SERSCHMITT BF 110

apparently involved a variation on the usual drop tanks while

the R8, otherwise known as Schräge Musik or ‘jazz music’, saw
the Bf 110 G fitted with a pair of upwards firing MG FF/Ms in its
rear cockpit. The latter was developed during mid to late 1943
and was introduced on front line machines during mid-1944.
Finally, the R9 was another Schräge Musik arrangement but
with the more powerful MK 108 fitted instead of the MG FF/Ms.
Beyond the Umrüst-Bausätz modifications and the Rüstsätz
upgrades were seven further equipment alterations – the
Betriebs and Munition options. There were two of the former
– the B1 which saw a streamlined oil tank fitted under the
fuselage, and the B2 which involved a pair of underwing 900
litre jettisonable fuel tanks being installed. The M1 saw a tray
fitted under the fuselage to hold a pair of MG 151 cannon, the
M2 was two ETC 500/IXb bomb racks under the fuselage but
covered by a fairing, the M3 was pairs of ETC 50/VIIId racks
under the outer wings, M4 was a pair of SD2/XII racks under
each outer wing and M5 involved fitting the Bf 110 G with
a pair of WrGr. 21 rocket launchers – for firing at bombers.
Between December 1942 and April 1945, 797 Bf 110
G-2w, 172 G-3s and 2293 G-4s were built – all together more
than half the total number of Bf 110s manufactured.
Remaining in service long after it was declared obsolete,
the Bf 110 proved to be an invaluable gun platform for the
Luftwaffe – plugging a gap between the highly manoeuvrable
but lightweight single-seat fighters and the
larger more ponderous bomber and
multirole types, such as the Ju 88. •

Bf 110 G-2
!
PROVED TO BE AN INVALUABLE
REMAINING IN SERVICE LONG

Black 5 was flown by pilots of 8./ZG 76, based

at Öttingen, Germany, during January 1944.
AFTER IT WAS DECLARED

It is seen here fitted with WrGr. 21 rocket

OBSOLETE, THE Bf 110

launchers.
GUN PLATFORM

058 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

Bf 110 F-4

!
Chevron 2Z+BF of the Stab./IV./NJG 6, based at
Otopeni in Romania during November 1943.

Bf 110 G-4
Night fighter ace Oberleutnant Dietrich
Schmidt flew G9+FS on the night of February
11/12, 1944. He was a member of 8./NJG 1,
based at Twenthe in Germany. Up to this point,
he had shot down eight Lancaster bombers,
two Halifaxes, a Wellington and Mosquito.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 059
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS MESSERSCHMITT
ME
ESSERSCHMITT BF 110

Bf 110 G-4
Triple Chevron G9+AA of the Stab./NJG 1,
flown by Oberstleutnant Hans-Joachim Jabs,
Husum, Germany, February 20/21, 1945.
!

060 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

!
Bf 110 G-4
G9+WD was the aircraft of night fighter ace
Oberleutnant Martin Drewes of Stab./III./NJG
1, stationed at Laon-Athies in France during
March 1944. Two months later, on May 22,
1944, he had his most successful mission
of the war – shooting down five Lancaster
bombers in just over 90 minutes.

Bf 110 G-4
Double Chevron 2Z+MF of Stab IV./NJG 6
flown by Hauptmann Martin ‘Tino’ Becker,
Schleissheim, Germany, November 1944.

Bf 110 G-4
3C+BA of the Stab./II./NJG 4, flown by
Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, Eggebek,
Germany, April 1945.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTER
RS 061
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS OCKE-WULF FW 190

FOCKE-WULF
FW 190 Focke-Wulf’s Fw 190 was ocke-Wulf had suffered

F a disappointing defeat
1938-1945

one of the Luftwaffe’s two when Messerschmitt’s

standard front line day Bf 109 made its Fw 159
fighters for much of the design look outdated and clumsy
during the 1934-35 contest to
Second World War, alongside produce a modern fighter for the
the Messerschmitt Bf 109. In Luftwaffe.
service it earned a reputation The lightweight Bf 109 was
a revelation where the parasol-
for rugged endurance, winged Fw 159 with its complicated
carrying heavy loads and the hydraulic undercarriage was an
ability to out-dive most of embarrassment. However, when
the Bf 109 entered service it soon
its contemporaries. Its large became apparent that its design
and accommodating airframe was far from perfect – its narrow
was well suited to further track undercarriage made landing
tricky, its heavily glazed cockpit
development too – enabling restricted visibility and its small a design which directly addressed
Focke-Wulf to use it as the wings reduced its load-carrying the Messerschmitt’s flaws. By
basis for one of the war’s capacity. now it was also evident that any
In 1938, the RLM decided that new fighter would need to be
most powerful, if short-lived, the Luftwaffe needed a companion capable of defeating the latest
fighters – the Ta 152. for the Bf 109 and Focke-Wulf single-seaters being developed
was perfectly placed to offer up elsewhere – particularly the

062 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Fw 190 A-1
Black 13 was flown by Leutnant Horst
Sternberg of 5./JG 26 on November 25, 1941,
when he scrambled from Wevelghem in
Belgium to intercept a dozen Spitfires over
Dunkirk. Five of the British fighters were shot
down for no German losses.

Fw 190 A-3/U3
Blue 13 of 10.(Jabo)/JG 2, Beaumont-le-Roger,
France, May 1942.
!

Fw 190 A-2
Double Chevron of Stab III./JG 26, flown
by Hauptmann Josef ‘Pips’ Priller, based at
Wevelghem, Belgium, June 22, 1942.
!

British Supermarine Spitfire. He said later: “The possible airfrrame; in each case
Therefore, rather than seek to Messerschmitt 109 and the armament ha ad been added almost
develop and improve the Fw 159, Spitfire, the two fastest fighters as an aftertho ought.
Focke-Wulf’s chief designer Kurt in the world at the time we began “These de esigns, both of which
Tank decided to begin again with work on the Fw 190, could both admittedly prroved successful,
a blank sheet for what would be summed d up as a very large coulld be likenedd to raceh
horses:
become the Fw 190. engine on the front of the smallest given the right amount of

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 063
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF

Fw 190 A-3 !
Hauptmann Heinrich Krafft of Stab I/ JG 51
flew Double Chevron from Orel in the USSR
during September 1942. Three months later, on
December 14, 1942, he survived crash-landing
after being hit by flak but was beaten to death
by Russian soldiers.

pampering and an easy course, se, but a Dienstpferd, a cavalry horse.” e e g e Deutsche
Vereingite eu sc e Metallwerke
ea e e
they could outrun almost anything. Tank and his team wanted to electro-hydraulic variable pitch
TANK AND HIS TEAM WANTED

But the moment the going became build a fighter that was tough propeller. Over this was fitted a
TO BUILD A FIGHTER THAT
WAS TOUGH ENOUGH TO

tough they were liable to falter. enough to soak up punishment large Doppelhaube ducted spinner
SOAK UP PUNISHMENT

“During the First World War, I and powerful enough to compete intended to reduce drag.
served in the cavalry and in the effectively against enemy “So the air-cooled radial engine
infantry. I had seen the harsh ‘racehorses’. Since superior was fitted to the Fw 190,” said
conditions under which military outright speed was unlikely to Tank. “When the fighter went into
equipment had to work in wartime. be an option, the Focke-Wulf action the resilience of this type
I felt sure that a quite different team concentrated on providing
breed of fighter would also have heavy firepower, excellent all-
a place in any future conflict: round visibility and an advanced
one that could operate from ill- powerplant that could suffer battle
prepared front line airfields; one damage without packing up.
that could be flown and maintained For the latter, Tank gambled on
by men who had received only a the new 1500hp radial 14-cylinder
short training; and one that could BMW 139. With two rows of seven n
absorb a reasonable amount of cylinders mounted back to back,
battle damage and still get back. it generated a lot of heat in a small
“This was the background area but offered a high power
thinking behind the Focke-Wulf to weight ratio. It was to drive
190. It was to be not a ‘racehorse’ a three-bladed 3.4m diameter

064 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

Fw 190 A-2

!
Oberleutnant Karl Borris of 8./JG 26, one of
the key figures involved in testing the earliest
Fw 190s,, flew Black 7 from Wevelghem,
g ,
Belgium, on July 30, 1942. That evening at
7.20pm he claimed a Spitfire shot down for
his 20th victory.

Fw 190 A-3
Yellow 1 of 6./JG 2, was flown by
Oberleutnant Erich Rudorffer on August 19,
1942. Rudorffer, who died in 2016 aged 98,
flew more than 1000 combat missions and on
one occasion shot down 13 enemy aircraft in
17 minutes.
!

LLUFTWAFFE
LUF
UFTWA
UF AFF
FFE
FFE FI
FIGH
FIGHTERS
GHT
HT
TERS
ERS 06
065
65
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS 0
FOCKE-WULF FW 190

of power plant was proved again Two self-sealing fuel tanks were
and again. There were several positioned beneath the pilot –
occasions when these fighters the one below his legs holding
returned home and made normal 232 litres and the other, under
landings, having had whole his seat, holding 292 litres – for
cylinders shot away. a total capacity of 524 litres. By
“Once its cooling system comparison, the Bf 109 E had an
had been pierced and the liquid internal tank capacity of just
allowed to drain away, the running 250 litres, expandable to 550 litres
life of the equivalent liquid-cooled only with the fitment of a 300 litre
engine would have been about drop tank.
three minutes.” The Fw 190’s wings, featuring
Focke-Wulf submitted the split flaps, were built as a single come loose and hang down
design to the RLM and the piece and a series of ridges slightly during manoeuvres. On
company was given the go- and corresponding grooves later models a more reliable
ahead to build a mock-up during allowed them to be easily fitted electrically actuated cable system
the autumn of 1938. This was into the correct position on was installed.
approved and work then began the fuselage during assembly. Perhaps the Bf 109’s greatest
on the Fw 190 V1 prototype. The undercarriage fitted to the design flaw was the way its main
The Focke-Wulf team decided to first two Fw 190 prototypes wheels retracted
dispense with engine mounts and was hydraulically operated and outwards into
had the Fw 190’s engine bolted although it would rise and lock its wings,
directly to its monocoque fuselage. correctly, it had a tendency to restricting

Fw 190 A-4
Yellow 4 was flown by Oberleutnant Siegfried
‘Wumm’ Schnell of 9./JG 2, based at Théville
in France, on February 18, 1943, when he shot
down a USAAF aircraft for his 75th victory.
!

066 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Fw 190 A-4

!
Oberleutnant Kurt Bühligen of 4./JG 2 flew
White 1 from Kairouan in Tunisia during
November 1942. He returned to Europe in
March 1943, having added 40 Allied ‘kills’ to
his tally, which would eventually reach 112.

Fw 190 A-3
!

Hauptmann Wilhelm-Ferdinand Galland of Stab

II/JG 26, based at Vitry-en-Artois in France, flew
this aircraft on February 3, 1943, the day he shot
down two Spitfires and a Lockheed Hudson for
its 25th, 26th and 27th kills. Galland, younger
brother of General Adolf Galland, was shot
down and killed six months later.

!
Fw 190 A-5
Red L of 6./Schl.G. 1, based at Deblin-Irena
in Poland during January 1943.

LUFTWAFFE
LLU
LUF
UFTWA
UF WA
AFF
FFE
FFE FIGHTERS
FIGH
FI GHT
HT
TERS
ERS 06
067
067
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF

Fw 190 A-4 !
White 3 was flown by Unteroffizier Karl-Heinz
‘Heino’ Cordes of 1./JG 54, based at Rijelbitzi
in the USSR during the spring of 1943. Cordes
survived the war with 62 victories but never
received the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross
medal.

Fw 190 A-5
Hauptmann Fritz Losigkeit, Gruppenkommandeur
of I./JG 1 flew this aircraft during April 1943 from
Deelen in Holland. On the 17th of the month, he
shot down his first B-17 bomber.
!

068 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

!
Fw 190 A-4
Hauptmann Hans Philipp of Stab
I/JG 54 flew this aircraft while based
at Staraja-Russa in the USSR during
March 1943. He shot down four aircraft
on March 17, taking his total to 203 –
making him the leading German
fighter pilot at the time.

the wing space available for

additional weaponry. Focke-Wulf
therefore designed the Fw 190’s
wide track undercarriage so that
the main wheels retracted into
the underside of the fuselage –
leaving the wings uncluttered.
The first armament
arrangement to be fitted was
two machine

guns and two

ARRANGEMENT
ARRANG
cannon – a 7.9mm MG 17 with
800 rounds and a 20mm MG 151
with 160 rounds in each wing,
WAS

THE FIRST ARMAMENT

close to the fuselage. For ease
S TWO
AND
AN TWO CANNON

of maintenance, large access

T

panels were provided and those

components that would require
the most frequent serving were
MACHINE GUNS

placed within easy reach.

