As the war came to an end, technology advanced quickly, and the first jet aircraft were pitted against or alongside the most powerful piston-engined types the world had ever seen. How did they differ, though?
When World War II in Europe came to a close, there were roughly 20 high-performance fighter variants at least nominally in service:
- Supermarine Spitfire LF.IX
- Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV
- Hawker Typhoon Mk.lb
- Hawker Tempest V
- Gloster Meteor F.3
- North American P-51D Mustang
- Republic P-47D Thunderbolt
- Lockheed P-38L Lightning
- Lockheed P-80A Shooting Star
- Bell P-63A Kingcobra (an American fighter but initially flown almost exclusively dive by the Russians)
- Lavochkin La-7
- Yakovlev Yak- 3
- Yakovlev Yak-9U
- Focke-Wulf Fw 190 A-9
- Focke-Wulf Fw 190 D-9
- Ta 152 H-1
- Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4
- Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a
- Messerschmitt Me 163 B-1
- Heinkel He 162 A-2
Which one was best?
There are some glaring omissions from this list of 20 aircraft, according to Dan Sharp’s book Spitfires Over Berlin, while selecting which was the greatest. The Typhoon can be fairly ruled out because the British Hawker Tempest V was a superior fighter.
The Focke-Wulf Ta 152 and both Fw 190 variants fall under the same category. You can get rid of the A-9 and the D-9. While the infamous Volksjager has to go because the Me 262 would have been a superior fighter even if the He 162 could have been made to operate flawlessly. The Me 163 can also be removed from consideration since its endurance was too brief to make it an effective fighter.
The P-38 Lightning was the American model that moved the most slowly. Although it climbed well, it was outclassed as a dogfighter, therefore it must also go. All three Soviet types (along with the P-63A) can be excluded since, despite their skill in close combat, they were not better than the most remarkable of their contemporaries.
The Tempest V, Spitfire IX and XIV, Meteor F.3, P-47 Thunderbolt, P-51 Mustang, P-80 Shooting Star, Me 262 A-1a, Ta 152, and Bf 109 K are the remaining aircraft in the top 10.
The non-operational Meteor F.3 and P-80 can probably be ruled out due to ongoing development issues, the Bf 109 K could not be said to have surpassed the Ta 152 in performance, the P-47 Thunderbolt was less maneuverable than the P-51 and the Spitfire IX lacked the raw speed to keep up with the new German jets, so a reasonable top five would be the Tempest V, Spitfire XIV, P-51 Mustang, Me 262 A-la and Ta 152.
The Ta 152 was built as a high-altitude fighter, and its sophisticated engine was crucial to giving it an incredible turn of speed. Its guns were prone to jamming, and the majority of the stories from partisan witnesses support its reputation. Therefore, it should be disregarded.
The Tempest V was swift and lethal, but it lacked the high-altitude capability and straight-line speed. In a dogfight, could it have defeated a Spitfire XIV? Perhaps, perhaps not.
The Spitfire XIV, the P-51 Mustang, and the Me 262 A-1a are actually the only three options. All three were powerful dogfighters that their pilots loved and their enemies feared. The P-51 was the world’s greatest aircraft for escorting bombers over great distances at great altitudes, but was it the best fighter of the three finalists?
It was slower than either the Spitfire or the Messerschtnitt, and it had a substantially slower rate of climb. Although it had exceptional maneuverability, the Spitfire still had a little advantage.
The Me 262 was a precursor to the future of air combat. Its weaponry was unmatched, and it could outpace practically anything, but it had significant operational issues. It would have unquestionably defeated the Spitfire if it had been constructed by devoted German engineers, flown in large numbers from fortified airfields, and kept well-supplied with fuel and new engines. However, in reality, Germany’s involvement in the war, along with its own design flaws, hindered the development of the first truly successful jet fighter.
The British Supermarine Spitfire XIV and the German Me 262 must share the victory in the end. With the exception of the Ta 152, no other piston-engine aircraft was faster, more maneuverable, or capable of climbing at such a phenomenal rate as the Spitfire Mk.XIV. Although it was inadequate for escort missions because of its small range, it was simply incredibly difficult to defeat in a straight fight.
Even yet, a Spitfire Mk. XIV pilot would have had an extremely difficult time defeating a Me 262, especially given that the latter was capable of traveling 93 mph quicker. Although the Spitfire pilot would have had more horizontal maneuverability and acceleration, the Me 262 pilot would still have needed to catch the Spitfire by surprise or make a catastrophic mistake. Adolf Galland, a former General of Fighters and Me 262 pilot for the Luftwaffe, claimed following the war: “The best thing about the Spitfire XIV was that there were so few of them.”
Spitfires Over Berlin is published by Mortons Books and is available to order here along with many other beautiful aviation books.
Photo by Rob Hodgkins via Wikipedia, Crown Copyright Top image via Scale Hobbyist