Re: Messerschmitt 109 Design Problems
 

"the firepower of the 109 was pretty pathetic"

Hmmmm strange that it managed to shoot down so many enemy aircrafts with such pathetic firepower.

Best
Olve

Re: Messerschmitt 109 Design Problems
 

Actually, I was mainly thinking about their effectiveness against the USAAF heavy bombers. But, as Galland said, they would have done far better with more weapons. As it was, the great fliers and fighters did well, the less well fliers and fighters quickly faded from the scene.

And, sadly, that was only one aspect of the Bf 109. It could have been so much better. But, as we pig farmers might say: "It was always left sucking the hind tit." And, only minimal effort was expended in making it a more effective a/c because the major effort was always being spent on its successors, which never worked out. It is hard to realize just how many improvements, that could have made the 109 more deadly, easier to control in high speed flight, and easier to land and take-off, had been tested early in the war, and not instituted until near war's end, and sometimes not even then.