A small retractable ladder was
provided on the lower edge of the
TO BE FITTED

fuselage on the port side, aft of

the wing root, along with a spring-
loaded handhold and another
step to reach the cockpit. Once
aboard, the pilot sat in a semi-
reclined seat that was vertically
adjustable over a range of 4in.
The flight instruments were laid
out in what was intended to be a
logical way and internal systems
received a 24v power supply from
a 1000W generator.
Work on building the Fw 190
V1 was coordinated by Tank’s
assistant Willi Käther, with
engineer Rudolf Blaser designing
the structure and test pilots
Hans Sander and Kurt Melhorn

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTER
RS 069
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF

both contributing ideas and C/12c gunsight in addition to its

suggestions from an early stage. weapons.
Sander took the finished Following on from the company
product, given the civil registration tradition established by the
D-OPZE, up for its first flight on Stieglitz, Stösser, Weihe and the
June 1, 1939, and though he was rest, it was at this time that the Fw
impressed by its performance he 190 was given its ‘bird name’ –
found it difficult to fly for another Würger (Shrike). This appeared on
reason: “For the first flight, I wore company brochures but does not
only a thin flying suit over my appear to have been more widely
normal underwear, socks, ordinary adopted.
shoes, and a flying helmet with Overheating problems persisted
my oxygen mask hanging loose, and the V2 was experimentally
yet soon after take-off I began to fitted with a new 10-bladed
10 bladed
sweat profusely. cooling fan under er its spinner, but
“The rear of the engine was this did little to alleviate the issue.
hard up against the front wall Attention was now ow focused on the
of the cockpit, and my feet and spinner, with BMW MW arguing that
rudder pedals were either side it diverted cool air away from the
of the engine accessories. The engine. Focke-WulfWulf tried it without
temperature in the cockpit rose the Doppelhaube e – and discovered
to 550C. I felt as though I was that the spinner had actually
sitting with my feet in the fire. The served to reduce e the
heat was bearable but ever since aircraft’s top speed
eed by
I have had some sympathy for a 12mph, rather than han
steak on a grill.” enhancing it.
It may have been hanging The
loose at first, but Sander soon firm had
had to put his oxygen mask on failed to
as engine exhaust fumes began account for
to seep into the cockpit through the inch-wide
the canopy’s unsealed edges. gap between the e
It had been expected that the spinner and the leading
BMW 139 would get hot during edge of the engine ne
operation but exactly how hot cowling, which sucked in air
had been badly underestimated. and created drag. g. With the spinner
Nevertheless, the Fw 190 scrapped, a NACA-style
CA-style engine
showed great promise. Later cowling was adopted. t d Göring
Gö i was
tests determined that the V1’s given a personal demonstration
overheating was being caused at of the newly reconfigured V2 and
least in part by the Doppelhaube an order for 40 pre-production Fw
spinner, but this was retained for 190 A-0 aircraft was placed.
aerodynamic reasons. Removing the spinner did
Just over a month later, on July not solve the BMW 139’s
3, 1939, the as-yet unarmed V1 overheating problem, however.
was demonstrated for Adolf Hitler, The engine manufacturer was
Hermann Göring, Ernst Udet, finally forced to concede that it
Erhart Milch and General Wilhelm was incurable and 139 production
Keitel. The fully-armed Fw 190 was halted after just 47 units had
V2, FO+LZ, made its first flight been made. Fortunately, BMW
on October 31, 1939, equipped had been working on another
with a FuG VII radio and Revi design in parallel – the 801.

070 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

!
Fw 190 A-5Y Fw 190 A-5
This was the aircraft, Black 1, that Hauptmann White 4 was flown by Oberleutnant Walter
Dietrich Wickop of Stab II./JG 1 was flying on Nowotny, 1./JG 54, based at Orel in the USSR
May 16, 1943, when he was engaged in combat on June 24, 1943. At 7am he shot down a
with P-47s, shot down and killed. Wickop’s unit Yak-1, then another at 7.03am, and another
was based at Woensdrecht in Holland. at 7.05am. Five minutes later he claimed a
LaGG-3, then a second at 7.13am and a third
at 7.20am. From 11.15am to 11.22am he then
shot down three MiG-3s.

Fw 190 A-5
Black 13 of Stab/JG 26, flown by Major
Josef Priller from Lille-Vendeville in France
during May 1943. By now, Priller was the
Geschwaderkommodore of JG 26 but during
that month alone he managed to down two
Spitfires, a B-17 and a P-47.
!

Fw 190 A-5
Double Chevron flown by Hauptmann Egon
Mayer of Stab III./JG 2, based at Beaumont le
Roger in France during June 1943. From April
16 to July 30, Mayer shot down nine B-17s. He
claimed another five later that year.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 071
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCK
KE-WULF FW
FOCKE-WULF W1 90
190

This incorporated elements of

both the BMW 139 and a design
produced by Bramo, the 329.
BMW had absorbed this smaller
rival company in 1939 and was
able to utilise the technology it
had developed on several of its
own designs.
The BMW 801 had a built-
in cooling fan and was already
proving to be both powerful and
reliable. It had nearly the same
diameter as the BMW 139 but was
slightly longer and heavier.
Meanwhile, the V2, re-registered
COCKPIT WAS COOLER AND A PAIR
THE AIRCRAFT’S OVERALL LENGTH

OF MACHINE GUNS COULD BE PUT

as RM+CB, was damaged in

an accident on March 2, 1940,
INTO THE NOSE IF REQUIRED

when it flipped over onto its back ignition control and constant back to allow for the longer engine
INCREASED, MEANING THE

during taxying. Repaired, it was speed control through and the aircraft’s overall length
used for weapons trials starting in propeller pitch. increased from 8.73m to 8.798m.
September 1940. V1 was taken to The first BMW 801-equipped This offered two benefits – the
Rechlin for further flight trials on Fw 190 was the V5, which cockpit was now cooler, being a
June 11, 1940. Work on Fw 190 made its maiden flight during little further away from the engine,
V3 and V4, which were nearing April 1940. This featured a and there was now sufficient room
completion with fittings prepared strengthened airframe and uprated to fit a pair of machine guns onto
for the 139, was halted. The V3 undercarriage struts to cope with the nose if required.
was cannibalised for spares and the additional 150kg weight of
the V4 was destroyed during the new engine. The
load tests. cockpit was moved
With the BMW 801 came
another innovation – the
Kommandogeräte engine
management mechanism. This
automated the adjustment of
manifold pressure, compressor
gearshift, fuel mixture regulation,

Fw 190 A-6
Black 9, flown by Leutnant Günther Schack of
8./JG 51 from Orel-Slowitzki in the USSR during
February 1943. Schack survived being shot
down 15 times during his 780 combat missions.
!

072 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

Fw 190 A-4/U8
One of the more unusual episodes of the Second World War was on April 16, 1943,
when Feldwebel Otto Bechtold of 3./SKG 10, based at Poix in France, and three of his
comrades got lost in dense fog and, thinking they were over France, attempted landings
at RAF West Malling in Kent. Only Bechtold’s Fw 190, Yellow H, survived intact.

Fw 190 A-4
This Double Chevron aircraft was flown by
Oberleutnant Fritz Schröter of Stab III./SKG 10
from La Fauconnerie airfield in Tunisia during
March 1943.

LU
UFFT
TWAFFE FIGHTERS 073
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF

Fw 190 A-5Y !
Unteroffizier Bernhard Kunze of 1./JG 1,
based at Deelen, Holland, was flying White 1
at 7.43pm on August 19, 1943, when he shot
down a B-17 near Haamstede.

Another issue thrown up during that the canopy would not open for a primitive ejection seat
testing was the ineffectiveness anything less than the equivalent of mechanism for the Fw
of the aircraft’s emergency 50hp, so Blaser built a mechanism 190 but it was found that
canopy release mechanism. The which used a 20mm explosive the explosive charges
aerodynamic form of the canopy cartridge to push a piston which available were insufficient
was so good that above 270mph in turn punched the canopy to propel the pilot away
pilots were unable to get it open rearwards to the point where the from the aircraft’s tail, so the idea
due to the air flowing over it. airflow caught it and whipped it was abandoned.
Various means to overcome this away from the airframe.
were tried – including a bungee Sander, who was also a FW 190 A-0 TO A-9
cord and compressed air – but qualified engineer, was inspired With its heavier BMW 801 lump
everything failed. Tests determined by this invention to come up with the Fw 190 V5 had a higher wing

Fw 190 A-5
The brightly coloured personal aircraft of Major Hermann Graf,
commander of fighter pilot school Ergänzungs-Jagdgruppe
Ost based at Toulouse-Blagnac, France. He shot down a pair
of B-17s on September 6, 1943.
!

074 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 !
Fw 190 F-2
Red A was flown by Leutnant Fritz Seyffardt
of 6./Schl.G 1, based at Anapa, USSR, during
June 1943. Seyffardt flew both the Bf 109
and Fw 190 but preferred the latter due to its
roomier cockpit, simpler controls, greater
stability and superior firepower.

loading and handling suffered – so This configuration was flights between July and October
it was decided that longer wings retrospectively referred to as the 1940 and being used to test
were needed. Meanwhile, the Fw 190 A-0/U1. The ‘U’ stood for various different weapons layouts,
Fw 190 V6 was completed and ‘Umrüst bausatz’ or ‘conversion engine modifications and other
took its first flight on May 31, 1940, kit’ – an ‘Umbau’ was a change alterations to the aircraft’s design.
but its BMW 801 proved to be to the aircraft’s configuration that All of these had the original small
faulty and had to be swapped for could only be carried out at the wing that had been a feature since
a new one after only nine flights. factory or on rare occasions in the the V1.
Both the V5 and V6 were armed field by an approved Focke-Wulf Finally, on October 10, 1940,
with a quartet of 7.9mm MG 17 subcontractor. Fw 190 A-0 WNr. 0016 (the 16th
machine guns – two in the wing A series of nine more A-0s were Fw 190 built after the six ‘Versuchs’
roots and two on the nose. then produced, taking their first aircraft and the nine A-0s), coded

Fw 190 A-5
Having shot down 50 Supermarine Spitfires and 16 other Allied aircraft between
September 1940 and November 1942, Oberleutnant Josef Wurmheller of 9./JG 2
based at Vannes, France, switched his attention to B-17s – destroying 11 of
them up to the time of this aircraft, Yellow 2, in September 1943.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 075
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF

KB+PR, made its flying debut with

an enlarged wing. Each wingtip
had been extended by just over
BECAME THE PROTOTYPE
FOR THE FW 190 A-1 FULL
IN EARLY 1941, WNR. 0007

50cm, giving it a wingspan of

PRODUCTION MODEL.

10.5m, compared to 9.5m of all the

earlier examples. Wing area was
correspondingly increased from
14.9sq m to 18.3sq m.
The amount the wing tapered
was also reduced so that the
wingtip itself took on a squarer
look. In later versions of the
Fw 190, the tailplane area was also
increased. Performance was still
worse than the small-wing BMW
139 Fw 190s however, with top
speed at 18,372ft down to 426mph
from 432mph and range down to
671 miles from 684 miles. Service
ceiling was improved though, from
36,090ft to 37,400ft.
The new wing was thereafter In early 1941, WNr. 0007
referred to as the V5g and Fw 190s became the prototype for the
without it were V5ks, the ‘g’ being Fw 190 A-1 and was given the new
for ‘grosser’ (larger) and the ‘k’ production WNr. 190.0110.001.
being for ‘kleiner’ (smaller), and The 190 was the type, the 011
was installed on all subsequent Fw meant ‘A-1’, the 0 was the
190 A aircraft. manufacturer – Focke-Wulf – and
A total of 29 Fw 190 A-0s were the 001 was the individual aircraft’s
built, not including the V1, V2, V5 serial number. Other companies
and V6 prototypes. They were that later built the Fw 190 had their
fitted with either the BMW 801 C-0 own numbers where Focke-Wulf
or C-1 and had shorter spinners had the 0. Ago had 2, Arado had 5
than later models, differently and 6 and Fieseler had 7.
shaped armoured cowling rings As the template for the front line
and symmetrical teardrop-shaped fighters that were to follow, WNr.
bulges on the engine cowling to 190.0110.001 had a BMW 801 C-1
cover the interior air intakes for engine generating 1560hp at sea
the engine. There were no cooling level, a pair of MG 17s over the
slots aft of the exhaust pipes on engine and two more in the wing
the sides of the aircraft either. roots. There was also provision for
The last A-0 was completed in the fitment of two 20mm cannon in
October 1941. outer wing positions.

Fw 190 A-6
!

During the night of October 18/19, 1943, Hauptmann Friedrich-Karl

‘Nasen’ Müller of Stab./JG 300 based at Bonn-Hengelar, Germany,
attacked a group of Lancaster bombers over Reinerbeck. Flying Green 3,
he shot down ‘Z-Zebra’ piloted by Sergeant Geoff Taylor. Taylor and the
rest of his crew survived and were taken prisoner.

076 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Fw 190 A-6/R11

!
The FuG 218 Neptun airborne intercept radar-
equipped aircraft of 1./NJGr 10’s Oberleutnant
Fritz Krause, White 11, based at Werneuchen in
Germany during January 1944.

Fw 190 A-6/R11
Night fighter Red 21 was flown by pilots of
1./NJGr 10, based at Le Bourget, France,
during February 1944.
!

The II. Gruppe of problems with its BMW 801

J
Jagdgeschwader 26 (II./JG 26) was C-1 engine. He said: “Whatever
the
th
he first Luftwaffe unit to convert could possibly go wrong with it
to
o the Fw 190. In March 1941, JG did. We hardly dared to leave the
26 officers
2 ffi Oblt Ott
Otto BBehrens
h and
d immediate viiciiniity off the aiirfi
fielld
L
Lt Karl Borris were seconded to with our six prototype machines.
e
establish and lead an experiimentall “Oil lines ruptured. The heavily
unit, Erprobungsstafffel 190, at
u armoured oil cooler ring in front
Rechlin-Roggenth
R hin to read dy th
he of the engine often broke. The
Fw 190 for active service with the
F bottom cylinder of the rear row
Lufftwafffe. Both men had technical
L seized again and again, since the
back kground ds andd th
hey were giiven oil pump and the cooling surfaces
a team off 30 ground crew and halff were too small. Leaking fuel lines
a dozen A-0s to work k wiith
h. left the pilots in a dazed state from
Borris found the Fw 190 robust the fumes, unable to climb out of
andd capab ble but hadd ongoiing their aeroplanes unaided.”

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 077
LUFTWAFFE
FE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF

Fw 190 A-7
On March 23, 1944, Oberfeldwebel Siegfried
Zick of 7./JG 11, based at Oldenburg,
Germany, shot down a B-24 Liberator while
flying White 7.
!

By this time much of the to create heat-resistant alloys. the single greatest source of
Luftwaffe’s strength was being Engines frequently suffered severe engine failure on the Fw 190.
drawn away east to prepare heat damage after just a few Schödter’s ‘quick fix’ was
for Operation Barbarossa – the hours in operation, necessitating a adopted as a factory modification
invasion of the Soviet Union. By complete rebuild or replacement. and soon BMW 801 C and later D
June 28, 1941, there were just two Nevertheless, by the end of units could run for more than 100
complete Jagdgeschwader (fighter August the whole of II./JG 26 was hours without suffering crippling
wings) left in the west – JG 2 and working up on the Fw 190 and heat damage.
26. Between them they could by October, III./JG 26 based at
field a total of 140 serviceable Coquelles, near Calais, had also
Messerschmitt Bf 109Es and Fs. begun converting to the
In July 1941, despite the engine Fw 190. It was this unit’s technical
difficulties, Behrens and Borris’ officer, Oblt Rolf Schödter, who
unit was moved Le Bourget finally found a workable solution
airfield near Paris to begin the to the BMW engine’s overheating
conversion training of II./JG 26. It problems. After the usual round
was a slow process – two of the of failures suffered by the engines
new fighters were lost on August 7 of III./JG 26’s Fw 190s, Schödter
when they suffered engine failure collected up all the failed units and
and crashed, another on August had them sent to his repair shop.
9. BMW was reluctant to take Examining all the failed engines
responsibility and was struggling together enabled Schödter’s team
to make the latest development in to quickly identify the source of the
the series, the BMW 801 D, ready problem. It was determined that
for service. the exhaust system was to blame
The biggest problem the and simply rerouting it reduced the
company faced was a lack of high temperature of the bottom cylinder
quality metals which could be used of the rear row – thereby removing

078 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

Fw 190 A-7

!
Black 8, flown by Unteroffizier Walter Gerlach
of 3./JG 10, based at Delitzsch in Germany,
February 14, 1944.

