Spitfire Vs. BF-109 | Dueling Duos 

This is my favorite area in the MoF! Love these videos on the WW2 warbirds!

Several years ago, I visited the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. One of my biggest thrills was being able to ascend a set of stairs set up beside a Spit and place my hands on the control yoke of the aircraft. It was like I was making some kind of connection with the men who flew these planes in battle. Fantastic!

Between rifle caliber machine guns and 20mm cannons is the American Browning fifty caliber. It’s still in use worldwide

These automatic slats had a tendency to deploy asymmetrically when dog-fighting throwing off the pilot's aim. So the pilots had them locked shut.

Thank you for identifying the 109 by its correct name; BF-109, not ME-109. Even Luftwaffe pilots sometimes mistakenly called it an ME-109. Also there was a very good reason the 109’s engine was installed upside down. It made it much easier for mechanics to work on them. There is a RU-vid video describing this.

The DB 601 was also license produced in Japan, and used in the Ki-61 Hien "Tony" fighter, Yokosuka D4Y Suisei "Judy" dive bomber (initial variants, later variants were equipped with Japanese designed radial engines), and Aichi M6A Seiran submarine launched aircraft. A prototype Judy was carried by one of the Japanese carriers during the battle of Midway, and was employed as a reconnaissance aircraft during the battle.

That was quite interesting. Some facts there that I didnt know.

This is an awesome channel! Matthew Burchette is AWESOME!

Always the nice odd detail in your videos and your delivery is spot on , big thumbs up

The MG FF was related to the famed 20mm Oerlikon cannon used by the Allied navies, and a Japanese version was also used on the famed A6M Zero.

Thank you again for a great video, I was aware of most of the information, but I was entertained by your excellent and enthusiastic presentation and never felt I was condescended to. 👍👍👍👍👍

During the Battle of Britain the RAF used 3 prop Mk I’s not the four prop Mk IX (as behind the narrator), which weren’t introduced until 1944

The Spitfire is a beauty queen and a warrior. However in the BoB the Hawker Hurricane was the RAF’s heavy lifter. 2/3 of Fighter Command’s interceptors were Hurricanes.

Do you have an me 262 at your museum? If so can you make a video about it. And maybe name it the grand father of the modern jets?

Me109E4 addressed the cannon problem and it flew in the Battle of Britain.

Our obvious advantages were home turf and radar but there was much more. A well organized maintenance force of telephone and communications engineers working around the clock. A volunteer force of the Royal Observer Corps for when there were breaks in radar. And, never to forget the Air/Sea Rescue service who did their bit to get downed pilots back home or pick up the German who frequently ran out of fuel and had to ditch.

These two planes... it can not be understated. They are legitimate adversaries to one another. You can talk the Hurricane, but where the Hurricane was a coyote, the Spit and the 109 were wolves.

Very thorough. I'd elaborate on the tactics imposed on each side. British tactical doctrine specified a flight of three using several distinctive attack modes (I believe there were 6). The Luftwaffe's doctrine utilized the "finger four" flight--two pairs of two in which the wingman's role was to protect the leader while he took the offensive. That system was developed in Spanish civil war by the Germans and later put into practice by the British and then, the Americans. It's advantage was better situational awareness--more sets of eyes and planes spaced further apart leading to fewer blind areas. Command leadership hindered the Germans by not pursuing the goal of this first phase of Operation Sealion, which was the destruction of the RAF and achieving air supremacy. Switching from destroying the Chain Home radar system and airfields to attacking London is one example of confused strategy displayed by the Nazi regime. The RAF did have their own issues, e.g., arguments for and against deploying the Big Wing but this pales by comparison to the confused leadership on the part of the Germans. Your emphasis on the RAF's radar system and more importantly the coordination of air defenses using radar and observers, sector and group stations, and HQ command center is the reason the RAF fought the Luftwaffe to a draw when in fact, a draw was a strategic defeat for the Nazis.

I can answer the question about whether the Bf109 or the Spitfire was the superior aircraft. We won the Battle of Britain.👍

Love these videos! They seem a bit less... goofy lately, which is a shame, but that might be just me. Keep up the great work regardless!

That plane Cliff Robertson owned used to do air shows all over North America. Jerry Billing, WW2 vet from Windsor ON flew it. The Spitfire is the most graceful and beautiful killing machine ever.

One of the problems with the Spitfire that no one want's to look at is the fuel tank right in front of the pilot. The designers just couldn't resist adding fuel tanks at the center of gravity. This makes sense from a aerodynamic point of view, but means a burning fuel tank right in front of the pilot in combat. The British did a study right after the Battle of Britain and tried to determine why so many of their pilots either burned alive in their cockpits, or survived with severe facial burns compared to the German pilots. They created the first facial reconstruction burn unit up until that time,

I fall in love with your videos. Cheers.

