First Light – top book, man. Currently being adapted by the BBC, I believe.

I think Galland actually had an ashtray installed in the cockpit of his Bf109. A few others probably did, too.

Well, since I removed it, you can stop bitching about it then, can’t you?

As I understood it, it was a combination of high engine torque and small fin/rudder area, coupled with that knock-kneed undercarriage, that gave the ‘109 family their handling characteristics on the ground. The factory did try throughout the later ‘109 family to try to dampen the effects (larger fin/rudder, for example), but it’s still a handful to the inexperienced.

One of the reasons why most ‘109s pilots these days have a heck of a lot of hours on other, similarly-powered warbirds before getting their hands on a Messerschmitt.

the next release Battle of Britain – Scramble!: The Ten Best Commando Battle of Britain Comic Books Ever! is out on the 1st, I’ve asked Mrs BSG to have it for my birthday next week, (44 🙁 )…..

I spied that book in a Past Times shop yesterday morning – along with about three or four shelves’ worth of Spitfire porn…

Now i don’t want this turning into a cat fight!

When it comes to detail and building who does the better job is it the british or the americans, aussies, germans, etc etc?

The p-51 is it built better in the states is the spitfire built better in england, if so what are the reasons.?

Who builds the better engines & why?

Looking at many pictures of a p-51 with the machine guns in the wings awsome picture for detail.!

Or are they all built exactly the same to the exact same standard, any extras are just that extras?

It all depends on what the customer wants and who he/she wants to do the job.

Pierre Closterman in “The Big Show” describes an action over Scapa Flow on 21st February, 1944. He and Ian Blair were scrambled in their “strato-Spit VIIs” to intercept what they thought would be “one of the new Junkers 86 P’s?”. They got to 43,000ft about 1000ft above their quarry that turned out to be a “Messerschmitt 109 G equipped with two fat auxilliary tanks under the wings” The three aircraft went into a high-speed dive and Blair managed a short burst and the 109 exploded.

Roger Smith.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Closterman actually wasn’t present in that engagement, despite it being in the book. :confused:

Haven’t a clue, but I had a Google for the beast:

Looks….interesting! 😉

Mind you, I had a funny feeling there was a video clip on Google.

Lo and behold…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arP1IHpD5HI

As the comments state, there are others of ‘965.