Fw 190 A-8/R11
!

Fahnenjunker-Oberfeldwebel Günter Migge’s

White 9 in March 1944. Migge was serving with
1./NJGr 10, based at Werneuchen in Germany.

Fw 190 A-7
!

Eighth Air Force bombers attacking Focke-Wulf

and Junkers factories on April 11, 1944, were
set upon by the fighters of JG 1, stationed at
Twente in Holland. Major Emmil-Rudolf Schnoor,
flying White 20, shot down two B-17s.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 079
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FOCKE-WULF FW 190
From June 1941 to May 1942, of the cartridge-fired cockpit weaponry was updated to replace
Focke-Wulf built a total of 102 canopy emergency opening the wing-root MG 17s with MG
Fw 190 A-1 fighters. They each system and the pilot’s head armour 151 cannon. Ventilation slots were
had a new longer spinner and the was a different shape from that of fitted to the exhaust panels on
cowling bulges over the engine air the A-0. the sides of the fuselage as
intakes became asymmetrical – a The next major upgrade, the standard to further aid cooling. A
feature that would remain for the Fw 190 A-2, was to be mass total of 426 were produced up to
rest of the A-series. The exhaust produced by subcontractors August 1942.
panels on either side of the aircraft Arado at Warnemünde and AGO The A-3 was introduced to
remained unslotted, although some at Oschersleben. It differed from incorporate the BMW 801 D-2 and
aircraft later had slots retrofitted. the A-1 in having the BMW 801 included the exhaust re-routing
The A-1 saw the introduction C-2, rather than the C-1, and its devised by Schödter. Focke-Wulf

Fw 190 A-6
During his time in command of III./JG 11,
Major Anton Hackl shot down 25 four-engined
bombers. This aircraft is his Double Chevron
as it appeared on April 15, 1944, when the unit
was based at Oldenburg in Germany.
!

080 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

built the first batch of three A-3s Woensdrecht and Katwijk in finished and faulty aircraft being

190 PRODUCTION HAD RESULTED IN

BY NOW IT WAS READILY APPARENT

in November 1941 and had turned Holland began receiving A-2s and delivered to front line units.

TO FRONT LINE LUFTWAFFE UNITS

THAT THE RAPID INCREASE IN FW
out 74 by the end of March 1942, A-3s on May 12, 1942. A total of It called two meetings, first
while simultaneously continuing to 509 A-3s were constructed. A-2s with BMW on May 22 and then
build Fw 190 A-2s. Arado and AGO and A-3s are perhaps the most with Focke-Wulf on May 27, to

CORNERS BEING CUT

both began A-3 production in April difficult Fw 190s to tell apart. demand that the situation be
1942 and in May were joined by a By now it was readily apparent improved and the issues with build
third company, Fieseler, which built to front line Luftwaffe units that quality resolved.
its first A-3 that month. Also that the rapid increase in Fw 190 A list of 24 complaints about
month, a third Jagdgeschwader, production had resulted in corners the Fw 190s being delivered had
JG 1, began converting to the being cut and by mid-May the been compiled by JG 26 technical
Fw 190. II./JG 1 based at RLM had had enough of poorly officer Ernst Battmer. Among

Fw 190 A-7
!

Red 13, the aircraft of Major Heinz Bär, Stab

II./JG 1, based at Störmende, Germany, on
April 29, 1944.

!
Fw 190 F-8
Black 10 was flown by pilots of 2./SG 4,
which was based at Rieti in central Italy
during May 1944.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 081
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FOCKE-WULF FW 190

Fw 190 A-8/R2
!

Yellow 2 flown by Unteroffizier Walter Uecker

of 9./JG 54, on May 19, 1944.

the problems he listed were and Arado. Armament remained from the Arado production line in
irregularly sized wings made by the same – two nose mounted MG June 1943 and AGO continued
contractors, poor wheel brakes, 17 machine guns, two MG 151 to produce it until August 1943. A
fuel pump failures, over-large cannon in the wing roots and two total of 896 A-4s were constructed.
control sticks, weak undercarriage MG FF cannon in the outer wing Nearly all of the 24 complaints
bolts, leaky valves, poorly fitting positions – but the big change were addressed in the A-5, which
cockpit canopies, too-short starter was a new radio set, the FuG 16 entered production in November
handles, woeful external paint Z, replacing previous models’ FuG 1942 at Focke-Wulf’s own factories
finish and frequent engine failures. VIIa. This required a small radio – Arado, AGO and Fieseler
This report was sent to Focke- mast to be fitted atop the tail fin introduced it later. It was similar to
Wulf’s design team as a follow-on and made it easy to distinguish an the A-4 in most respects but had
from the meeting and they quickly A-4 from its predecessors since a 6¼in section inserted between
set to work rectifying each issue. none of them had it. the rearward edge of the engine
Around a third of the problems Some A-4s were also fitted cowling and the fuselage – moving
identified by Battmer were cured with controllable cooling vents the engine further away from the
in the Fw 190 A-4, which kept on the fuselage sides in place of cockpit and further improving the
the BMW 801 D-2 engine but the ordinary slots. Production of BMW 801’s cooling.
with provision for GM-1 nitrous the A-4 ceased at Focke-Wulf in With this new longer nose,
oxide injection and production of November 1942 and at Fieseler the A-5’s length was 29ft 4½in
it began in July 1942 at Fieseler in February 1943. It was dropped compared to the A-4’s 28ft

082 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Fw 190 A-8

!
Double Chevron was
flown by Major Kurt
Bühligen of Stab/JG
2 on June 9, 1944,
while based at Creil
in France.

Fw 190 A-8/R2
!

Yellow 3 was flown by Feldwebel Otfried

Baisch of 12./JG 3, based at Barth in
Germany during May 1944. Two months later,
on July 18, he was shot down and killed
during a dogfight over Schönbrunn.

Fw 190 F-8
Q9+AB of Stab I./SG 5, flown by Hauptmann
Fritz Schröter while he was based at Utti,
Finland, during late June 1944.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 083
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF

9½in. The A-5 also got updated when AGO finally stopped
instrumentation in the cockpit and building them.
an Eka 16 gun camera. Shifting the The first A-6 was
engine further forward also altered produced by AGO in April
the aircraft’s centre of gravity 1943 and the type was built
and enabled it to carry additional exclusively by Focke-Wulf’s
weight further aft. The A-5 kept subcontractors, with the company
pany
the standard A-2 to A-4 armament itself producing none. The mainin
but there were a wide range of difference from the A-5 was the
he
Umbau factory-fit modifications replacement of the MG FF cannon
nnon
and Rüstsatz field conversion in the outer wing positions with
h
kits produced which took full two more MG 151s. This meant nt
advantage of the aircraft’s ability to armament was now two MG 17s 7s
carry a greater ordnance load. The on the aircraft’s nose, two MG
G
A-5 was built alongside the F-2 151s in the wing roots and two o
and G-2 versions of the Fw 190, more in the outer wings. The lower surface to accommodate the
which has resulted in confusion bulkier MG 151 required a bulg ge
bulge MG FF. In addition, the MG 151’s
over precisely how many were on the upper surface of the A--6’s
A-6’s longer barrel protruded further
built. The combined total of all wing as well as the bulge whicch
which from the wing’s leading edge –
three was 1863 up to August 1943 had already been required on tthe another visual identifier.

084 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 !
Fw 190 A-8/R2
Leutnant Hans Weik of 10./JG 3, based at
Memmingen, Germany, flew White 7 on July
7, 1944 – the day he achieved his penultimate
victory – a B-24 Liberator. Eleven days later
he shot down a B-17 but was forced to bail
out and suffered serious shoulder and arm
injuries which effectively put him out of
action for the rest of the war.

Fw 190 A-8
Red 19 was the regular aircraft of Unteroffizier
Ernst Schröder of 5./JG 300, based at Löbnitz,
Germany, during August 1944.

The updated FuG 16 ZE x 6in. The A-7 had the briefest

radio navigation system was production run of any Fw 190 A
GREATEST
GREATES NUMBERS AND IS
G
WIDELY
W
installed too – requiring a small type – the last examples being built

THE FW 190 A-8 WAS THE

‘teardrop’ base and loop aerial to in March 1944, just five months
be fitted under the rear fuselage, after the first. It was manufactured VERS
VERSION BUILT IN THE
with an extra ‘whip’ shaped aerial by Focke-Wulf (150), AGO (270)
‘DEFINITIVE’
‘DE

behind it. and Fieseler (200), with Arado out

In addition to AGO, Arado and of the picture, being still heavily
REGARDED AS THE

Fieseler, a fourth subcontractor engaged in building the A-6 up

built a small number of Fw 190 to February 1944. A total of 620
A-6s – 20 being completed by were made.
Norddeutsche Dornier as Wismar. The Fw 190 A-8 was the version
When production ceased in built in the greatest numbers and is
February 1944, a total of 1137 had widely regarded as the ‘definitive’
190.

been built. 190. It differed from the A-7 in

The introduction of the having an additional 115 litre fuel
Fw 190 A-7 in November 1943 tank fitted in the rear fuselage to
saw a further armament upgrade improve range without the need
– the two nose-mounted MG 17 to always carry a drop tank. This
7.9mm machine guns finally being meant that the radio had to be
replaced with higher calibre 13mm relocated to just behind the pilot’s
MG 131s. These were about the seat. It was also upgraded from
Fw 190 A-8/R2 same length but weighed more the FuG 16 Z to the FuG 16 ZY,
!

and had a lower rate of fire at which required an aerial mounted

Unteroffizier Paul Lixfeld of 6./JG 300’s 900rppm compared to 1200 for beneath the port wing centre
battered Yellow 12 as it appeared at
Löbnitz, Germany, in November 1944.
the MG 17. The A-7 also received section. Mountings for the ETC
The boar’s head badge on the cowling an uppgraded gunsight, with the 501 under-fuselage rack, which
dates from the Gruppe’s days as a Revi C/12d being replaced by the was an option on many previous
‘Wilde Sau’ unit. The significance of Revi 16b, and the tailwheel was models, had to be shifted 7.9in
‘Muschi’ is unknown. enlarrged from 13.8 x 5.3in to 15 further forward due to the new

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTER
RS 085
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF
!

Fw 190 A-8 fuselage fuel tank. In the period from December 1944 to FW 190 D-9, D-11 AND D-13
addition, mountings for WGr April 1945. The Fw 190 B and C were
‘Red 11’ of 14./ 21 rocket tubes were built as Production of the Fw 190 attempts to build a high-altitude
JG 54 at Mörtitz
standard. Later examples of the A-9 began in mid-1944 with the version of the type. The ‘B’ was
in Germany,
November 1944. A-8 were fitted with a bulged introduction of the new BMW 801 to be based on the A-3 but with
cockpit canopy which significantly S (TS) engine. It had the same wings lengthened to 40ft 8¼in. It
improved visibility. capacity as the D-2 at 41.8 litres was to have a pressure cabin and
As one of Germany’s two but produced 2000hp at 2700rpm a GM-1 boost for its BMW 801 D-2
most important front line fighters, at sea level, compared to just engine. The ‘C’ was an attempt
alongside the Bf 109, at a time 1700hp in the same conditions for to build a Fw 190 fitted with a
when Albert Speer was radically the D-2. To go with the BMW 801 turbosupercharged powerplant,
reorganising aircraft production S (TS) a more efficient radiator was either a DB 603 or Jumo 213, plus
on a national scale, the Fw 190 fitted, along with a more heavily the longer wings and pressure
A-8 was built in huge quantities armoured oil tank. As a result cabin originally planned for the Fw
at numerous dispersed sites. the cowling was lengthened by 190 B. A larger tailfin was designed
Focke-Wulf itself made at least 30mm. The first production A-9 for it too.
1579, from the first examples was built by Focke-Wulf at Cottbus By the beginning of 1943,
in March 1944 to the end of the in August 1944. Norddeutsche Focke-Wulf’s design team had
war. Other companies involved Dornier joined in during October prepared plans for an advanced
in manufacturing the A-8 were and Heinkel started to produce it and entirely new fighter that
WFG, Heinkel, Weserflug, Fieseler, during November. AGO and Arado would replace the Fw 190 A series
Arado, Concordia, LBB, AGO also began to build the A-9 from completely. These were submitted
and Norddeutsche Dornier. It is January 1945. Details of exactly to the RLM in April 1943 and
believed that a total of some 5100 how many A-9s were built are received the designation Ta 153 –
were made but production figures scant but estimates range from the ‘Ta’ replacing ‘Fw’ in honour of
are sketchy or entirely lacking for 500 to 1000. the company’s now-chief executive

086 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

Fw 190 A-8/R2

!
Major Walther Dahl of Stab/JG 300 flew
Blue 13 from Jüterbog in Germany during
December 1944. The logo on his engine
cowling tells its own story – between
September 1943 and January 1945 he shot
down 27 B-17s and three B-24s.

Fw 190 A-9
!

White 2 of 5./KG(J) 27 at Wels in Austria on

February 20, 1945.

Fw 190 D-9
!

The second most successful fighter ace of all

time, Major Gerhard Barkhorn, flew this aircraft
with Stab/JG 6, from Welzow in Germany on
February
ryy 17, 1945. Suff
ffering
f from wounds
sustained the previous year, by now he had
already scored his 301st and final victory
ry.

LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS 087

 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS CKE-WU
ULF FFW
FOCKE-WULF W1 90
190
Kurt Tank. Within a short time,
however, the Ta 153 was rejected
ITS BMW-ENGINED SIBLINGS
IN MANY RESPECTS THE D-9
WAS ALMOST IDENTICAL TO

on the grounds that it would cause

too much disruption to established
production lines at a time when
new fighters were desperately
THE A-8 AND A-9.

needed on every front.