Could say a lot about this video but all l say is I loved it A great watch.

The Spanish license built BF109s [H1112] were fitted with ironically, [the license, built?] Rolls Royce Merlins. As were the Spanish license built Heinkel 111s. In turn that made things handy as all the aircraft both British and [nominally] German used the same generic spares..............

Both the Tommies and the Huns had top-notched pilots by 1940s.

The German army had little experience at amphibious warfare. An opposed invasion from sea. The Germans had a small navy compared to the British. Even if the Luftwaffe drove the RAF out of southern England an invasion wouldn’t have succeeded. Of course the British didn’t know in 1940 they’d win the BoB

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="466">7:46</a> they had home chain system which allowed..................Think you mean 'chain home'.

F4F vs A6m2?

How does the Spitfire compares to the P51D?(Merlin engine version, of course).

I always preferred the FW190 over the BF109. Tougher, more versatile, much fewer landing accidents due to good wide track undercarriage. The BF109 had about the worst landing gear of the war. The BF109 cockpit was very small and the visibility was terrible.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="394">6:34</a> Is that the DB606 (or 610) coupled powerplant? Looks like maybe two DB601s geared together…? If so, that’s a great picture. If not, sorry. Although I guess your ilustrating an inverted DB powerplant, not necessarily an inverted 601…maybe? Great episode, I didn’t know the central cannon had so few rounds, were all versions like that?

Spitfire got, 1.8MPG BF109 got, 1.6--2.1MPG depends on load and altitude

All these “Which plane was superior?” videos bypass the most important variable: the pilot. The race to out-develop the other side in weapons tends to produce equipment that is roughly equivalent, making the experience and skill of the pilot crucial. One P-38 pilot said that if a new pilot could survive the first 7-8 hours of combat, they’d likely make it through the war. But the new guys died in large numbers.

Well he actually didn't want to fight Britain in the beginning...let alone invade them. He also offered peace something like once a month since they declared war on him in 1939 and NOT on the soviets. Who conveniently also invaded Poland. (only mentioning this because chances are pretty high anyone reading this will be hearing this for the first time) Edit: er...not a lot of planes that can say they served from the beginning to the end of the war? How about the 109 you're standing next to?

The Spitfire is overrated by British propaganda and story books. The fact that the Hurricane was the most effective RAF fighter was covered up for years. The 109 did not need story books, its kill record stands alone and will never be beaten. Against the Spitfire the 109 has a kill ratio more than double.

Meh, pre-war designs with too-short range and landing gear that killed a lot of pilots. The battle of Britain wasn't decided solely by the attributes of these two fighters, it was primarily a battle of attrition, and it was the Hawker Hurricane that saved the day. In addition to scoring something like 65% of the kills, the wood and fabric construction was easily repaired, the wide-stance landing gear enabled it to be dispersed when aerodromes were being bombed, and the closer configuration on the wing of those rifle-caliber 303's gave it better firepower than the Spit when intercepting bombers. The elliptical wing of the Spit was absurdly labor intensive to manufacture, and the stressed-metal construction made repairs much slower, and that was a huge drawback when you're up against it like the RAF was. It's odd how little credit is given to the Hurricane's contributions

The Nazis never had the slightest chance to ever invade the UK. The Royal Navy would have wiped out everything crossing the channel. I wonder if the Luftwaffe should have been better off if they bought or built A6M Zeros. Similar speed, very maneuverable and most importantly, a huge loiter time over England.

