Sources

What a German Ace Said After Flying US Captured Fighters

On 12 May 1944 a P-47 shot off Günther Rall's left thumb. Months later, the 275-victory ace was flying captured American fighters at the Luftwaffe's school in Bad Wörishofen. At the same time the RAF was flying a captured Bf 109 G-6 against its best. Two sets of pilots, opposite sides, the same answer.

• AFDS Report AFDS/3/22/20, “Me 109G-6 Tactical Trials”, 3 December 1944
• Bf 109 E Flugzeug-Handbuch (1940)
• US War Department, “The Me-109 G”, Tactical and Technical Trends No. 23, 22 April 1943
• Günther Rall oral history, National WWII Museum; IWM Sound 80010710 (1989)

• Günther Rall to Colin D. Heaton, World War II magazine (Sept 1996), HistoryNet
• Günther Rall: A Memoir (Jill Amadio, 2002), quoted by David T. Zabecki, HistoryNet (2020)
• National Air and Space Museum, “A New Home for an Old Glove” (2016)
• H.-W. Lerche, Luftwaffe Test Pilot (1980), pp. 110–111
• Caldwell & Muller, The Luftwaffe over Germany (2007)
• E. J. Markie, “P-51 Mustang: The Plane That Saved the Combined Bomber Offensive”, Air Command and Staff College (2010)
• John T. Correll, “Targeting the Luftwaffe”, Air & Space Forces Magazine (2018); “Valor: Hub Zemke”

The Fight for the Sky (NARA SFP-157); The Thunderbolts: Ramrod to Emden (NARA); captured Bf 109 G-6, Italy (NARA 111-ADC-1977); No. 453 Sqn Spitfire IXs (Australian War Memorial F01618), all public domain. Map: Natural Earth.

• Luftwaffe Test Pilot · Hans-Werner Lerche

Watch on YouTube · Link to these sources

P-47 vs a Fw 190: What the 1943 Test Reports Actually Said

Was the Thunderbolt too big to win? Four wartime reports from Eglin Field, VIII Fighter Command, the RAF's Air Fighting Development Unit and a 1944 low-level race in Italy, read side by side.

• USAAF Proving Ground Command, Eglin Field, “Tactical Suitability of the P-47C-1 Type Aircraft”, 18 December 1942
• HQ VIII Fighter Command, Technical Section, “Tests on P-47C's”, 4 February 1943
• AFDU Report No. 66, “Tactical Trials – P-47C Aircraft”, AFDU/3/21/1, 3 March 1943
• Aeronautical Research Committee S.&C. 1718, “The P-47 Versus FW-190 at Low Altitude”, 24 April 1944, The National Archives DSIR 23/13484

• Transcriptions and scans: WWII Aircraft Performance

Captured Fw 190, US Navy Patuxent River, March 1944: U.S. Navy photos 80-G-225140, 80-G-225134, 80-G-224686 (public domain). P-47C, 56th Fighter Group: U.S. Army Air Forces (National Archives).

Watch on YouTube · Link to these sources

7 Things a German Test Pilot Found Strange About the Captured P-47

On 7 November 1943 a lost American pilot, 2nd Lt William E. Roach, landed his P-47 “Beetle” at Caen. German test pilot Hans-Werner Lerche flew it and later wrote down what struck him: its size, the cockpit, the controls, the gauges, the ground handling, its speed low and high, and the dive he believed saved his life.

• Hans-Werner Lerche, Luftwaffe Test Pilot (Jane's, 1980), pp. 109–113
  Lerche's own account of collecting and flying the P-47

• Hans-Heiri Stapfer, Strangers in a Strange Land (Squadron/Signal, 1988), pp. 22–23
  The landing at Caen, the Rosarius unit, Roach as a prisoner at Barth
• Obituary of William E. Roach, by his family (2010)
  Source for his nickname “Beetle” in the 355th Fighter Group

USAAF training films 107-A/B/C “How to Fly the P-47” (1943), NARA 18-AF-107A/B/C; “The Thunderbolts: Ramrod to Emden” (1943), NARA 18-CS-757; “The Fight for the Sky” (USAAF, 1945), NARA (all public domain). Bf 109 G-6 at RAF Manston, IWM CH 15662 (Crown copyright expired). No film of “Beetle” itself is used. Diagrams: History's Back Pages.

