Bf 109 - The Price you Pay for Firepower

Timothy Mulligan

Thanks very much for the information and the great use of Luftflotte 3 records. I especially enjoyed your point on the troubled coordination between front-line Luftwaffe commands and those responsible for technological modifications and production. Always appreciate those insights into structural problems of Luftwaffe organization and command!

Military Aviation History

Hey Sean, thanks, arrived safe and sound and currently following the mandated Quarantine rules.

Military Aviation History

Hey Bill, thanks, yes I am looking for more sources on this as well :)

Military Aviation History

Hey Julian, yes, the pods were to augment firepower against bombers. Initially, the lack of escorts did not create an immediate need to think about countering these but with time this changed (P-47, P-38, P-51 etc). When escorts appeared, there was an attempt to have 'clean' aircraft deal with escorts and more heavily armed planes to attack bombers. An easy split was Bf 109 vs escorts, Fw 190 vs Bombers. On paper, the idea was sound, in reality is was more complex than that and the Germans rarely had enough planes to do either task well.

Military Aviation History

Thanks John!

Sean Tyson

Thanks for another fascinating discussion of German WWII aircraft technology. I was familiar with the dual gun pod upgrade to the Bf109, but of course had never heard of this option. It would be interesting to get your thoughts on the various loadouts used to combat the allied bomber formations regarding whether there was an optimal configuration, including the tradeoffs between different weapon systems. Of course, having to deal with escorting fighters later in the war would impact those decisions, as you implied by the hit to performance by the upgraded weapons kit. Have a successful and safe trip to Germany, and I look forward to your next video, especially the planned to address the experience with the allied bomber formations. Happy holidays!

Bill Lemmond

Chris, yours is a solid technical analysis. And if you are planning more video about the conflict between allied bombers and German fighters, I hope you can go into evaluation of the trade-offs involved with added weapon pods. I'm guessing we'll hear that the new aim was to give the augmented 109s radar vectoring to attack altitude for one really solid pass at the bombers, then having them dive away, before the fighter escorts can shoot them down with greater maneuverability.

Thanks, Chris! Another informative video. Please continue to deliver content when you are satisfied with its quality. You have not disappointed me so far! Have a good visit to Germany and stay safe.

Julian Corbett

This question may be better suited for the upcoming video on fighting the B-17's, but watching this did prompt a question. I gather that the centreline and under wing pods were done to increase effectiveness against the USAAF bomber forces. Was the intention to try and avoid the escorting fighters as much as possible, to try and concentrate on the bomber streams, or, were there "clean" fighters trying to intercept the escorts to allow the heavier armed fighters to attack the bomber streams unmolested? (similar to the "planned" roles of the Spitfires and Hurricanes during the BoB - more manoeverable Spits deal with the escort (ideally) and better gun platform Hurricanes going for the bombers)