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Interview and Flight with a 109 Fighter Ace


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Posted (edited)

I am sorry the interview is in german, but he can´t speak english. At the moment I have no time to translate.

He came out of Stalingrad with one of the last JU52 flights, before he went to the fighter pilot school. He flew all types (109,190,Dora 9)

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLE9G7qVnmQ&feature=youtu.be

 

 

 

 

 

And this is his "combat approach", flown during "Reichsverteidigung", when Allies had air superiority over german fields:

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNivAsvQhuM&feature=youtu.be

Edited by Quax
  • Upvote 13
sturmkraehe
Posted

Very interesting interview. He is mentally incredibly fit. Clear and crisp memory. Top. May we know his name or doesn't he want his name to be public?

Posted

Thanks for sharing Quax! It was great to see a tactical approach from that period performed  :salute:

DD_bongodriver
Posted

It was also interesting to see the in game problem with rudder effectiveness over modelling confirmed.

PeterZvan
Posted

Really very fascinating.

So many small details and tricks that they used - a real delight to listen to.

This way it becomes really apparent just how different it was compared to our sim flying.

Thank you for doing this Quax - such accounts are very rare to hear first hand.

Posted

Thanks Quax for sharing, that was very interesting!

He for sure enjoyed having controls during the flight.

DD_bongodriver
Posted

Who is he?

LLv34_Flanker
Posted

S!

 

 Thanks for sharing Quax! Interesting stuff :)

MACADEMIC
Posted

Many thanks Quax for this interview with your friend and sharing with us, highly interesting! Do you have more? 

 

:good:

 

MAC

 

P.S.: What camera did you use? How did you mount it?

=LD=Hethwill
Posted

Eagerly awaiting for the translation, and I must say the landing procedure is a pleasure to watch. Very fast, precise and safe to do. Yes the rudder note is especially important. I've adjusted my curve to compensate for this but translation could, of course, be linear right off the bat.

 

Many thanks. S!

=LD=dhyran
Posted

Super nice!!!!

 

Thanks for sharing it!

JZG_Viking
Posted

Luckily I understand some german, very nice. Respect.

JZG_Thiem
Posted (edited)

Here is the translation of the most relevant parts:

 

  • He flew 190A6 A8 and 109G. Only at the end he flew Dora 9. Dora was his preferred ride! Otherwise he preferred the 109(G) to the 190(A).
  • 109: side of the cowl was always covered with black carbon from the exhaust. I always let my mechanic clear the plane. Flattened rivets, cleaned cowl.....he always was the fastest in his squad. That $hit (carbon on cowl) cost you 30-40km top speed. One wouldnt believe it!
  • On takeoff you (almost) didnt have enough rudder to counter the torque.
  • I few to Stalingrad (looks like with Ju52, not with 109) EIGHT times......once our pilot was so heavily wounded that he couldnt fly (legs and arms injured), so he instructed ME (from the pilots seat) how to fly the plane
  • 109: we never flew by RPM but ATA only. For cruising i used 0.9-1.2. During combat: Firewalling the throttle! We didnt care much...
  • If firewalling wasnt enough, we used "GMX" (nitrous i assume) on the 109G. Yet, once you used it, your Engine was a goner soon. But u HAD to use it sometimes, say if you feel your enemy was a BIT better than you. But WHEN you used GMX, it felt like a mule kicked your back!
  • During dogfights we didnt care about corner speed and stuff. Doing some 500-600km/h you were to busy controlling your plane, looking and shooting...
  • Roll rate of 109 and 190 felt NOT so different! But that may be my subjective feeling only.
  • He preferred 109 to 190. 109 had a slight nose down attitude. 109 and D9 were very elegant but sensitive, unlike 190A which was to land like "a piano falling down".
  • Radial engine of 190A blocked forward view. D9 was much like 109 in this regard and much better than 190A.
  • Enemy  fighters: Russian planes/pilots were not that good. Planes were short legged like our 109. Most dangerous were Spit and Mustang. He called the Mustang "dirty old bitch"! (Quote: "That dirty old bitch could stay up airborne 2 or 3 hours")
  • Mustangs often waited (in visual range) until some of us had to land due to fuel, THEN they came and accepted the dogfight.
  • To make others overshoot, they (german pilots) often dropped flaps or gear shortly, especially the experts.
  • Attacking bombers: They attacked from rear rather frontal. They were told to shoot at the INNER engines of 4-engined bombers. Some weak spots (non redundant systems) were supposed to be there, according to their superiors/trainers.
  • When a wing came off (due to shooting) it looked beautiful, graceful but spooky to see how the bomber slowly flipped over and dove...
  • We were often told by our superiors to look for (white) parachutes. They told us "we destroy planes/material, we dont kill people in the first place". So we looked out for chutes, so we knew there is no need for (more) shooting.

 

All of this was his words with a few remarks of mine in brackets.

Edited by JZG_Thiem
  • Upvote 5
Posted

"109 had a slight nose down attitude".

 

Should be 190 if im not mistaken.

JZG_Thiem
Posted

"109 had a slight nose down attitude".

 

Should be 190 if im not mistaken.

 

He clearly said "109", he even elaborated that the 190(A) had this big raidal engine blocking your view forward, unlike the 109 with the nose down attitude.

I am not saying he is correct, or remembering correctly, but thats what he is reporting.

DD_bongodriver
Posted

must mean the slope of the cowling rather than the attitude of the aircraft.