Therefore, on August 17, 1943,
Focke-Wulf submitted a version
of the design that used as many
existing parts as possible – the
Ta 152. This too was eventually
rejected, for the same reasons.
Kurt Tank tried again during a
meeting on January 13-14, 1944,
and stressed that the standard
Ta 152 A would be produced
alongside a high-altitude version,
the Ta 152 H, from the outset.
In addition, he proposed an
interim solution to the problem of
improving the Fw 190. By now, Therefore, it was decided to skip around the engine mounts ahead
issues with the 1750hp inverted over D-3 to D-8 and, since the of the cockpit and bigger wheels
V12 Jumo 213 engine had largely new aircraft was being developed were added to the undercarriage
been resolved – what if it could be alongside the A-9, designate it too.
fitted to the latest existing Fw 190 the D-9. In many other respects – control
airframe, the A-8, with a minimal While the central idea of the linkages, undercarriage legs
number of additional changes to D-9 was to retain as many A-9 and electrics, radio equipment
accommodate it? components as possible, some and wings – the D-9 was almost
The RLM, while remaining changes were unavoidable to identical to its BMW-engined
unconvinced about the Ta 152, cope with the sheer size and siblings the A-8 and A-9.
reluctantly approved Tank’s interim particularly the length of the Jumo The first D-9 prototype was a
solution and work on the Fw 190 D 213 A-1. Avoiding unfavourable modified version of the Fw 190
began. Earlier proposals to try the changes in the centre of gravity V17 machine, redesignated V17/
Jumo 213 in the Fw 190 airframe meant the aircraft’s tail had to U1. This had previously been
had been allocated the letter ‘D’ as be elongated with a straight earmarked for the Jumo 213 but
Fw 190 D-1 and Fw 190 D-2, the 0.5m section being added to the fitted with the DB 603 for testing
difference being that the latter had fuselage ahead of the fin. instead. Now this was stripped
a pressurised cockpit while the In addition, the larger fin out and the Jumo type finally
former did not. designed for the Fw 190 C was installed between late April and
As time wore on and the Fw 190 used. The weight of the engine early May 1944.
A-8 entered service, plans for the meant some extra strengthening It was flown for the first time on
A-9 were already being advanced. was needed for the fuselage May 17 and just three months later,

088 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Fw 190 F-8
Black 11 of 5./SG 77 at Cottbus in Germany, early March
1945. Flugplatz Cottbus, a Focke-Wulf factory airfield,
became a front-line base in January 1945 as Soviet forces
approached. It finally fell to the Russians on April 23, 1945.

!
in late August, the first production finished. Slowly, bulk production records are incomplete, but at
Fw 190 D-9, WNr. 210001, was also began at Focke-Wulf’s large least 670 are documented and it
completed at another Focke-Wulf Cottbus factory. The following is likely that more than twice that
facility, Sorau in Silesia, in late month, two subcontractors number were ultimately produced
August. It was armed with just also began series production – since there are no records for
two MG 151s, in the wing roots, Arbeitgemeinschaft Roland (WFG) December 1944 nor the period
and the two MG 131s over the at Nordenham and Fieseler at from February 1945 to the end of
nose. Problems with the aircraft’s Kassel. Junkers and Siebel also the war.
Jumo 213 A-1 engine, however, produced large component parts A handful of Fw 190 D-11s, at
prevented further production until for the type. least 17, were also built. The D-11
mid-September when the second It is unknown precisely how was fitted with the improved Jumo
official D-9, WNr. 210002, was many D-9s were built, since 213 F engine, had an enlarged

Fw 190 A-8
!

Yellow 17 of 3./JG 301 at Salzwedel in

Germany, March 1945.

!
Fw 190 D-11
Leutnant Otto Leisner flew Double Chevron
with VFS (Verbandsführerschule)
(V
V des G. d. J.
from Bad Wörishofen, Germany, on March
14, 1945. VFS was a training school for unit
leaders established by Adolf Galland in
September 1945.

LUFTWAFFE
LLU
LUF
UFTWA
UF WA
AFF
FFE
FFE FI
F
FIGHTERS
IGH
GHT
HTTERS
ERS 08
089
89
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FOCKE-WULF FW 190
supercharger air intake on the FW 190 F AND G Fw 190, on the other hand, could
starboard side cowling and a Like the Fw 190 B and C, the Fw become a capable fighter-bomber
larger diameter wooden propeller. 190 E never entered production. In with only minor modifications.
Armament consisted of two MK November 1942 it was proposed The first attempt to create
108s in the outer wing positions that a dedicated reconnaissance a dedicated Schlachtflugzeug
and two MG 151s in the inboard version of the Fw 190 should be (ground-attack aircraft) had been
wing positions. The engine cowling built, the E-1, but it was eventually the Fw 190 A-3/U3, devised in
MG 131s were deleted and a decided that this was unnecessary. May 1942. This had extra armour
smooth streamlined plate was What was required, however, was a plates fitted around and beneath
fitted instead. version of the aircraft that featured the engine, on the sides of the
Finally, the D-13 also briefly built-in attachment points for fuselage and on the undercarriage
entered production. Every example ground-attack weaponry but which doors. A variety of different
built was a D-13/R11, which meant remained capable of operating in armament options were proposed,
each was fitted with equipment the fighter role depending on the ranging from bombs to under-wing
for bad weather flying – including circumstances. Various versions cannon pods. Just 12 examples
PKS12 and K-23 steering and of the Bf 109 had been equipped were constructed. Next came
autopilot systems, a heated for ground-attack but the type’s the A-4/U3, featuring the same
windscreen,, the FuG 125 radio and diminutive size made it ill-suited to armour and weaponp options
p as its
hydraulic
y boost for its ailerons. carrying
y g substantial p payloads.
y The predecessor.
p In addition,, the A-3/

Fw 190 A-8
!

White 14 was flown by Feldwebel Erich

Staschewski of 7./JG 300, based at Löbnitz,
Germany, during March 1945.

Fw 190 D-9
!

White 14 of 9./JG 2 at Ettinghausen in

Germany, March 1945.

Fw 190 D-9 !
Oberleutnant Hans Dortenmann of 14./JG 26 flew
Black 1 while based at Varrelbusch, Germany,
in March 1945. Eighteen of Dortenmann’s 38
victories were won while flying this D-9 – making
him the most successful pilot with this type.

090 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

U3’s centreline ETC 501 bomb to plan until April 1943, when communicate effectively with
rack featured the ER-4 adapter, Focke-Wulf changed its mind. The the forces on the ground that he
which allowed the Fw 190A-4/U3 A-4/U3 became officially known as was supporting.
to carry a set of four SC50 the Fw 190 F-1, while the remaining Most F-3s left the factory
bombs. Again, only a handful, A-5/U3s became Fw 190 F-2s. A – they were all built by Arado –
perhaps a dozen, are believed to total of up to 270 are believed to with a modification pack already
have been made. have been produced. fitted. The Fw 190 F-3/R1 had
Next came another small-run The template for true mass an ETC 501 bomb rack with ER
type, the A-5/U3. This had two production of the Friedrich 4 adapter under its fuselage plus
ETC 50 racks under each wing became, instead, the A-5/U17 two ETC 50s under each wing
and a hefty total armour weight of which was built as the F-3. This it could carry up to eight SC50
794lb. The A-5/U3 was scheduled was similar to the A-5/U3 but 50kg bombs. These could be
for limited production in December had its outer wing gun positions dropped all at once or in pairs
1942 with the ultimate goal of deleted. Armament was fixed using a control device fitted to
using it as the pattern aircraft at a pair of MG 17s on the nose the aircraft’s cockpit known as
for the full production Fw 190 F and MG 151 20mm cannon in the kleine Abwurfelektrik (small
ground-attack aircraft, scheduled the wing roots. It also had a FuG electrical release). The extra
to enter production in June 1943. 16 ZS radio which used army weight of the bombs caused the
Everything proceeded according frequencies, allowing the pilot to aircraft to become unwieldy and

Fw 190 D-9
!

Flying Black 8 on March 18, 1945,

Oberfeldwebel Werner Zech of 14./JG 26,
based at Ellinghausen in Germany, was
attacked by P-51 Mustangs of the 339th FG.
He bailed out and his D-9 was destroyed in
the ensuing crash.

LLU
LUF
LUFTWAFFE
UFTWA
UF WA
AFF
FFE
FFE FIGHTERS
FIGHT
FIGH
HTTERS
ERS 09
091
91
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF

top speed dropped dramatically to armament removed

just 326mph. Therefore most had except for the MG
T THE
D BE

their nose-mounted machine guns 151 cannon in the

removed for bombing missions. wing roots. The
ABLE TO FUNCTION AS
EITHER A FIGHTER OR

p
Most of the 432 F-3s produced deletion of anyy nose
FINISHED TA 152 WOULD
A
O
IT WAS INTENDED THAT

were built between April and mounted weapons allowed for the
FIGHTER-BOMBER

December 1943. Production then installation of an additional oil tank

dropped to a trickle but continued to improve the endurance of the
until the last five were built during aircraft’s BMW 801 D-2 engine.
March 1944. The first units to A critical factor in the Fw 190
receive them were I./SKG 10 in G’s design was the ability to carry
France, I./SG 1 and II./SG 1 in a drop tank under each wing and
Russia and II./SG 2 in Sicily. since Focke-Wulf did not have
The F-4 was essentially an F-3 the appropriate racks to enable
with a refined release system, this, it bought in faired racks from
allowing bombs to be dropped Weserflug that had been designed
one at a time. However, with the for use on the Ju 87 Stuka –
Fw 190 A-8 now in prospect the known as the VTr. Ju 87.
A-5 airframe on which the F-4 While they certainly did the job,
was to be based was becoming these racks reduced the aircraft’s
increasingly outdated. speed to an appalling g 298mph. MK 103 or MK 108 firing
fi through
Therefore, the F-4 was Two prototype Fw 190 90 G-1s, based the nose and MG 151s in both
cancelled before it could enter on the Fw 190 A-4, were flown in the wing roots and outer wing
even the prototype stage and a late 1942 and early 1943943 but the positions, for a total of five guns.
revised version was designed oduction.
type did not enter production. The Ta 152 A/B took the basic
based on the A-8, to be known However, a small numbermber of a A 8 airframe and lengthened the
A-8
as the F-8. This had the same version based on the e A-5, the Fw forward fuselage by 0.772m to
armament as the A-8 but without 190 G-2, did. This was as followed by accommodate either new engine
the outer wing positions. The the G-3, which had fittings made and an engine mounted MK 108
F-8 also differed from the A-8 in Wulf. Some 550
in-house by Focke-Wulf. cannon. This fuselage extension
having a modified injector on its of these were made – all by Focke-
compressor which gave enhanced Wulf itself. With the advent of the
performance during low level flying standard Fw 190 A-8, 8, the G-series
for several minutes. jumped to the G-8 and nd a further
F-8 production was almost on 700 or so were built.
a par with that of the A-8 – an
incredible 3614 being built, 2264 TA 152
of them by Arado and 1350 by Two standard fighter versions with
Norddeutsche Dornier. A new different engines werere proposed
development based on the A-9, by Focke-Wulf for itss Fw 190
the F-9, was introduced in January replacement: the Ta 152 A and
1945 with some 400 built, though the Ta 152 B. The former
rmer was to
exact figures are unknown. Yet have a Jumo 213 A and the latter a
more advanced versions were Jumo 213 E, with the e Daimler-Benz
planned but none were produced. DB 603 G as a backup up for either.
During the autumn of 1942, It was intended that
hat the finished
a long-range version of the Fw fighter, whatever its engine, would
190 F was proposed – the Fw be able to function as s either a
190 G. This had a centreline ETC fighter or fighter-bomber.
mber. Standard
501 bomb rack but also had all armament was to be a single

092 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 !
Fw 190 D-9
Che
Chevron of Stab/JG 4,
Frankfurt-Main, Germany,
Fra
March 1945.
Mar

Fw 190 D-9
!

Brown 4 of 7./JG 26, based in Hustedt,

Germany, April 1945.

was bolted to the A-8’s engine Ta 152’s oxygen bottles and the into each one. This was so that
attachment points. compressed air bottles necessary the larger wheels could be moved
The wing was moved forwards for the engine mounted cannon. outboard by 0.25m each for
by 0.42m to adjust the centre of The undercarriage was the propeller clearance.
gravity and the rear star junction same as the A-8’s but with larger Three existing aircraft were
and fuselage bulkhead were 740 by 210mm wheels.
wheels The wings modified to become the Ta 152 A
correspondingly moved. The rear were slightly enlarged to a span of prototypes – Fw 190s V19, V20
fuselage was lengthened with 11m, from the Fw 190 A’s 10.5m,
the fitting of a 0.5m section into by inserting an extra 0.5m section
it. This was used to house the

Fw 190 F-9
!

Yellow 7 was flown by Leeutnant Helmut Wenk of III./SG 10, based at Prerau in Slova
akia
during April 1945. Wenk was born in New York but his family moved to Friedrichshaafen in
southern Germany when n he was a boy. He shot down a Soviet La-5 on April 27, 194
45.

LUFTWAFFE
LUF
LUF
UFTWA
WA
AFF
FFE
FFE FIGHTERS
FIIGH
GHT
HTTERS
ERS 093
09
93
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF

Fw 190 F-8
!

Yellow 2, WNr. 586875, served with 6./SG 10

at Hörsching, Austria, during late April 1945.

and V21. There were no Ta 152 B possible number of changes.

