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Could the Luftwaffe win their air war?

Discussion in 'What If - European Theater - Western Front & Atlan' started by T. A. Gardner, Apr 7, 2008.

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  1. bigfun

    bigfun Ace

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    My short answer to the question: No.
     
    bigfun, Dec 10, 2008
    #81
  2. justdags

    justdags Member

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    true but would the 190 have made a differance in the Battle of Briton
     
    justdags, Dec 12, 2008
    #82
  3. Za Rodinu

    Za Rodinu Aquila non capit muscas

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    So would the Tempest.
     
    Za Rodinu, Dec 12, 2008
    #83
  4. flammpanzer

    flammpanzer Member

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    Maybe if the Luftwaffe wasnt commanded by the stupid-fata$$ Goering things could have turned out a lot better for the German air force
     
    flammpanzer, Dec 22, 2008
    #84
  5. Miguel B.

    Miguel B. Member

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    actuall,y the way Goering design the Luftwaffe was quite correct in the strategic thinking of the 30's. If you had others organising it, it wouldn't be much better. Considering German industrial production, they could do little else (well except adopting the HE 100 design but that wouldn't cause much of a difference in the long run...).



    Cheers...
     
    Miguel B., Dec 22, 2008
    #85
  6. John Louies

    John Louies Member

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    they're too far from home
     
    John Louies, Dec 28, 2008
    #86
  7. rhapsody

    rhapsody Member

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    Given history, what could have been changed in the Luftwaffe's strategy to make them successful, if anything?

    Give them the Spitfire!
     
    rhapsody, Jan 10, 2009
    #87
  8. Miguel B.

    Miguel B. Member

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    wouldn't help unless they had the facilities to mass produce them. They built over 30,000 Bf 109 and 20,000 Fw190 it didn't help them... As sid in another topic, by the time USA got into the fray, the Luftwaffe had already lot enough aircraft to compose two air forces.



    Cheers...
     
    Miguel B., Jan 10, 2009
    #88
  9. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    True. Building large numbers of aircraft over a roughly 8 year period doesn't necessarily mean that you have a large number of aircraft available at any one time. By 1943-44, Germany was losing 30-40 percent of it's aircraft to non-combat operational losses, e.g. landing in muddy fields. That is a starggering number and cuts deeply into available aircraft.
    There were 15,570 P-47s produced. The most on hand any time, 5,595, was in May of 1945. The P-51 had similar numbers. The USAAF did not suffer non-combat losses in theater to the degree the Luftwaffe did, especially later in the war. This was do the amount of flying time that the US fliers got, primary and advanced, that the German fliers did not. By late in the war, German fliers arrived at their squadrons having barely just earned their wings and were expected learn their trade on the job. Very large numbers failed this aspect of their training with deadly results. It was like asking someone who had just learned to drive to race against Richard Petty (in his heyday, of course.)
     
    Slipdigit, Jan 10, 2009
    #89
  10. Carl W Schwamberger

    Carl W Schwamberger Ace

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    Here is a summary of German and British aircraft production alongside aircraft ‘in service’ for selected dates. Numbers are from ‘Brute Force’ by Ellis.

    Note the huge difference between gross production and the number counted as in frontline service. While Germany is not able to keep 24% of its annual production in service from 1942 Britian & the USSR rise from below 20% to well over 35%. This is skewed in that Germanys 1944 production was narly all combat aircraft, while the others include trainers, transports, reconissance & other support types. In 1944 Germany ends with only 12% of the years production in frontline service.

    Year Production In combat zone service
    1939
    Germany.... 2372............2916 September

    Britian........7431............1660 September


    1940
    Germany.....9430.......... 2885 December

    Britian..... 14573.......... 1064 December fighters only

    USSR..........10385..... -

    1941
    Germany.....10930.........2561 December

    Britian........18862..........4287 December

    USSR..........15735..........2495 December

    1942
    Germany.....13994..........3440 December

    Britia..........22590..........5257 December

    USSR..........15735..........3088 December

    1943
    Germany.....23372..........4667 December

    Britian..........24543........6646 December

    USSR..........34845..........8500 December

    1944
    Germany.....39626..........5041 December

    Britian..........22642..........8395 December

    USSR..........40245..........14500 December
     
    Carl W Schwamberger, Jan 11, 2009
    #90
  11. YoungAirNut

    YoungAirNut Member

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    Just a litle side note here. Its a little known fact that not only Germany had limited amounts of fuel but their most famous fighter, the '109, only had roughly 15 minutes of fighting fuel before they had to turn home. So not only did they have limited fuel, bu they also had to use it wisely by fear of washing up in the English Channel. Now i dont know about the bombers but obviously they did have a bigger fuel supply.

    However, with that in mind, I dont think the Luftwaffe could have succesfully defeated the RAF because their fighters could not handle the distance and it's a no-brainer that a bombing raid without fighter cover is bound to go wrong.

    So could the Luftwaffe win? No against England, that one is almost a certanty
     
    YoungAirNut, Jan 14, 2009
    #91
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