Posted

Very fascinating interview. Thanks for sharing.

AA_Engadin
Posted

Here is the translation of the most relevant parts:

 

  • He flew 190A6 A8 and 109G. Only at the end he flew Dora 9. Dora was his preferred ride! Otherwise he preferred the 109(G) to the 190(A).
  • 109: side of the cowl was always covered with black carbon from the exhaust. I always let my mechanic clear the plane. Flattened rivets, cleaned cowl.....he always was the fastest in his squad. That $hit (carbon on cowl) cost you 30-40km top speed. One wouldnt believe it!
  • On takeoff you (almost) didnt have enough rudder to counter the torque.
  • I few to Stalingrad (looks like with Ju52, not with 109) EIGHT times......once our pilot was so heavily wounded that he couldnt fly (legs and arms injured), so he instructed ME (from the pilots seat) how to fly the plane
  • 109: we never flew by RPM but ATA only. For cruising i used 0.9-1.2. During combat: Firewalling the throttle! We didnt care much...
  • If firewalling wasnt enough, we used "GMX" (nitrous i assume) on the 109G. Yet, once you used it, your Engine was a goner soon. But u HAD to use it sometimes, say if you feel your enemy was a BIT better than you. But WHEN you used GMX, it felt like a mule kicked your back!
  • During dogfights we didnt care about corner speed and stuff. Doing some 500-600km/h you were to busy controlling your plane, looking and shooting...
  • Roll rate of 109 and 190 felt NOT so different! But that may be my subjective feeling only.
  • He preferred 109 to 190. 109 had a slight nose down attitude. 109 and D9 were very elegant but sensitive, unlike 190A which was to land like "a piano falling down".
  • Radial engine of 190A blocked forward view. D9 was much like 109 in this regard and much better than 190A.
  • Enemy  fighters: Russian planes/pilots were not that good. Planes were short legged like our 109. Most dangerous were Spit and Mustang. He called the Mustang "dirty old bitch"! (Quote: "That dirty old bitch could stay up airborne 2 or 3 hours")
  • Mustangs often waited (in visual range) until some of us had to land due to fuel, THEN they came and accepted the dogfight.
  • To make others overshoot, they (german pilots) often dropped flaps or gear shortly, especially the experts.
  • Attacking bombers: They attacked from rear rather frontal. They were told to shoot at the INNER engines of 4-engined bombers. Some weak spots (non redundant systems) were supposed to be there, according to their superiors/trainers.
  • When a wing came off (due to shooting) it looked beautiful, graceful but spooky to see how the bomber slowly flipped over and dove...
  • We were often told by our superiors to look for (white) parachutes. They told us "we destroy planes/material, we dont kill people in the first place". So we looked out for chutes, so we knew there is no need for (more) shooting.

 

All of this was his words with a few remarks of mine in brackets.

 

 Thanks for the translation. By the way, are you ex JZG23_Thiem?  :)  I still remember those sunday morning chats with all nice mates at the squadron's nest in EAW ol' times at MS 'The Zone'.

 

AA_Engadin AKA pato_mareao

sturmkraehe
Posted

Will you ever put online the whole interview and not only those snap phrases? Would be highly appreciated. This guy is really extraordinary in his tale. So crisp, so precise. It really would be a great thing if we'd get the whole interview.

  • Upvote 1
StarLightSong
Posted

An amazing resource.

THanks.

Posted

This was amazing. Real stuff. This make me feel once more how faraway is real life vs our virtual one.

Sometimes It's easy to "believe" in virtual flight, in "realistic" behaviour of planes etc.. It's beautiful, I love it, but at the end is just a game in wich we don't risk our life.

Thanks god.

JZG_Thiem
Posted

 Thanks for the translation. By the way, are you ex JZG23_Thiem?  :)  I still remember those sunday morning chats with all nice mates at the squadron's nest in EAW ol' times at MS 'The Zone'.

 

AA_Engadin AKA pato_mareao

 

Yes i am, but its (almost) a lifetime ago :)

Posted

Thanks for share.. very interesting.

Posted

Could watch part1, very interesting. Second video is set to private now?

Posted (edited)

Here is the translation of the most relevant parts:

 

 

  • On takeoff you (almost) didnt have enough rudder to counter the torque.
  • Enemy  fighters: Russian planes/pilots were not that good.

 

 

He didn´t talk about torque and he didn´t say russian planes/pilots were not that good.

 

PS:   As my posts get edited and deleted by mods without notice I am out of this forum

Edited by Quax
III/JG52_Otto_-I-
Posted

I am sorry the interview is in german, but he can´t speak english. At the moment I have no time to translate.

He came out of Stalingrad with one of the last JU52 flights, before he went to the fighter pilot school. He flew all types (109,190,Dora 9)

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLE9G7qVnmQ&feature=youtu.be

 

 

 

 

 

And this is his "combat approach", flown during "Reichsverteidigung", when Allies had air superiority over german fields:

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNivAsvQhuM&feature=youtu.be

Why I can not see the video? .. it shows me a warning that says it is a "private video" :( 

BlackDevil
Posted

He posted, that he had trouble with moderators. But the post was deleted quickly.

Posted

To be exact, he complained about the use of forum rule #5 by the moderators, and this post was hidden in application of forum rule #6.

He also said he will leave the forum.

 

I have unhidden Quax's post now, and will lock this thread instead (now useless since the video is no more accessible).

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