FEBRUARY 16, 1944, WHEN THE

prototypes since the Jumo 213 E The Ta 152 H had the same A-8
RIGHT UNDERCARRIAGE LEG

engine had been seriously delayed. airframe alternations as the 152

THE FIRST TA 152 A TEST
AIRFRAME CRASHED ON

V19 first flew with its Jumo 213 A but the fuselage centre section
LOCKING BOLT FAILED

A on July 7, 1943. It had a new tail, was designed as a pressurized

later to be seen on the Fw 190 D-9, chamber with a volume of about
and a 50cm fuselage extension but one cubic metre, sealed with DHK
no armament. Its initial task was 880 paste. The sliding cockpit
to investigate engine performance canopy was sealed with a tube
and handling. partly filled with foam rubber.
Focke-Wulf applied for When the pilot activated it, a
permission to give the Ta 152 A one litre compressed air bottle
development priority on October pumped up the tube. In order to
8, 1943, but this was denied. get out of the aircraft, the tube
The second prototype, Fw 190 had to be emptied first – which
V20 TI+IG, made its first flight on meant it would be difficult for the
November 23, 1943, with a Jumo pilot to escape in an emergency. In
213 CV engine. This unarmed addition, wingspan was increased
airframe was used for engine to 14.4m (47ft 3in) from the
checks, speed trials, fuel system standard Fw 190 A’s 10.5m (34ft
and hydraulic tests. 5in). On December 20, 1943, Tank when the right undercarriage leg
Tank had been considering a resubmitted his request for the locking bolt failed but the damage
high-altitude version of the Ta 152 A to be given development was repaired and testing was
Ta 152 to compete with the Bf 109 priority but this was again denied. resumed. By now, the Jumo 213 E
H and shortly after he submitted Tank’s efforts to persuade the RLM engine planned for the
plans for the Ta 152 H to the of the aircraft’s merits resulted, Ta 152 B had been subject
RLM, on December 7, 1943, the at the meeting on January 13-14, to serious delays so another
ministry ordered six prototypes. 1944, in the Fw 190 D-9 being powerplant, the Daimler-Benz DB
It stipulated, however, that these approved as an interim measure. 603 L, was identified for the aircraft
should be built from standard The first Ta 152 A test airframe, under the designation Ta 152 C.
A-8 airframes with the minimum V19, crashed on February 16, 1944, Like the A and B, this was proposed

094 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Fw 190 A-8

!
Oberfähnrich Axel Meinhart Kessler of 6./JG
4, an Estonian volunteer, flew Black 10 from
Jessen in Lithuania to neutral Sweden on April
19, 1945, to escape the advancing Russians.

Fw 190 D-11
!

Red 4 of JV 44’s airfield defence unit, München-

Riem, Germany, April 1945. This aircraft bears
the cryptic slogan ‘Der nächste Herr dieselbe
Dame!’ which loosely means ‘The next man, same
woman!’ – presumably a reference to the aircraft
being shared between pilotts.

Fw 190 D-9
!

‘White 12’ of 5./JG 301, as it appeared at Bad

Langensalza in Germany on May 5, 1945.

as a fighter and fighter-bomber, While this was going on, on engine exhhaustt which was meant
depending on armament. March 13, 1944, the third Ta 152 to allow the Ta 152 A to operate
The Ta 152 C had the same A prototype, Fw 190 V21 TI+IH, as a night fighter without special
fuselage extensions and larger made its first flight with a Jumo modifications.
wheels as the other members of 213 CV. It had the 50cm fuselage The damper, however, imposed
the 152 family and the same wings extension, another new tail type, such a severe performance penalty
as the Ta 152 A/B but without the now familiar Ta 152 tail, no on the aircraft’s engine that it was
outer wing gun positions. Instead, armament and gun port openings abandoned on April 18, 1944. Less
provision was made to carry a pair in its engine cowling. It was used than a month later V21 managed
of MG 151/20 machine guns in the to test, along with V20, a glare- a top speed of 335mph at sea
upper cowling above the engine. reducing flame damper over the level and on May 5, 1944, it was

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 095
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF

transferred to Rechlin for further Its development, however, had setback when one of its first
trials. The Ta 152 A was now only just begun and was therefore prototypes, former Ta 152 A tester
ready for full production – and was behind that of the specialised Fw 190 V20, being converted into
promptly cancelled by the RLM in Ta 152 H which had been worked V20/U1, was destroyed in an air
July 1944. The Ta 152 B standard on since December 1943. raid on August 5, 1944.
fighter design was left in limbo as The first airframe intended to Fortunately, the RLM had
its Jumo 213 E engine was still test components and handling ordered six prototypes of the
delayed and the 152 H, using the for the planned Ta 152 H took Ta 152 H and work on the second
same engine, was given higher place on July 13, 1944. But just 36 one was nearly complete. Fw 190
priority. minutes after take-off for a ferrying V30/U1 GH+KT was able to make
This resulted in the odd flight, Fw 190 V33/U1, GH+KW, its first flight the day after the air
situation where, because the crash-landed and suffered severe raid and testing with its early Jumo
Ta 152 A was cancelled and the damage. 213 E engine commenced.
Ta 152 B was stalled, the Ta 152 This was a major setback V30/U1 was transferred to the
C became the focus of efforts to for the Ta 152 H. The Ta 152 C Rechlin test centre on August 19
create a ‘standard’ Ta 152 fighter. programme also suffered a big but during another high altitude

Fw 190 F-9
Chevron/Black 1, possibly of Stab/SG 10, at
Budweis in Czechoslovakia, May 1945.
!

096 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Fw 190 D-9

!
White 1 was the aircraft assigned to
Oberleutnant Peter Crump of 5./JG 26 at
Husum, Germany, May 5, 1945. However
Crump, who had originally joined the
Luftwaffe in 1937, had flown his last combat
mission three days earlier.

flight with Flugkapitän Alfred November 3 saw the first flight in its new configuration on
Thomas at the controls, the Jumo Ta 152 C test aircraft finally taking November 19, 1944. Meanwhile,
213 E caught fire. The aircraft to the skies – Fw 190 V21/U1, now that the Jumo 213 E was finally
crashed and Thomas was killed. formerly used as part of the Ta 152 proving more reliable, the Ta 152
The third Ta 152 H prototype, A programme. With the planned B was revived. Since the Daimler-
Fw 190 V29/U1 GH+KS, first DB 603 L engine delayed, it was Benz powered Ta 152 C already
flew on September 24, 1944, and powered by a stopgap DB 603 E occupied the standard fighter role,
was sent to Rechlin three days instead. On November 18 it was it was envisioned that the 152 B
later to get the testing process handed over to Daimler-Benz itself could become a Zerstörer (heavy
quickly under way. Rechlin’s pilots for conversion to the new DB 603 fighter) to fill the role vacated by the
concluded that the aircraft required LA engine.
trim changes, had ‘uncomfortable’ Fw 190 V18 became the fourth
stall behaviour and suffered poor Ta 152 H test aircraft as V18/U2,
stability in the vertical axis but was starting with a first
otherwise stable.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 097
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS
S FO
OCKE-WULF FW 190
FOCKE-WULF
recently cancelled Me 410.
PLANS WERE ON THE DRAWING

The Ta 152 B-5 was intended

to be similar to the C but with a
BOARD FOR A TWO-SEATER
TA 152 S-1 BASED ON THE

Jumo engine and a reduced

armament – one MK 103 in
the engine and another
in each wing root. It
was planned that
TA 152 C-1

production would
begin at Erla in May
1945 and Gotha in
July 1945.
The war situation was
deteriorating rapidly, but sufficient
testing had been done for the
Ta 152 H to enter full production
in late November 1944, just 11
months after the first prototypes received a bottle of schnapps,
had been ordered. hard to come by in those days,
Neuhausen, near Cottbus in as compensation. Everything was
Brandenburg, was chosen as the okay with the second machine.”
Ta 152 production centre and The second machine was first
work began slowly. While the flown on November 29 and the
facilities were available for mass third on December 3. A total of
production, the materials and 21 H-0s had been completed by
components were not. There were the end of December. These had
continuous delays at the factory no wing fuel tanks or MW 50/
as missing parts were tracked GM 1 boost. Production was in
down for the first run of Ta 152 H-0 full swing during early January
aircraft. but on January 16, a group of 40
Focke-Wulf chief test pilot Hans USAAF Lightnings and Mustangs
Sander flew the first machine off attacked the airfield at Neuhausen,
the production line, WNr. 150 001 where the new Ta 152s had been
CW+CA, on November 24, 1944. gathered prior to delivery to
He later recalled: “I had to put the III./JG 301, the first unit intended to V8 GW+QA – flying on December
first production machine down operate them. Fourteen brand new 12, January 8 and January 15
on its belly away from Cottbus 152s were completely destroyed respectively.
because while climbing out after and another was damaged. Plans were now on the drawing
takeoff the engine suddenly In the meantime, the Ta 152 C board too for further variants – a
stopped receiving fuel. A hydraulic programme was still forging ahead. Focke-Wulf production schedule
valve had somehow been installed Three more prototypes had been dating from January 1945 indicates
in the fuel line. I constructed, this time from scratch plans for a two-seater Ta 152 S-1
– Ta 152 V6 VH+EY, V7 CI+XM and based on the Ta 152 C-1, to be built

Ta 152 H-1
!

‘Green 9’ as it was flown by test pilot Captain

Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown as part of the Enemy
Aircraft Flight at Farnborough, England, on
October 22, 1945. The aircraft is believed to
have previously been piloted by Obfw. Willi
Reschke of JG 301 in combat during April 1945.

098 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Ta 152 H-0

!
Yellow 1 of 11./JG 301, at Alteno in Germany,
January 1945.

by Blohm & Voss from April 1945, January and three

the reconnaissance version Ta 152 more in February
E-1 with RB 75/30 camera in its before production
fuselage, and Ta 152 C-11 torpedo ceased, giving a total
launching aircraft. of 43 production machines,
Another 20 Ta 152s, H-0s and plus 11 prototype/experimental
H-1s, would be completed in airframes. •
Ta 152 H-1
!

Ahead of a meeting at Rechlin to discuss the

Ta 152 on March 22, 1945, Oberstleutnant Fritz
Aufhammer of Stab/JG 301 ordered that his
Ta 152 H-1 be painted bright red so German
flak gunners would not shooting it down.

LU
UFFT
TWAFFE FIGHTERS 099
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS JU
UNKERS JU 88
JUNKERS

JUNKERS
The versatile Junkers Ju 88 was the Luftwaffe’s newest
at the outbreak of the Second World War. Designed as
st aircraft
s a fast
bomber, it proved well suited to night fighter duties wheen required
when
ontinually
and Junkers put a great deal of time and effort into continually
improving its capabilities as the war went on.

W
hen the 1934 components with the Bf 110 and
Kampfzerstörer therefore keep costs down, it was
1936-1945

requirement was split inflexible and lacked the multirole

in two and the Bf 110 capability inherent in the larger
became the Luftwaffe’s new Junkers design.
zerstörer unopposed, the other half By the time the Hs 127 V1
of the requirement necessitated a was ready for its first flight, in
new design competition. The split September 1937, a decision had
was made in mid-1935 and a new already been made to proceed
schnellbomber or ‘fast bomber’ with the Ju 88 as the Luftwaffe’s
requirement was sent out to four new fast bomber. Over the next
companies – Messerschmitt, two years the design evolved
Focke-Wulf, Henschel and Junkers. rapidly – the pre-production
The Focke-Wulf entry was prototype V6 apparently sharing
eliminated early on but the only 35% of its components with
other three firms were given the V4.
contracts to construct prototypes. One of the last two prototypes
Messerschmitt’s entry, the constructed, the V7, was used to
Bf 162, was a version of the test a solid unglazed nose and
Bf 110; Henschel made the Hs fixed forward-firing guns for a
127 and Junkers presented the projected fighter version. It first
Ju 88. While the Messerschmitt flew on September 27, 1938.
design was attractive, particularly It was not until February 1940
because it would share so many that the first fighter version of the

100 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

JU 88 C-4
The most successful night fighter ace of the Second World War at the time of
his death with 12 victories, Leutnant Hans Hahn of 3./NJG 2 flew R4+NL from
his unit’s base at Gilzen-Rijen in Holland during September 1941. The following
month, on October 11, he was attacking an RAF Airspeed Oxford twin-engine
trainer close to Grantham in Lincolnshire when he accidentally collided with it
and crashed. Both his flight engineer Unteroffizier Helmut Scheidt and wireless
operator Unteroffizier Ernst-Wilhelm Meissler were also killed.

JU 88 C-4

JU 88
Leutnant Heinz Rökker of 1./NJG 2, based at Kaselli on Crete,
flew R4+IL during May 1942 – before he had achieved a
single combat victory. He would go on to become one of the
Luftwaffe’s most successful night fighter aces with 64 victories
between June 1942 and March 15, 1945. When this publication
was written, during October 2016, Rökker was the only pilot of
any of the aircraft depicted to still be alive, aged 95.

JU 88 C-6
R4+FM was flown by Leutnant Wilhelm Beier of 10./NJG 1, based at
Leeuwarden, Holland, during October 1942. On the night of the 15/16th of that
month he would shoot down an RAF B-24 Liberator at 10.13pm, a Short Stirling
at 10.16pm, another at 10.19pm and finally an Avro Manchester at 10.52pm.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTER
RS 101
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS JUNKERS JU 88

JU 88 C-6
Hauptmann Eduard Schröder of 12./NJG 3 flew D5+GX from Grove
in Denmark during December 1943. Schröder achieved 24 night
victories with NJG 3 but had previously claimed five day victories
with II./JG 53, three of them while serving on the Eastern Front.

JU 88 C-6
8V+BM of 4./NJG 200, based at Orsha in Belarus, USSR, during
the harsh winter conditions of January 1944.

102 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

JU 88 C-6
Born into the German aristocracy, Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn Wittgenstein joined
the Hitler Youth in 1932 before joining the Luftwaffe in 1937. He was initially
an observer/navigator aboard Ju 88 and He 111 bombers before retraining
as a pilot during the winter of 1940-41 and transferring to the night fighter
force during August 1941. By June 1943, with the rank of hauptmann, he was
a member of Stab./IV./NJG 5 based at Insterburg-Prussia in Germany. He had
been used to flying a Bf 110 but on the night of June 24, 1943, his usual aircraft
was unserviceable so he took up this Ju 88 C-6 instead – C9+AE. He was so
impressed with its performance, shooting down four Lancaster bombers that
night, that he never flew the Bf 110 again.

