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Re: Adolf Gallands FS with wing guns 1941
The wing of the 109F was actually weaker than that of the 109E, in that the ribs were placed further apart and the stress was supposed to be taken up by the skin which I thought had been thickened (but this could be wrong), and Mtt must have pooped bricks when he saw guns installed within the wing of the 109F. In fact, the wings on the standard 109F began to buckle in service, and they needed to be reinforced. See Caldwell's book on JG 26. The Spaniards would mount guns in the wings after the war, but only with lots of reinforcing of the area.
So, that's why the RLM never followed up on the guns in the wing idea of Galland. Galland, by the way, was an advocate of lots of bullets in the air to ensure something hit the target. 3 guns was considered to be pretty pathetic, especially when compared to the large number of guns on most Allied a/c, and it wasn't that great against bombers either. The crews of those bombers fearing the firepower of the 190 far more that that of the standard 109.
Regarding the RLM not OKing those 2 victories of his, perhaps someone else can respond to that.
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