Fw Rudolf Phillipp 6./JG27 vs 'Bud' Anderson 27 May 1944

[dtaylorxx]

Good to see some more folks putting their heads together on this now famous air combat dogfight. Thanks to Flight88 for ongoing research! This extraordinary air battle continues to be a focus for new TV and online documentaries on the wartime P-51, and the aces who so successfully flew and fought with that aircraft during WW2.

While I do not have any new evidence today (11/20/2024), I would like to add something that might enlighten those that hear/read Bud Anderson's narrative description of the dogfight, especially regarding the first of the 109's that was shot down during Anderson's pursuit of the remaining three Messerschmitts.

Anderson stated that after he attacked the number 3 man in the flight - striking it with a burst - he could not understand why this 109 pilot deliberately ('inexplicably') turned his a/c upside down, then held it in an inverted attitude for a few seconds. This did not appear to Anderson to be an uncontrolled or 'dead stick' action, in his long experience with fighter combat maneuvering. Bemused, Anderson pressed the gun button again and the second volley struck the still inverted a/c - which then fell out of the fight.

After extensive reading of German fighter pilots' memoirs I have found that there were two schools of thought among LW pilots on the quickest and safest method of bailing out of a fast moving, 'straight and level' flying 109, so as not to fatally strike the vertical tail fin while doing so. The first was to chop the throttle (reducing speed was of paramount importance), jettison the canopy/hit the emergency harness release buckle (a large buckle on the pilot's chest released the straps that held the pilot to the seat almost instantaneously), then push the nose forward into a sharp neg g dive (also known as a bunt). As the nose drops, the pilot is suddenly propelled up and out - like Superman - away from the tail fin (the danger area dropping away beneath the pilot's body as the a/c dives). Conversations with fellow 109 pilots - attributed to Joachim Marseilles - discussed the demonstrable benefits of this method. The second method was to chop the throttle (again, speed reduction helped), turn the seat harness release buckle and then hit the canopy jettison lever (charges would fire to release the bolts holding the frame, and the canopy would lift up and away). Thusly prepared for emergency evacuation, the pilot would finally roll the a/c onto its back - with the canopy already gone or dropping away after inverting, the pilot's body would then fall head first towards the earth, clear of the cockpit and (hopefully) the tail fin, thanks to gravity. NOTE: It was widely accepted that at very high speeds the break away section of cockpit frame could be inadvertently held in place by higher air speed, even if the jettison lever worked as advertised.

We will never know what happened inside the cockpit of this 109 at the exact moment the pilot inverted the machine. That there was panic and possibly injury that dictated the pilot's actions is likely - the 109 was reportedly damaged after being hit by Anderson's first volley. However it is certainly possible that the pilot's outwardly strange maneuver was simply a rushed attempt to bail out of the aircraft (using method 2). The pilot hit the canopy release as he rolled over - the charges went off, but the strength of the slipstream and/or frame damage held the the canopy in place. Certainly these three particular 109's were going 'flat out' maximum speed at the time, trying to outrun Anderson's Mustangs. The high speed involved may have simply locked the 'jettisoned' canopy in place leaving the pilot trapped inside the cockpit, upside down, for a few panicked seconds pounding in frustration on the canopy roof.

Conjecture, yes - but I wanted to offer to researchers that a possible reason exists for the German pilot's deliberate inverting of his damaged 109 while continuing to fly straight ahead. To the attacking pilot, this action may have appeared inexplicable and of no possible defensive worth. Certainly Anderson still dismisses it as a confusing, futile gesture.

More research is needed that might assist my claim that Fw. Rudolph Phillip was the most likely German pilot to have been dogfighting Bud Anderson on that fateful day 27 May 1944. Please update me here if any more information has come to light! Cheers, Dan Taylor