• Luftwaffe Test Pilot · Hans-Werner Lerche
• Strangers in a Strange Land · Hans-Heiri Stapfer

Watch on YouTube · Link to these sources

Spitfire IX vs Fw 190: Did Britain Finally Catch Up?

In July 1942 the RAF flew its new Spitfire IX against a captured Fw 190, the fighter that had been beating the Spitfire V for almost a year. The gap almost disappeared: “provided the Spitfire has the initiative, it has undoubtedly a good chance of shooting it down.” Five weeks later the two met over Dieppe, where the initiative was with the Germans.

• AFDU tactical trials report on the Fw 190 (“Tactical Trials – FW.190”), August 1942
  Spitfire IX section, the five Allied fighters, the verdict
• RAE Farnborough letter to Fighter Command, 11 July 1942
  Why the trials were flown at Farnborough
• US War Department, Tactical and Technical Trends No. 11, 5 November 1942
  “Approximately equal at most altitudes”

• Wikipedia: Dieppe Raid
  Losses on 19 August 1942
• Delve (2007); Price (2009)
  “Restored parity”

Australian War Memorial films F05041, F01618, F02517, F01523 (public domain); U.S. National Archives via Internet Archive: USAF-17650, NPC-3908, A Day With the A-36s, CS-610; U.S. Navy recognition posters ARP-080, ARP-079, ARP-001 (public domain).

• Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Aces of the Western Front · John Weal
• Spitfire: The History · Eric Morgan & Edward Shacklady

Watch on YouTube · Link to these sources

7 Things RAF Pilots Found Strange About the Captured Fw 190

In June 1942 a lost German pilot landed his Fw 190 at RAF Pembrey. The RAF's testers flew it and wrote down seven surprises: the cockpit, the view, the ground handling, the push buttons, the ailerons, the dive, and an engine they could never fully trust.

• AFDU tactical trials report on the Fw 190 A-3 MP499, 1942
  RAF trials of the aircraft
• HQ ETO, U.S. Army, Technical Report No. 234, 5 August 1942
  “Particulars of F.W. 190 A-3, M.P.499”; engine listed as de-rated (scan held by the channel)
• US War Department, Tactical and Technical Trends No. 11, 5 November 1942
  American summary of the RAF trials

• IWM MH 4191: Fw 190 A-3 Werk Nr. 313 at RAF Pembrey
  The aircraft after Faber's landing
• Wikipedia: Armin Faber
  The landing at Pembrey, 23 June 1942

IWM (Crown copyright expired); U.S. Air Force / NMUSAF (public domain); Bundesarchiv (CC BY-SA 3.0).

• Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Aces of the Western Front · John Weal
• Wings of the Luftwaffe · Eric Brown

Watch on YouTube · Link to these sources

Fw 190 vs Bf 109: Which Was Actually Better?

Germany's newer fighter flew underneath the old one. Wartime test reports from the RAF and from Messerschmitt itself score the two on roll, view, firepower, the high sky and the production lines.

• AFDU tactical trials report on the Fw 190 A-3, 1942
  RAF trials of the Fw 190 landed at Pembrey
• Messerschmitt AG report Fr.M.01 L 43, 29 June 1943 (German)
  Fw 190 A-5 against the Me 109 G-1
• AFDS/3/22/20, Me 109 G-6 tactical trials, 3 December 1944
  The G-6 against the Spitfire IX, XIV, Tempest V and Mustang III

• Smithsonian NASM: Focke-Wulf Fw 190 F-8/R1
  1937 contract; meant to supplement the Bf 109
• Smithsonian NASM: Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9

U.S. Air Force / NMUSAF (public domain); USHMM courtesy of NARA; Bundesarchiv (CC BY-SA 3.0); National Library of Scotland (CC BY); IWM (Crown copyright expired).

• Wings of the Luftwaffe · Eric Brown
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Aces of the Western Front · John Weal

Watch on YouTube · Link to these sources