Comments by "TheThirdMan" (@thethirdman225) on "The ME 209 I u0026 II: Two Attempts to “Replace” the Luftwaffe Stalwart" video.

@FirstDagger Well, I can't say for sure they were but the basic principles of turbulent boundary layer flow were known prior to WWI. So to that end, I'd be very surprised if they weren't known. But vortex generators are only one way of doing it. Saw tooth leading edges, leading edge slots and Handley Page slats were all ways of doing the same thing. You'd be familiar with the slots above the leading edge of the SBD Dauntless wing? They were there to improve the performance of the ailerons and they were around in 1937. I'll keep looking because I'm about 50% confident there are other examples.
2
Well, yeah. And what was the Gee Bee racer's biggest problem? Handling. So I guess that particular layout is always going to be a problem.
1
"If the Fw190 Dora and Ta152 were introduced earlier the Luftwaffe would have had a real chance against USAAF fighters." Defeat in the air war over Germany was a result of many things. The principal reason was that, once the Allies had reached a critical mass, there was almost nothing the Germans could do to stop them. While the focus for many people is on the daylight air war, the night campaign - despite its many faults - was having a similarly serious impact on German war production. And this was achieved in no small part by the Allies gaining air superiority and exploiting it to the max. And the biggest single advantage they had was altitude. The newer German types might have had some successes but the turn of the tide was just too much. People talk about lack of fuel but the Germany also had critical shortages of pilots, to the extent that they entertained the idea of suicide missions (Hanna Reitsch) and squadrons drawn from the Hitlerjugend. That's a lot more than an aircraft problem.
1
They are mentioned in mine. I have the original single volume book, 'Warplanes of the Third Reich' and there's quite a bit about them.
1
Because it was never seriously considered for production.
1
@Crashed131963 That and the fact that the wings were simply not strong enough.
1
That was part of the planning at the end of the war. The only piston single they were going to produce was the Ta-152, IIRC.
1
There are other ways of achieving the same thing. According to Eric Brown, the slats tended to pop open unexpectedly and cause aileron snatching. I'm a little surprised they didn't try something uber simple, like vortex generators.
1
"The Heinkel 100, once fitted with real radiators, would've been an incredible jump in performance, but Goering was keen on those Messerschmitt bribes..." I'm going to have to well, not agree with this. The German radiators were simply not as good as the allied ones in terms of drag performance. The allies used pressurised radiators which made them both smaller and more efficient. The addition of radiators would have seen it reduced to roughly the same levels of performance as other fighters. And that's before we start looking at the extra stuff that's needed for a combat aircraft, like armour plating and weapons stowage.
1
@laurieharper1526 "It was rushed into production as a fighter was because Hitler insisted for a long time that it should be a bomber/ground attack aircraft." This was a common belief years ago but it has now been debunked. All German fighters were designed required to be able carry bombs and that included the Bf-109 and Fw-190. That the 262 could carry them too was no surprise. I think it was the Military Aviation History channel which did the story on this. "The issues with the engines were due to the fact that Germany did not have access to the materials needed to make them reliable by the time the decision was made (too late) to use it as a fighter. The engines would only run for 10 hours before needing to be removed and completely rebuilt." This, on the other hand is quite right. Calum E. Douglas gone into a lot of detail on this in his book, 'The Secret Horsepower Race'.
1
The Bf-110 was an excellent night fighter and remained so until the end of the war. It only really failed in its role as a Zerstoerer because it was badly used in the Battle of Britain.
1