Ju 88, the C-1, began to appear Using this upgraded platform as

as a factory modification of fully a starting point, Junkers designed
built Ju 88 A-1 airframes rolling off the C-6 as both a heavy fighter
the production lines. Powered by and night fighter. The standard
a pair of Jumo 211 engines and heavy fighter was equipped with
armed with three MG 17 machine the usual trio of MG 17s and single
guns and one MG FF cannon in MG FF/M cannon in its nose but
a solid nose, 20 examples were also carried a pair of forward-firing
constructed. Later that year, MG FF/Ms in an under-fuselage
the same process was used to gondola. For defence it retained
convert 20 Ju 88 A-5s into the a single rearward-firing MG 15
Ju 88 C-2 heavy fighter with the or MG 131.
same armament. The night fighter version of the
A shortage of the BMW 801 C-6 was a standard production
engines intended to power it model converted to carry a
meant that the Ju 88 C-3 heavy FuG 202 Lichtenstein BC radar
fighter was never built but a unit or, from the autumn of 1942,
further 60 A-5s were converted a FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1 radar.
into long-range reconnaissance Later in the war, some C-6 night
versions of the C-2, designated fighters were fitted with the
the C-4. Both C-2 and C-4 aircraft FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 plus
were used to perform missions the C-1, and some of these also
over Britain during 1941 by had a pair of upwards firing
I./NJG 2. The C-5 was intended to MG 151s installed as a Schräge
be a BMW 801-powered version Musik arrangement. Production of
of the C-4 and suffered the same the C-6 as a purpose-built fighter,
fate as the C-3. rather than a conversion like earlier
After the A-1, the next major ‘C’ types, commenced in October
production model of the Ju 88 was 1941 – a year after the A-4 – and
the A-4. Entering service towards all together, some 900 Ju 88 C-6s
the end of 1940, this resolved were manufactured.
teething troubles experienced During mid-1943 it was decided
with the A-1. Its revised features that since most C-6s were now
included redesigned wingtips, being converted from heavy fighter
wider fields of fire for defensive to night fighter, production should
weaponry, stronger undercarriage be switched to a dedicated night
and more powerful engines – fighter, saving time by eliminating
either Jumo 211 J-1s or J-2s with the need for post-production
wooden-bladed propellers. alterations. This became the

LUFT
FTWAFFE
E FIGHTERS 103
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS JU
UNKERS JU 88
JUNKERS

‘G
G’ series and the first six pre-
production G-0s were constructed
by Junkers at Bernburg during
December 1943, swiftly followed by
13 full production G-1s that same
month. This production line was
run in parallel with the introduction
of the Ju 188 and Ju 388.
The Ju 88 G-1 was powered
by a pair of BMW 801s, since
the projected replacement for
the now under-powered Jumo
211, the Jumo 213, was not yet
available. Its rear fuselage, with a
larger re-shaped fin, came from
the Ju 188 and all nose armament
was deleted. Instead, it carried
four forward-firing MG 151 20mm
cannon in an under-fuselage pod
which was offset to the port side
of the fuselage. The radar unit
was initially the Lichtenstein BC,
although later examples featured
the FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2.
The G-1 was also equipped with
the FuG 227 Flensburg passive
radar receiver. This device,
developed by Siemens and Halske,
used wing and tail-mounted dipole

JU 88 C-6 JU 88 G-6
Double chevron C9+AC was flown by 9W+EL of 3./NJG 101, depicted as it
Major Hans Leickhardt of the Stab./ appeared at Ingolstadt-Manching in
II./NJG 5, based at Stubendorf in Germany during March 1945.
Germany during December 1944.

104 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 JU 88 C-6
Hauptmann Friedrich Tober flew 4R+AS with 8./NJG 2,
based at Gilzen-Rijen, Holland, during March 1944.

JU 88 G-1
One of the single most important aircraft of the Second World War was 4R+UR, crewed by
Unteroffizier Hans Mackle, Obergefreiter Heinz Olze and Obergefreiter Hans Mockl of 7./NJG
2, stationed at Köln-Butzweilerhof in Germany. When they became lost and landed at RAF
Woodbridge in Suffolk by mistake on the night of July 12/13, 1944, they unwittingly gave the
Allies the opportunity to study their aircraft’s advanced electronics and learn their secrets.

antennae and was effectively able July 13, 1944, a Ju 88 G-1 fitted
to home in one signals from the with Flensburg made a wheels-

PASSIVE RADAR RECEIVER

Monica tail warning radar carried down landing at RAF Woodbridge

THE FUG 227 FLENSBURG

GAVE THE LUFTWAFFE’S
NIGHT FIGHTER FORCE
by RAF bombers. in Suffolk. The pilot, Hans Mackle,
This gave the Luftwaffe’s night had become completely lost and
A HUGE ADVANTAGE.
fighter force a huge advantage by was nearly out of fuel. Believing
allowing them to track the RAF’s he was near Berlin, he put the
aircraft – using their own radar aircraft down, only to discover
signals against them. However, on his mistake when he and his crew
were arrested.
The G-1 was carefully
examined by British intelligence
who quickly realized the
importance of their fortunate
discovery and had Monica
stripped from all RAF bombers.
Production of the last Ju 88
fighter to see front line service in
large numbers, the G-6, began
during June 1944. The G-6 differed
from the G-1 primarily in being
powered by the new Jumo 213 A.
It was built in parallel to the G-1
until November 1944, when
production switched entirely
over to the G-6.
A total of nearly 1200 G-1s and
1050 G-6s were manufactured
during 1944, with G-6 production
continuing until Junkers’ facilities
and those of its subcontractors
were overrun by the Allies one by
one during the spring of 1945.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 105
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS JU
UNKERS JU 88
JUNKERS

During January 1945, This was broadly similar to the G-6

deliveries of another Ju 88 fighter but with more powerful Jumo 213
commenced – the long-range E engines installed, necessitating
night fighter G-10. This featured a switch from three-bladed
an extended fuselage to carry propellers to four-bladed, and was
more fuel but just 30 were made also fitted with pointed-tip longer-
before the war ended and most span Ju 188 wings. Perhaps fewer
if not all of these were converted than 10 G-7s were built.
for use in Mistel flying bomb The Ju 88 night fighters in all their
combinations. Finally, the G-7 went various forms were generally well
into production during March 1945. liked by their crews and the later ‘G’
series models were among the most
well-equipped and capable German
aircraft still flying at the end of the
war – surpassing even the dedicated
He 219 night fighter. •

106 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

JU 88 G-6
Night fighter ace Hauptmann Herbert Koch 1./NJG 3 flew D5+AH from Grove
in Denmark on the night of April 24/25, 1945, and scored the Luftwaffe’s 7308th
and last night fighter victory of the Second World War. He shot down Halifax
bomber JP299 of 58 Squadron Coastal Command west of Skagen at 1.21am
on the 25th. The Halifax’s 21-year-old pilot Flight Lieutenant Arthur Thomas
Charles Wilmot-Dear and his crew were all killed.

JU 88 G-1 JU 88 G-6
The unfortunate Feldwebel Kurt Gross of 4./NJG 3, 3C+MN of 5./NJG 4 as it appeared at Flensburg,
based at Kjevik, Norway, was flying B4+DA on April 25, Germany, at the very end of the war – May 1945. The
1945, when he was shot down and killed, along with his long smooth nose houses the dish of a FuG 240 Berlin
two crewmen Reinhard Johnsen and Otto Müller, over N-1 cavity magnetron-based 3 GHz-band centimetric
Kragerø in Telemark county. radar system. Only around a dozen examples of this
system were built before the war in Europe ended.

LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS 107

 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

DORNIER
DO 17/215/217
1934-1945

Dornier’s Do 17 was a
bomber and so were its
successors – the
Do 215 and Do 217. Yet the
aircraft’s straightforward roduction of the ‘Flying Pencil’ Dornier Do 17 ended
modern design made it
easy to develop. When the P in 1940 and the numerous examples still available
were withdrawn from front line service when the
type’s replacement, the Do 217, became available in
significant numbers during 1942.
Luftwaffe found itself in
However, with the commencement of the RAF’s devastating
urgent need of more night campaign of night bombing an urgent need arose for more
fighters, Dornier obliged aircraft capable of intercepting them. These aircraft did not
by adapting its most need to be particularly manoeuvrable – indeed, they hardly
needed to be ‘fighters’ at all in the conventional sense since no
successful machine to dogfighting or aerobatics would be necessary.
the role. Stable gun platforms were required and with the redundant
Do 17 Z available in quantity it made sense to see whether it

108 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Do 17 Z-7
A stopgap night fighter at best, the Do 17 Z-7
was little more than a cumbersome gun platform.
This example is R4+HK of 2./NJG 2, based at
Gilzen-Rijen in Holland during October 1941.

could be made to meet that requirement. The result was the The Do 215 was a made-for-export version of the Do 17
Do 17 Z-7 Kauz I. Powered by Bramo 323 P-1 engines, its and was largely identical to the Do 17 Z. This meant it too was
endurance was increase by fitting an additional fuel tank a candidate for night fighter conversion and a total
in the bomb bay. Armour plates were bolted to the solid of 20 B-1s and B-4s were modified to become the Do 215
nose bulkhead to protect the three-strong crew from return B-5 or Kauz III. This had the same weaponry as the Kauz II
fire and it was armed with a trio of MG 17s plus a single but since the Spanner-Anlage system was ineffective some
MG FF cannon. were subsequently fitted with Lichtenstein 202 radar units
A small number of airframes received this modification during 1942.
and further upgrades – including the Spanner-Anlage infrared As the early Do 17 and 215 night fighters were either
lamp target-finding system and a heavier armament of four destroyed or became obsolete, some thought was given to
MG 17s and two MG FFs – created the Z-10 Kauz II. Just building new a night fighter based on the Do 217 E design.
10 Kauz IIs were made and one of them was tested with the Fitted with a solid nose crammed with four MG 17s and a pair of
Lichtenstein radar. MG FFs like its forebears, the Do 217 E became the Do 217 J.

Do 215 B-5
Night fighter ace Oberleutnant Paul Gildner of
5./NJG 2, based at Rijen, Holland, was flying
R4+SN on June 2/3, 1942, when he shot down n
a Short Stirling at 3.10am. The bomber went
down 70km west of Petten in North Holland.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 109
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS DORNIER DO 17/215/217

The first example, based on an E-2, was ready by February

1942. There were to be two versions of the Do 217 J: the J-1
fitted with the Spanner system and the J-2 with radar and four
MG 151s instead of two MG FFs. The former was intended as
a long-range ‘intruder’, prowling the skies over Britain, while
the latter was intended for short range home defence. A total
of 130 Do 217 Js were built between March and the end of
December 1942, though it was criticized by crews for being too
heavy and underpowered by its BMW 801 L engines.
The last Dornier night fighters were the Do 217 N-1 and
N-2 – produced after the J. These had more powerful DB
603 A engines and came with Lichtenstein radar as standard
equipment. The N-1 had extra fuel tanks fitted in its bomb
bay and equipment for flying over water including a
lifeboat and radio transmitters. Retaining the
standard Do 217 bomb release gear, plus
defensive machine gun positions in the
upper and lower fuselage positions, it
was heavy and slow, though 240 were
built. The defensive gunnery positions
could be deleted and faired over as the
Do 217 N-1/U1 or a quartet of upward
firing Schräge Musik MG 151 cannon could
be fitted as the Do 217 N-1/U3.
The N-2 had the defensive positions deleted
from the outset and it was lightened still further with
the deletion of the bomb bay, bomb release mechanisms and
even the openable
p bomb bayy doors. Thanks to all this weight
g
loss, armour protection for the crew could be increased and a
total of 95 N-2s were built.
While Dornier’s night fighters were always a compromise,
and never particularly well liked by their crews, they were
rapidly made available at a time when the Luftwaffe needed
them most. •

110 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 Do 217 N-2
A huge force of RAF bombers attacked railway yards and infrastructure around
Paris on the night of May 1/2, 1944, and the fighters of 6./NJG 4 – operating the
unpopular Do 217 N-2 – were among those sent to intercept them. Feldwebel
Günther Konzack set off from Coulommiers in France in 3C+IP but hit bad weather
and became disorientated. Well off course, he ended up flying in circles over Basel
in neutral Switzerland. Eventually he landed, only to be surrounded and taken
prisoner by Swiss soldiers – the aircraft being impounded.

Do 217 J-2
Fitted with a ‘solid’ armoured nose and eight

DORNIER’S NIGHT FIGHTERS

AVAILABLE AT A TIME WHEN
nose-mounted guns in total, plus the Do

THE LUFTWAFFE NEEDED

217’s original defensive gun positions, the

WERE RAPIDLY MADE

Do 217 J-2 was a heavily armed. D5+DM was
operated by 4./NJG 3 from Westerland-Sylt,
Germany, in September 1942.

THEM MOST.
!

Do 217 N-2
The Do 217 N-2 was the final Dornier night
fighter of the war but even this had been
relegated to non-operational duties by the
end of the war. SO+QY was serving with an
unknown training unit stationed at Straubing
in Germany when it was captured by the
advancing Allied in May 1945.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 111
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

HEINKEL
HE 219
1942-1945

Heinkel’s He 219 was the

Luftwaffe’s sole dedicated
night fighter yet it was
only built in small numbers
following a lengthy and
difficult development. Its
pilots rated it highly, despite
its unusual layout and
insectoid looks.

hat eventually by the RLM in June 1941. January 15, 1943, made 46 flights.

W became the He 219

started out as a
single engine private
venture reconnaissance
Heinkel refused to abandon the
project, however, and at the end of
1941 the familiar twin-engine night
fighter emerged as the P 1060.
The use of DB 603 As, rather
than the originally proposed DB
603 Gs, however, meant the
aircraft was underpowered.
machine presented to the The commander of Germany’s It also suffered from excessive
Reichsluftfahrtministerium during night fighter force, Generalleutnant tail vibration and poor lateral
April 1940. Heinkel was responding Josef Kammhuber, took an stability. Consequently a series of
to a memo the ministry had put interest in the project and the modifications were made and at
out bemoaning the Luftwaffe’s RLM ordered 12 prototypes of the the same time the V1 was fitted
lack of a good recce platform. aircraft under the new designation with four 30mm MK 108 cannon
The RLM reaction was He 219 in January 1942. in a ventral weapons pack.
favourable and Heinkel continued Kammhuber himself inspected More prototypes were
to work on the project, designated a mock-up on January 22 and completed but a shortage of
P 1055, into 1941. The design the He 219 V1 prototype flew even DB 603 As delayed the
eventually evolved into a heavy for the first time on November construction of V7 and V8. In the
fighter under the new designation 6, 1942, powered by a pair of meantime, Generalluftzeugmeister
P 1056 – which was rejected DB 603 A engines, and up to Erhard Milch had decided that

112 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 HE 219 A-0
Handley Page Halifax MZ310 disappeared without trace on
the night of June 16/17, 1944. Hauptmann Paul Förster of
Stab./NJG 1 based in Venlo, Holland, claimed the aircraft as a
‘possible’, stating that it went down in the North Sea 100km
west of Amsterdam. He was flying G9+BA.