Pierre Clostermann (RAF mission record holder): "So there are legends on the Spitfire... Aaaah the legends... Legends are hard to kill... One of those legends is that the Spitfire turned better than the Messerschmitt 109, or the FW-190. Well that is a good joke... In fact all those who found themselves with a 109 turning inside them, at low speeds, well those in general did not come back to complain about the legend... Why? Above 280 to 300 knots, the Spitfire turned better than the Me-109. But, first and foremost, in a turning battle, the speed goes down and down and down and down, and at one point there comes a time, when the speed has gone down below 200 knots, that the Me-109 turns inside the Spitfire." At 12.44: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-c2zdA9TcIYo.html Pierre Clostermann had about 18 kills, including ten FW- 190As, was the RAF mission record holder at 432, and had a unique interest in enemy aircrafts, having watched thousands of gun camera footage films to illustrate the technical conferences he gave to fellow pilots DURING THE WAR (a unique attribute among all WWII pilots I am aware of). He previously studied engineering at CalTech in 1940-41. -Johnny Johnson (top Spitfire ace, 36 kills) "My duel with the Focke-Wulf": "With wide-open throttles I held the Spitfire V in the tightest of vertical turns [Period slang for vertical bank]. I was greying out. Where was this German, who should, according to my reckoning, be filling my gunsight? I could not see him, and little wonder, for he was gaining on me: In another couple of turns he would have me in his sights.---I asked the Spitfire for all she had in the turn, but the enemy pilot hung behind like a leech. It could only be a question of time..." (Jonhson escaped when he abandoned the turn fight, and dived near a Royal Navy ship that fired AAA at his pursuer -RCAF John Weir interview for Veterans Affairs (Spitfire Mk V vs FW-190A-4 period): "A Hurricane was built like a truck, it took a hell of a lot to knock it down. It was very manoeuvrable, much more manoeuvrable than a Spit, so you could, we could usually out-turn a Messerschmitt. They'd, if they tried to turn with us they'd usually flip, go in, at least dive and they couldn't. A Spit was a higher wing loading... The Hurricane was more manoeuvrable than the Spit, and the Spit was probably, we (Hurricane pilots) could turn one way tighter than the Germans could on a Messerschmitt, but the Focke Wulf could turn the same as we could, and they kept on catching up, you know." The differences, by late War, were pretty clear: The Spitfire at high speed turned better, at low speed it turned worse than BOTH German types. It was evaluated by the Russians as an excellent hit and run type fighter, but that it failed in prolonged turn fighting. And low speed turning mattered more, because low speed turns broke high speed attacks. The problem was the Luftwaffe (and the Japanese Navy) were wedded to speed, the Japanese Navy only using a kind of twisted vertical loop called the "Hinero-Komi", which did not always "trap" targets into staying in a circle like low speed turning did. Low speed turning never gave way to hit and run, on the contrary...: That is yet another myth...

The Bf 109 is the better airplane

Curator on the loose series is "really cool" but I think there are a lot of people watching from outside USA. So why don´t make the information more comprehensive by also converting all the imperial units to metric? Miles, Miles per hour, Pounds, Feet, Inches, Fahrenheit and Gallons etc make no sense for the rest of the world. Just say units in imperial followed by the metric equivalent. Just some advice for you...

Sorry mate, but Bromwich is pronounced Brom-itch. We have a lot of strange pronounciations to catch out non-locals (even fellow Brits).

The E model 109 was first deployed in late 1939, NOT in 1935!!

Negative g was a step that the RAF couldn't clime. Every other airforce entered a dive maintaining positive G, not just push over, watch USAAF enter a dive from a half roll to keep the carb full and the engine at full RPM. If the belts of ammo hit the top of the box and get tangled. All allied aircraft used carburetors, it was a Brit training issue.

Battle of Britain started in July 1940 .....Mr Stupid !

BF109 was way sexier. It served the fuhrer.

The Germans were the most technologically advanced.

I was waiting to see if this was brought up by you or was to be found in the comments. We have a certain James Doolittle to thank for another advantage the Allies had for the Battle of Britain , high octane avgas. The work he did with Royal Dutch Shell in it's development was vital to our having it and the Axis didn't. Having lived when 104 octane pump gas was readily available And the high output engines that it allowed, it also allowed crude simple and rapid improvements in engine output for the Allied aircraft. It's possible to have high output engines run on octane similar to what the Germans were using but it takes a lot of technology. My 20 year old daily driver is getting 170 hp from 1800 cc engine albeit with double overhead cams, 5 valves per cylinder, turbocharged, intercooler, direct injection, and a super computer to control everything. There isn't any comparison to the simple crude fuel injection of the DB601 with even the diesel mechanical injection of the 70's and 80's.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="888">14:48</a> Rolls-Rocye?

Another wonderful video Matt!! Thank you and keep up the great work🤜🤛!!!

BF 109 E Came to the front in 1940 , not in 1935.

Very good video. The Brits had better fuel too.

This is kindergarten history

Great Video My Father Jerry Billing flew that Spitfire for Cliff for 22.5 years doing Aerobatic Displays Across Canada and the USA

The Krauts were not allowed an airforce so many times they had to train in gliders and this instilled excellent flying skills , it is hard to get up there so you have to be talented to keep your glider up it also trained the pilots to always look for a place to land ! Many aces used this to crash land their planes with out being injured or killed, all because they trained on gliders !

A family story from London, My father home on leave was in the garden with his mother in law, looking up he saw German aircraft, turning to his mother in law he said lets go inside they're Germans, don't be silly she replied, the air raid sirens hadn't sounded, he grabbed her as he saw a couple of 109s peel off heading their way, and headed for the area under the stairs which had been reinforced, mother in law was inside but dad got stuck with his bum sticking out, as the shells splashed in and around the house all he thought of was his bum would soon be a thing of the past. They both survived the attack. A few months later the germans bombed a school killing all the children it was a hit and run raid, The story goes none of the aircraft involved returned to their bases. For a young man to be in a high powered piston engine fighter must have been so exciting. The spitfire was a gentleman's aircraft whereas the 109 was a butchers both were deadly in the right hands. Cheshire UK