Messerschmitt Bf-109G-6/R6 Gustav

From The Air Combat Wiki

Contents 1 Fighter Ace Screenshots 2 Fighter Ace Ratings 3 Fighter Ace Performance 4 Historical Statistics 5 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 7 History 8 Sources 9 See Also

Fighter Ace Screenshots

Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ
Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ

Fighter Ace Ratings

Durability: 2

Speed: 7

Maneuverability: 6

Firepower: 7

Climb Rate: 6

Ground Attack: 2

Fighter Ace Performance

Top Speeds						Climb Rates
	Sea Level	4921' 1500m	9843' 3000m	19685' 6000m	Best Speed	Best IAS	to 1000m	to 3000m	to 6000m
mph	332	352	367	388	388@ 19685'	183 mph	1:13	3:10	6:29
mph WEP	346	366	378	400	400@ 19685'
kph	534	567	590	624	624@ 6000m	295 kph
kph WEP	557	589	609	644	644@ 6000m

Historical Statistics

Service Date: March 1944

Primary Guns: 2x MG131 13mm machine guns with 300 rpg in cowl and 1x MG151/20 20mm cannon with 150 rpg in hub

Secondary Guns: 2x MG-151/20 20mm cannon with 125 rpg in underwing pods

Ordnance: 1x 551 lb (250 kg) bomb or 1x 475 lb (215 kg) drop tank

Engine(s): 1x Daimler-Benz DB-605A in-line rated for 1,475 hp at sea level (1,800 hp with WEP)

Int Fuel Capacity: 634 lbs (287 kg)

Ext Fuel Capacity: 475 lbs (215 kg)

Maximum Speeds: 345 mph (556 kph) at sea level, 400 mph (644 kph) at 19,685 ft (6,000 m)

Ceiling: 37,890 ft (11,550 m)

Loaded Weight: 6,940 lbs (3,148 kg)

Wing Area: 174.4 sq ft (16.2 sq m)

Wing Loading: 39.8 lbs/sq ft (194.3 kg/sq m)

Strengths

Climb Rate: Though top speed suffered somewhat, the climb rate was slightly improved over that of the Franz.

Firepower: The three 20mm cannons and two 13mm machine guns give the /R6 firepower almost equal to the FW-190A-8 fighters.

Weaknesses

Maneuvering: The addition of the heavy gun pods reduces the roll rate, which was the only maneuvering advantage the Gustav enjoyed.

Durability: The 109 was a small plane and not capable of absorbing much combat damage.

History

To get better performance out of their basic engine design, Daimler-Benz created the DB-605A engine by maximizing the bore size of the DB-601 without changing the bore-center locations. This resulted in a normal take-off output of 1,475 hp. However, the compression ratio was also increased, which necessitated the return to 96 octane fuel. Because of the larger size and heavier weight of the 605 engine, the Gustav series was produced with heavier engine supports and a redesigned cowling. While the armament remained the same as that of the Franz, the Gustav series was outfitted to use the GM-1 nitrous injection system as standard equipment.

The G-1 utilized a pressurized cabin while the simultaneously produced G-2 deleted the pressurization equipment to save weight. Delivered to front-line units at about the same time as the G-1 and G-2, the G-3 and G-4 differed mainly in the installation of an upgraded radio and larger wheels, necessitating bulges in the upper surface of the wing to accommodate them.

Experience with the 20mm MG-151 cannon in North Africa revealed that it could overheat and jam, leaving the pilot with only a pair of 7.9mm guns, which was hardly adequate for anything except strafing soft targets. The G-1/Trop was intended to rectify this problem by replacing the rifle caliber machine guns with larger 13mm models. This required the addition of bulges in the cowling to cover the larger breeches and pilots promptly dubbed it Beule (Bump).

The G-5 incorporated the larger guns into a pressurized G-3 with some examples utilizing the DB-605AS engine, which used the larger supercharger from the DB-603. The pressurization however was found to be fairly useless and the G-6 abandoned the feature to save weight.

The GM-1 nitrous system could be replaced with the far more useful MW50 methanol system, which boosted takeoff power from 1,475 to 1,800 hp. MW50 could be used for 10 minutes at a time, but required 5 minutes between uses. However, this increased fuel consumption by almost 40%, severely reducing range.

The G-6 was the first version intended from the outset to employ a variety of Rüstätz field conversion kits. The /R6 kit added a 20mm gun pod with 125 rpg under each wing, more than doubling the plane's effective firepower. However, their additional weight had a severe impact on handling and roll rate.

Sources

Beaman Jr., John R. and Campbell, Jerry L.; Messerschmitt Bf 109 In Action, Part One; Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, TX; 1980.

Green, William; Warplanes of the Third Reich; Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY; 1970.

See Also

Fighter Ace Planes Inventory

Messerschmitt A.G.

Aircraft Manufacturers During World War II