HE 219 V9
!

Flying He 219 V9 prototype G9+FB on the night of June 11/12, 1943, Major Werner Streib of
Stab I./NJG 1, based at Venlo, Holland, claimed to have shot down five RAF bombers in just 30
minutes – instantly increasing the He 219’s profile and its desirability. Unfortunately, he crashed
on returning to base after his cockpit iced up and the V9’s flaps failed to lock down. The aircraft
was destroyed but Streib and his radar operator Helmut Fischer suffered only minor injuries.

producing the He 219 as a one- night of June 11/12, 1943, and then only the latter was installed.
use type was a waste of valuable proved to be a great success. Its engine nacelles were an
resources and made plans to Serial production of the He 219 integral part of the wing structure
cancel it in favour of the less A-0 began on August 3, 1943, and the engines themselves
specialized Junkers Ju 188. at Heinkel’s Rostock-Marienehe drove three-bladed VDM variable
Three competitors – the He 219 factory, but only 30 examples had pitch propellers which each ha ad
V1, Ju 188 E-1 and Dornier Do 217 been completed by December 1. their own reservoir of de-icing
were pitted against one another Deliveries to Luftwaffe units had fluid situated between the main n
in a series of tests on March 25, commenced during October. and rear spars of the nacelle. Inn
1943, with the conclusion that Powered by two DB 603 As, addition, the aircraft had no fewwer
the He 219 outperformed both the A-0 was armed with a pair than three heaters so that hot air
of its rivals. Milch argued that of MG 151/20s in its wing roots could be directed internally to the
the Ju 188 should be the victor and either two or four cannon in areas most at risk of icing up.
but the He 219 was ordered into the ventral weapons pack. Early Its tricycle undercarriage wa
as
production anyway, evidently examples were equipped with the hydraulically actuated and the
on Kammhuber’s authority. FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-1 or C-2 wheel bay doors fully covered over
The He 219 was flown into radar unit. Later this was fitted the 840 x 300mm main wheelss.
combat for the first time on the in conjunction with the FuG 220, In the event of a failure, the ma
ain

LU
UFFT
TWAFFE FIGHTERS 113
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS HE
EINKEL HE 219
HEINKEL

gear up-locks could be disabled propellers, the single-piece cockpit

and the wheels would swing was fastened on with bolts. The
down and lock into position under pilot and radar operator sat back-
HE 219 A-7
!

its own weight. The nosewheel to-back on the world’s first in-
Not many He 219s were built but this one, emergency system locked it service ejection seat – which was
G9+HH, was still being operated by 1./NJG 1 from down using compressed air. necessary to ensure that neither
Westerland, Germany, right up to May 1945. At the forward end of the crew member was caught by the
fuselage, projecting ahead of the propellers while trying to bail out.

114 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 HE 219 A-2

!
D5+BL of 3./NJG 3, based
at Grove in Denmark
during February 1945.

HE 219 A-2

!
G9+DH was flown byy pilots
p of

AFTER THE A-0 AND A-2 CAME

THE A-7 AS THE LAST MAJOR
1./NJG 1. It wore this scheme

PRODUCTION VERSION OF
at Paderborn, Germany, on
April 10, 1945.

THE HE 219.

plating, extra fuel capacity for

extended range and flame
dampers for its engines. Some
85 of these were manufactured.
No A-3s or A-4s were built.
It is believed that a handful of
A-5 three-seater prototypes
were made
but it did
not enter series
production, and
neither did the A-6.
So after the A-0 and
A-2 came the A-7 as the last
pre-production A-0 variant, major production version. An
the He 219 never reached A-1, unknown number of these
The glazed cockpit canopy which would have involved the DB 603 E-powered mach hines,
was constructed in four sections installation of a more streamlined perhaps around 100, werre built
and the windscreen had both its canopy. Instead, some 104 A-0s up to the end of the war.
own spray and wiper. There was were built up to November 30, A huge range of projectted ‘paper
a ladder fitted on the port side 1944. It was built alongside the project’ versions of the He e 219
beneath the cockpit, which swung A-2 for a short while before this were drawn up but ultimattely the
down to allow the crew access. took over as the main production type failed to make any rea al impact
While most German aircraft variant. The A-2 was similar to the on the course of the war due to
quickly moved beyond their A-00 but with additional armour the small number produce ed.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 115
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

MESSERSCHMITT
ME 163 Built in only tiny numbers, the ircraft designer Alexander Lippisch, who had

A worked for the Zeppelin company after the First

1940-1945

rocket-propelled Me 163 was the World War, began investigating the potential of
product of a lengthy development tailless aerodynamic forms in 1921. By 1928, he
programme and achieved little was a director of the Research Institute of the Rhön-Rossitten
Gesellschaft (RRG) – the world’s first officially recognised glider
when it finally did reach the school.
front line. However, its dramatic That year he was commissioned to build a rocket-powered
appearance in the skies over glider by Max Valier and Friedrich Sander and during the
years that followed he joined Die Deutsche Forschungsanstalt
Germany stunned the Allies. für Segelflug (DFS) – a major aviation research centre – and
Tales of impossibly fast bat-like continued to work on tailless designs. In 1939, he left the DFS
fighters tearing through bombers to work at Messerschmitt AG in Augsburg on a new design,
the DFS 194, which would provide the basis for the Me 163 A
with high-calibre cannon struck rocket-powered prototype.
fear into the hearts of British and The design of the Me 163 A itself was finalised the following
American aircrew and resulted in year and it made its first flight as a glider on February 13, 1941.
Nearly six months later, on August 2, 1941, it flew for the first
a string of improbable ‘sightings’. time under rocket power at Peenemunde. Two months after
Allied intelligence went into that, it was reaching speeds of 1000kph.
overdrive attempting to identify this Following the successful tests of the early Me 163 A
prototypes, the RLM placed an order for 70 Me 163 Bs, based
new menace and work out ways of on Lippisch’s revised designs. Work on building the first
defending against it. prototype was started on December 1, 1941, but was delayed
as Messerschmitt’s resources were focused on other projects

116 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

!
Me 163 B V41
The Me 163’s first combat sortie was flown by Major Wolfgang Späte
of Erprobungskommando 16 from Bad Zwischenahn, Germany, on

WAS CREDITED WITH 16 ENEMY

AIRCRAFT DESTROYED – MOST
May 13, 1944. His aircraft PK+QL was painted red, either by the factory

UP TO MAY 1945 THE TYPE

or his ground crew, to resemble Manfred von Richthofen’s Fokker Dr.I.

notably the Me 262 and Me 264. Lippisch left the company

OF THEM BOMBERS
in April 1943 and it was not until January 1944 that the first
fully armed Me 163 B-0, V14, was delivered to the first Me
163 test squadron. The Luftwaffe received its first batch of full
production model Me 163 B-1s in June 1944 and operations
commenced in July 1944.
Me 163 flights were largely curtailed by fuel shortages but
up to May 1945 the type was credited with 16 enemy aircraft
destroyed – most of them bombers.
The B-1 was powered by a single Walter HWK 109-509 A-2
liquid-fuelled rocket engine, producing 3800lb of thrust. It was
5.98m long and 2.75m tall at the tip of its fin, with a wingspan
of 9.33m. Its top speed was 596mph with a range of 25 miles
and a service ceiling of 12,100m (39,700ft). Armament was a
pair of 30mm MK 108 cannon.
The precise number of examples built may never be known
but around five Me 163 prototypes were built, plus eight Me
163 A-0s, two Me 163 B prototypes, 30 pre-production B-0s
and fewer than 400 B-1 production models. •

Me 163 B-1
The first Me 163 victory was scored by
Leutnant Hartmut Ryll of 1./JG 400 flying
White 11 from Brandis in Germany on
August 16, 1944. He destroyed a B-17 but
was himself shot down and killed shortly
afterwards. Two other Me 163 pilots also
claimed B-17 ‘kills’ during the same action.
!

Me 163 B-1
White 18 flown by Oberfeldwebel Wilhelm
Josef ‘Jupp’ Mühlstroh of 2./JG 400, based at
Brandis, Germany, during the spring of 1945.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTER
RS 117
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

MESSERSCHMITT

The world’s first jet ven before the of the Me 109 was presented

E experimental Heinkel to the RLM for consideration on

1939-1945

fighter and arguably He 178 aircraft had June 7, 1939. A mock-up was
the best fighter of proven that the principle commissioned but the design
the war overall, the of the jet engine was sound with continued to evolve and by the
its first flight on August 27, 1939, end of September the aircraft
Messerschmitt Heinkel and Messerschmitt were featured new enlarged wings.
Me 262 was a deadly each given a development The first mock-up was inspected
technological marvel contract to create a fighter that on December 19, 1939, but the
would utilise the new powerplant. changes kept coming, with swept-
with combat abilities Messerschmitt’s project, the back wings appearing for the first
that made it a legend in P 1065, was initially designed time in a project description issued
its own time. Conceived as a twin-boom aircraft similar in February 1940.
to de Havilland’s Vampire, then A series of 20 prototypes each
as a pure fighter reshaped into something similar powered by a pair of BMW P
but also produced to the He 178 itself, with a nose 3302 engines was discussed on
in fighter-bomber intake. When it became clear that March 1, 1940. Although it was
the power output of the first jet initially designed as a ‘tail sitter’,
and two-seater night engines was likely to fall some way Willy Messerschmitt himself had
fighter forms, the below initial projections, a twin- penned versions of the P 1065 that
Me 262 underwent rapid engine layout was adopted. featured a tricycle undercarriage.
More detailed work to flesh out The full production version of
development during its this basic form commenced on the aircraft was to be powered
short front line career. April 1, 1939, and an initial design by the smaller BMW P 3304 and
featuring wings similar to those would carry an armament of three

118 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

ME 262
Me 262 A-2a
Hauptmann Hans-Christoph Buttmann of 3./KG
51 flew this Me 262 A-2a, coded 9K+BL, from
Rheine in Germany on October 5, 1944 – the
day he was killed. His aircraft crashed at
Overasselt-Nederasselt in Holland.

JET ENGINES UNDER EACH WING – JUST

CO
CONSIDERED FITTING THE ME 262 WITH
THREE
TH
TO GET THE PROJECT UNDER WAY

MG 151 20mm cannon in its nose. piston engine fitted into its nose. was now looking further afield for
It would also boast advanced This was approved and the an engine supplier.
MESSERSCHMITT SERIOUSLY
features such as an ejection seat, P 1065 V1 was rapidly constructed Twenty pre-production
OR FOUR ARGUS AS 014 PULSE

a pressure cabin and dive brakes. between February and March Me 262s and five prototypes had
While it always seemed likely that 1941. It finally received the RLM been ordered on July 21, 1941,
the P 1065 would have its engines designation Me 262 on April 8 and but in the light of this latest failure,
slung beneath its wings, wind the Me 262 V1 flew for the first on May 29, 1942, this was now
tunnel tests where carried out on time using its piston engine on reduced to just the prototypes.
arrangements where the engines April 18. The He 280 V2 had flown Three days later, a pair of Jumo
were mounted either centrally within using its twin HeS 8 jet engines 004 engines was delivered to
the wings or even on top of them. three weeks earlier. Messerschmitt and within six
Despite early progress, it was Eventually, two BMW P.3302 weeks they had been fitted to the
clear by January 1941 that BMW prototype engines were delivered newly constructed Me 262 V3.
was struggling to make either of its to Messerschmitt in September On July 18, test pilot Fritz Wendel
proposed engines production-ready 1941. In the meantime, the flew it for 12 minutes without
and the situation was becoming company had seriously considered problems in the morning, then
increasingly desperate. Heinkel fitting the Me 262 with three or four again for another 13 minutes at
had already been tow-testing the Argus As 014 pulse jet engines around midday – reaching a top
engineless prototype of its design, under each wing – just to get the speed of 342mph.
the He 280, for four months by this project under way. On March 25, More successful flights follo owed
point but the P 1065 did not even 1942, the Me 262 V1 took off for but on August 11 Rechlin test pilot
exist except on paper. the first time using the pair of BMW Heinrich Beauvais crashed the V3
An alternative plan was hastily P.3302s but almost immediately on take-off, causing substantia al
formulated – to build the P 1065 suffered compressor blade failure damage. Even so, the Me 262 V3’s
V1 and test it using a Jumo 210 G in both engines. Messerschmitt sustained success with its Jum mo

LU
UFFT
TWAFFE
E FIGHTERS 119
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS MESSERSCHMITT ME 262

004s was the first real evidence or two MK 108s and a pair of MG
that jet engines could be made to 151s.
151s Five days later,
later and with
work successfully. The Me 262’s news that a new lighter version
series of pre-production aircraft of the Jumo 004 was nearing
was reinstated and it was quickly completion, the decision was
decided that Me 262 V2, which had taken to cancel Heinkel’s He 280
been built for BMW P.3302 engines, and press ahead with the Me 262
should be converted to Jumo 004s as the Luftwaffe’s first mass-
by the end of September. produced jet fighter.
V3 was repaired and V4 and V5, The Me 262 V2 was still the
also on Jumos, were scheduled for only version flying but it was
completion on January and March joined on March 20 by the fully
of 1943. Work on building V6 was repaired V3 – just as well since
set to commence in May 1943. V2 was completely destroyed in
V2 flew with Jumo 004 engines a crash during its 48th flight on
twice on October 1, 1942, and the April 18. V4 was completed on
RLM increased its order to 30 pre- May 15, 1943.
production aircraft – all of them now With the He 280 out of the
with tricycle undercarriages. race, it now had to be decided larger
l ffuselage
l and
d wide-track
id t k
On March 4, 1943, a meeting whether to build the Me 209 in undercarriage. The decision was
was held to review the type’s quantity to replace the Me 109 down to Erhard Milch and in order
armament and it was decided or to put the Me 262 onto to help him make up his mind
that the originally proposed trio of production lines instead. The he asked his trusted friend and
MG 151 20mm cannon should be Me 209 was an evolution of colleague Adolf Galland, General of
replaced with six MK 108 cannon the Me 109 but featuring a Fighters, to evaluate the Me 262.

