Alek Ituin, on 04 October 2013 - 08:14 PM, said:
Ever seen the cockpit on a Bf-109, Fw-190 or Me-262? Cant see s**t out of those things, its a f**kin wonder how Germany managed to fight a war with em for 6 years.
Commenting on this. That is a huge exaggeration and I'm pretty familiar and a buff for all variants of the Bf-109, Fw-190, and Me-262.
Bf-109 went through several versions of the cockpit - from a boxed cockpit, a mid-war version which removed some of the box frame and armor on the back of the cockpit seat - so the pilot could look behind them, and the Erla-Haube cockpit which was the best possible frame for a cockpit on the Bf-109. With an experienced pilot, the Bf-109 could outmaneuver practically any Allied aircraft.
Fw-190 - had at least two versions of the cockpit, both of which were easy to see directly behind you. The later version was a half-bubble canopy and the cockpit itself was roomy enough to view forward and rearward.
The Me-262 - From its initial design was given a bubble canopy.
They were able to fight a war with those planes, because they were literally some of the best piston engine planes to have been produced at that time. The Fw-190D-9, Ta-152, and Bf-109K4C3 by 1945 were all very close in performance to Allied piston aircraft - but Germany's pilots flew until they died or were wounded, only a handful of aces survived.
The highest scoring pilot of all time, in all of history, is Erich Hartmann who flew a Bf-109 for the entirety of his flight career and flew a Bf-109G-6 on the very day of Germany's surrender. On that day, he spotted American P-51's far above Czechoslovakia, but realized they did not see him and instead attacked Russian Yak-9's and shot them down, then landed his plane and surrendered to the U.S. 90th Infantry Division.
Edited by General Taskeen, 04 October 2013 - 10:09 PM.