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Originally Posted by Stealhead
I was referring to how the BF109s behave in IL-2 it is a bit over done and gives a false impression.
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Sorry, misunderstood.
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Now the 190 could easily out turn a Spitfire any day of the week.
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There are several problems when discussing "maneuverability". First is actual turn rate. In fact there was no German fighter which could out-turn any British fighter, and the FW-190 was one of the most "average" turning aircraft of the war. The second factor was how fast the plane could get into the turn, meaning how fast it could roll from 0 to 90 degrees. The FW-190 was tested as the fastest rolling aircraft of the war, without exception. This meant that if a FW and Spitfire were both rolled fully to the right, the 190 could flick over and be turning the other way before the Spit could even get his wings level. The Bf-109 was slower than the FW-190, but still faster-rolling than the Spitfire. This is what led to the development of the "clipped-wing" Spit. Another major factor was the negative-G capability. Not only could any German fighter push the nose over directly into a dive, leaving the early British fighters wasting a precious second or two rolling over before they could dive, but they could also push the nose forward while in a full turn, turning mildly in the other direction, which the Spits and Hurris could not. This gave the Germans a bit of a surprise in Africa where the Brits were using P-40s, which at first they didn't know could follow them through those negative-G turns.
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The Axis powers also rarely rotated pilots so they fought on until they died or the war was over.The Allies on the other hand understood the value of having combat experienced pilots train new pilots and many pilots rotated back to the states and passed their knowledge on to new pilots.
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This is true, but the Germans and Japanese really had no choice. I have stated many times my belief that America's single main contribution to the war was the fact that we were thousands of miles from the nearest front. Second was our huge population base, which coupled with the first meant that we could afford to do all that. Third was the manufacturing capability which stemmed from the first two. We could afford to out-build, out-recruit and out-train pretty much anybody. Having the war be far away is a good thing.