Me 262 A-1a
Yellow 8 of 3./JG 7 as it appeared at Stendal in
Germany on April 15, 1945, shortly after being
captured by US forces.
!

120 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 !
Me 262 A-2a
This Me 262 A-2a, 9K+FH belonging to 1./KG 51,
was abandoned as unserviceable at Brunnthal,
Germany, in early May 1945.

Me
M 262 B-1a/U1
Re 12, WNr.111980, of 10./NJG 11 was flown
Red
by Leutnant Herbert Altner from Magdeburg,
Germany,
Ge on April 6, 1945. Altner survived the
war with 24 night and one day victories having
wa
served with NJG 3, NJG 5 and NJG 11.
se

Galland
G ll d ttest-flew
tfl th
the M
Me 262 angell pushing.”
hi ” NiNine days
d later,
l t suspendedd d iin ffavour off th
the M
Me 262
262.
V4 on May 22, 1943, and quickly Göring officially declared that Me 262 V5, the first prototype
became the type’s most ardent and production of the Me 209 was to be to be fitted with a tricycle
influential supporter. He famously undercarriage, first flew on June
reported to Reichsmarschall 6, 1943, and demonstrated a
Hermann Göring that: “It flies marked improvement in take-off
as if there is an performance compared to the
earlier ‘tail dragger’ versions.
Me 262 V6 was the first Me 262
prototype to be fitted with a fully
retractable tricycle undercarriage,
and it made its first flight on
“IT FLIES AS IF THERE IS AN

October 17, 1943.

GALLAND TOLD GÖRING:

V6 was also armed with a trio of

MG 151s, and was powered by the
ANGEL PUSHING.”

Jumo 004B – a jet engine similar

in size and shape to its 004A
predecessor but weighing 240lb
less – a combined saving across
the two engines of 480lb.
On October 27, 1943, Hitler
emphasised the role he envisioned
the Me 262 playing during the
long-anticipated Allied invasion of
France. He said: “The jet fighter
with bombs will be vital, because
at the given moment it will scream
at top speed along the beaches
and hurl its bombs into the
massive build-up that is bound to
be there.”

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 121
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS MESSERSCHMITT ME 262
Then at a display of the V9 on January 19, 1944, which
Luftwaffe’s latest experimental was used to test the new bubble
equipment on November 26 at cockpit canopy and radio and
Insterburg airfield, East Prussia, electrical equipment.
Hitler went to inspect the two V8 was completed on March
Me 262s on show – V1 and V6. 18 and was to be the A-series
Indicating them, he said: “I’m production prototype. In most
not interested in this aircraft as a respects it was similar to the V9
fighter. Can it carry bombs?” but had a quartet of MK 108
Willy Messerschmitt assured him 30mm cannon in the nose – what
that it could – one 1000kg bomb or was to soon become the well-
two 500kg bombs. Hitler then said: known standard armament of the
“At last, this is the aircraft I have Me 262 A-1a.
been demanding for years. Here it Serial production slowly
is, but nobody recognised it. I order commenced in April 1944 with
this aircraft be built as a bomber.” the Me 262 being equipped as
The Me 262 V7 first flew on a fighter. Strenuous efforts were
December 20, 1943, with all the made, however, to work out how Some standard A-1a aircraft
same innovations as the V6 but the aircraft could be made to were modified to carry two ETC
with the addition of a rubber-sealed carry a useful bomb load since 503 bomb racks under their
pressure cabin. It was Hitler was adamant that it should fuselage, ahead of the main
followed by the operate as a fast bomber during landing gear wheel wells, and
the Allied invasions he knew a load of one SC 250, two SC
were imminent. 250s, one SC 500 or one SD 500.

Me 262 A-1a
!

On April 25, 1945, Oberfähnrich Hans-

Guido Mutke of 7./JG 7 took off from
Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany, in White 3 and
flew it to Dübendorf in Switzerland, where he
surrendered both himself and the aircraft to
the Swiss authorities.

122 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

 !
Me 262 A-1a
White 1 was
flown by Leutnant
Within a short time however, a before September 1, 1944. The V airborne interception radar and Franz Schall
new variant, the Me 262 A-2a, was aircraft was to be based on the its operator. It was intended that a of Kommando
Nowotny from
devised. This saw the standard trainer version of the type, which FuG 350 Zc Naxos homing device Achmer in
A-1a’s two upper MK 108 cannon already had two seats. should also be fitted. Germany during
removed and electrical arming and The dual controls were to be Design work on the Me 262 October 1944.
release systems fitted. removed and replaced with two night fighter, known today but Schall was
Proposals for a Me 262 night new 140 litre fuel tanks, one on possibly not at the time as the the war’s third
fighter with two seats and radar either side of the rear seat. This Me 262 B-1a/U1, progressed highest scorer of
equipment were drawn up shortly would give the aircraft a total fuel rapidly and by late January or jet victories. His
capacity of 2070 litres – with the early February 1945 work began overall tally of 133
option of adding two 300 litre drop on creating the first examples at included, while
flying the Me 262,
tanks externally and another 900 the Berlin-Staaken workshops of six four-engined
litres in a winged fuel tank that Deutsche Lufthansa. bombers and 10
could be towed behind the aircraft. A number of Lechfeld-built Me P-51 Mustangs.
The rear position was to be 262 A-1as were delivered to the He was killed on
occupied by a FuG 218 Neptun facility and underwent significant April 10, 1945.

Me 262 A-1a
!

Oberfeldwebel Helmut Le ennartz scored his

first aerial victory
ryy – a Boe
eing B-17 Flying
Fortress – while flying this aircraft, White 11 of
Erprobungskommando 26 62, from Lechfeld in
Germany on August 15, 1944.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 123
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS MESSERSCHMITT ME 262
!
Me 262 A-1a
Red 13 of III./EJG 2 was flown by Major Heinz
Bär from Lechfeld in Germany on March 19, 1945
– the day he scored his first jet victory, shooting
down a P-51 Mustang.

modifications. The radar operator’s

position was put together using
BEEN COMPLETED, BUT ONLY
AROUND 300 SAW COMBAT
262S ARE KNOWN TO HAVE

roughly finished sheets of plywood

OVERALL, SOME 1443 ME

to house the equipment and

instruments but it is unlikely that
the Naxos device was ever fitted
to any of the small number of
examples built – most likely
between six and 12.
While the Luftwaffe waited for
the first deliveries of its first jet-
powered night fighter, a unit was
set up by night fighter ace Leutnant
Kurt Welter to test the standard
Me 262A-1a during the hours of
darkness. Based at Rechlin-Lärz,
Kommando Welter flew a series of
night interception missions against
RAF aircraft from November 2,
1944, into early 1945.
The unit was redesignated
10./NJG 11 on January 25, 1945.
It received its first Me 262 B-1a/U1
on March 22 and only four of these
aircraft are known to have seen
action before the war ended.
Overall, some 1443 Me 262s are
known to have been completed,
but only around 300 saw combat. •

124 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

Me 262 A-1a
Oberfeldwebel Hermann Buchner of 9./JG 7
was landing Yellow 3 at Rotenburg, Germany,
on April 8, 1945, when his aircraft was hit and
set ablaze by a strafing P-51 Mustang. Buchner
survived the war and died in 2005 aged 86.

Me 262 A-1a
Major Gerhard Barkhorn flew White 5 with
JV 44 – the elite jet unit formed by General
Adolf Galland and based München-Riem,
Germany, in April 1945.
!

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 125
 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

!
He 162 A-2
Yellow 21 of 3./JG 1, based at Leck,
Germany, in May 1945.

HEINKEL HE 162
The last Luftwaffe aircraft to requirement for a new single jet engine fighter for the

A Luftwaffe was issued on September 10, 1944.

1944-1945

enter service during the Second It called for a straightforward design using wood
World War, the Heinkel He 162 and steel as much as possible, and powered by the
Volksjäger was born out of weak but well developed BMW 003 engine. This Volksjäger or
people’s fighter was to be simple to build and easy to fly too.
desperation. Originally intended Trained and experienced pilots were in increasingly short
as a cheap jet fighter that even supply by this time and it was hoped that even raw recruits
novice pilots could take into would be able to fly the new fighter without difficulty.
Arado, Blohm & Voss, Fieseler, Focke-Wulf, Heinkel,
combat without difficulty, it was Junkers, Messerschmitt and Siebel were all invited to
rushed into production as the participate but given only four days to put together their
war entered its final phase. The
end result was a flawed little
aircraft that was
anything but
easy to fly.

126 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

proposals. Messerschmitt was strongly opposed to this new starboard wing came off and it crashed,

TEST THE LEADING EDGE OF ITS WING CAME

competition and refused to tender, while Fieseler and Siebel killing test pilot Gotthold Peter.

DECEMBER 6, 1944, BUT DURING ANOTHER

were simply incapable of meeting the deadline. He 162 M2, the second prototype, made

OFF AND IT CRASHED, KILLING ITS PILOT

The designs put forward by Arado, Blohm & Voss, Focke- its maiden flight on December 22 and eight
Wulf and Junkers were rapidly assessed and dismissed, more prototype and pre-production aircraft

THE HE 162 M1 (V1) FIRST FLEW ON

leaving the Heinkel P 1073 as the winner. Hitler ordered it into were rapidly completed thereafter. At the
mass production as the He 162 on September 23. same time, even as testing got under way in
Rather than complete all the design drawings first, then earnest, Heinkel was already gearing up its
begin building tools and jigs in the usual way, the first metal factories to begin full series production
was cut for the initial He 162 prototypes on October 25, 1944, – aiming to produce a quota of 30 He 162
even as the designers and engineers continued their work. A-1 aircraft by January 31, 1945.
Two basic variants were envisioned – the He 162 A-1 armed JG 1 was chosen as the first unit to
with a pair of 30mm MK 108 cannon – and the A-2 fitted with convert to the He 162. I./JG 1 was pulled
two MG 151/20s. The undercarriage was based on parts back from the front line on February 6 for
borrowed from the Me 109 and Heinkel decided to fit the same this purpose and transferred to Parchim,
ejection seat as that used on the He 219. 50 miles south of Rostock, on February 9.
Just two months and three weeks after the design No He 162s were immediately available,
specification was announced, on December 1, the He 162 so I./JG 1’s pilots and crew began
M1 (V1) was completed. It was first flown on December 6 but familiarisation training with Heinkel
during another test, four days later, the leading edge of its personnel on February 12.

!
He 162 A-2
White 4 of 1./JG 1, flown by Major Werner
Zober, Leck, Germany, May 5, 1945.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 127
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS HEINKEL HE 162
An Auffangsstaffel or ‘collection
squadron’ from 2./JG G 1 was sent to
Heinkel’s Rostock headquarters on
February 27 to pick up a single aircraft
brought over from Junkers at Bernburg
– He 162 M19 WNr. 220002. A second
group of pilots arrived at Rostock on
March 4 to collect more aircraft but none
were available.
He 162 M19 was destroyed in a fatal
crash on March 14, leaving the pilots once
again without a single working example
for conversion training. On March 26, it
was announced that JG 1 would relocate
in readiness to receive completed aircraft
leaving the Junkers production line. A
group of 15 pilots from 3./JG 1 moved
to Lechfeld but there was still nothing
available to fly.
I./JG 1 was told on March 31 that
it would have to move to Leck at the
northernmost extreme of Germany.
On the same day, with JG 1 personnel
now scattered across Germany, He 162
deliveries finally began.
By April 12, 1945, I./JG 1 had 16
He 162s at Parchim, of which 10-12
were serviceable.
The He 162 was approaching true front
line service when the war ended. Heinkel’s
Rostock production facility was overrun
on or shortly after May 1.
It is believed that, in the end, some
171 He 162s were built, with 116 actually
being delivered. The Luftwaffe received
56 of these before production finally
collapsed at the end of April. •

!
He 162 A-2
An unusual starboard side view of Red 1 flown
by Leutnant Gerhard Hanf of Leck-based
2./JG 1. On the port side, ground crew painted
the word ‘Nervenklau’ in late April 1945,
apparently in recognition of the fact that the
sound of his motorcycle’s engine got on their
nerves as he rode it to the airfield.

He 162 A-2
Leutnant Rudolf Schmitt of 1./JG 1 was flying
White 1 when he allegedly shot down an
RAF Typhoon near Rostock on May 4, 1945
– the only ‘kill’ claimed for the He 162 during
the war.
!

128 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

He 162 A-2

!
This aircraft, Yellow 11, bore the 16 previous
victories of Oberleutnant Emil Demuth, non-
flying Staffelkapitän of 3./JG 1, neatly painted
on its tail. Leck, Germany, May 5, 1945.

LUFT
FTWAFFE FIGHTERS 129
LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

COLOUR RLM 65
1939
RLM 65
1941

CHART
RLM 74 RLM 74
RLM 70 RLM 71 VARIANT VARIANT

RLM 75 RLM 75 RLM 76 RLM 76

VARIANT VARIANT 1941 1944/45

RLM 76 RLM 76 RLM 78 RLM 79

LATE WAR LATE WAR

RLM 81 RLM 81 RLM 81

RLM 80 VARIANT VARIANT VARIANT

RLM 81 RLM 82 RLM 82 RLM 83

VARIANT VARIANT VARIANT

130 LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS

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LUFTWAFFE FIGHTERS
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 and
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 were at the
forefront of the action as the
Luftwaffe battled the combined
might of the Allied air forces
across Western Europe and
beyond during the Second
World War.
Flying in every front, from
desert sands to frozen tundra,
they featured a hugely diverse
range of markings and colour
schemes which have fascinated
aviation enthusiasts ever since.
Luftwaffe Fighters offers
more than 200 highly detailed
full colour profiles from world
renowned artist Claes Sundin,
covering not just the two most
famous types but also front line
single-seaters such as the
Me 262, Me 163, Ta 152 and He
162 plus the two-seater Bf 110
and night fighter versions of the
Ju 88, Do 17, Do 215, Do 217 and
the dedicated night fighter
He 219.
The markings of aircraft
piloted by aces such as Erich
Hartmann, Gerd Barkhorn and
Otto Kittel are meticulously
reproduced, based on original
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range of schemes from every
year of the war and every front
where the Luftwaffe saw action.
Offering a host of different
colour schemes and detailed
notes, this is indispensable
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modellers alike.