Quote:
Originally Posted by tcolvin
You tell me, Nick.
I thought the Spitfire IX (416mph) could not compete with the TA-152 (472mph), and was superseded by the Spitfire Mk XIV (439mph) and Tempest V (435mph), which had also replaced the Typhoon (412mph).
Tony
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You only have to read some combat reports to see how seldom aircraft in action came even close to their maximum speed in level flight. For that matter the Me 262 could make 540 mph and look how many of them got shot down.
Fascinating though the type is, the Ta 152 was of almost zero significance, with barely 20 (IIRC) making it into service.
Yes the RAF brought in faster aircraft than the Spitfire IX but that is not the same as the Mk IX no longer being a viable type in combat - it was used in large numbers up until the end and I don't recall reading of any occasions where it was outclassed and massacred by the opposition.
As for the Typhoon, its use for ground attack was consistent with the
Luftwaffe's conversion of the
Schlachtgeschwader to the Fw 190 F and the USAAF's reliance on the P-47.