WW2 Luftwaffe

Blohm & Voss BV 222 Wiking seaplane in Souda, Crete.

In Japan, the Bf109 has become fixed with the image of "hit-and-run" tactics, but it was puzzling because the ace of the skies, Marseille's, fighting method was the exact opposite of that image: "circling around and around for a shooting opportunity." One of the reasons I understood that reason was when I saw a Messerschmitt that was being restored in America.🇺🇸

So, it's because of this "leading edge slat" that they were able to do that, right? The slats that automatically open when you're about to stall could even be used in dogfights where you're aggressively circling around each other. Even in the testimony records from the Battle of Britain, there are scenes of Spitfires engaging in real dogfights. Hit-and-run was ultimately just a standardized tactic, and apparently, the 109 was an aircraft that could turn in tight circles pretty well.

However, when you deploy the leading-edge slats, you naturally lose kinetic energy due to the increased drag, so simply spinning around and around would only put you at a disadvantage. I suspect it was probably flying in a way like those old 500cc racers—yanking it around sharply and then slamming on the acceleration, just like Marcel Lefebvre used to do. For the wingman trying to keep up, that must have been quite a challenge.

@MacchiMC72 via X

Tap Arrow or copy and paste link to watch ☝️🤞

Germany’s WW2 “Tank Killer” Aircraft 🇩🇪

The Henschel Hs 129 was a heavily armored German ground-attack aircraft used by the Luftwaffe against Soviet armor on the Eastern Front during World War II.

This restored footage shows an Hs 129 conducting a low-level strafing attack on an enemy tank, likely a Soviet T-34, while unleashing devastating cannon fire across the battlefield below.

Focke-Wulf Fw 190 V1 W.Nr. Prototype 0001, FO+LY with modified engine cowling. Camouflaged, with the Luftwaffe Balkenkruz and the swastika of the Deutsches Reich.

June 1941. First flight of the Arado Ar 232 V1 Tausendfüßler (Millipede). Featuring a box-like fuselage slung beneath a high wing, rear loading ramp and high-mounted twin tail for access to the hold. Powered by a pair of BMW 801 engines.

Bf 109G cockpit. Flight instruments centre, engine to the right, undercarriage and magneto switches to the left. Radios on the pilot's right, throttle, flaps, trim tabs and canopy release to the left. The cannon breach cover is between the pilot's feet over the rudder pedal bar.

#2. Messerschmitt Bf 109 – 34,480

The Messerschmitt was a very small plane, weighing just 2.4 tons unloaded, but had a powerful 1,500 hp inverted DB 605A-1 V12 engine, giving it a superb power to weight ratio. In the 1930s it set many speed records.