Quote:
Originally Posted by knusel
I heard that the Bf109 could be assembled by non-professional workers. This might have contributed significantly to its success. The basic concept seems to have been so sound that the plane could be improved again and again over a period of 8 long years.
Michael
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All German combat aircraft were assembled to some extent by "non-professional workers" in the shape of foreign forced labour and enslaved prisoners.
The Bf 109 began life with the same 2 x MG armament as a 1916-vintage fighter (admittedly with a better rate of fire) at a time when the RAF was seeing a need for four times as many guns. From the F-series onwards it had trouble matching the firepower of its US and British contemporaries. Look at how the Fw 190's armament increased from the A-1 to the A-8 for example; a Spitfire V had 2 x 20 mm and 4 x MG, double what the 109 F carried.
Also, there never was a Bf 109 with a sliding canopy, let alone a "teardrop" hood giving all-round vision such as the Spitfire, Typhoon, P-47 and P-51 all acquired. The Fw 190 had very good all-round vision from the start, of course.