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Aviation of World War II |
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Bf-109K
The first pre-production Bf 109K-0 - appeared in September 1944 and differed from the last modification of the G series by the increased hood height, an elongated spinner and two trim tabs on the rudder. The plane was equipped with the so-called Galland lantern, a wooden keel, a retractable tail wheel on an elongated strut. Armament consisted of a 30 mm MK 108 motor cannon and two MG 151 151 cannons on the fuselage, half open. If the pre-production Bf 109K-0 were equipped with DB 605DB engines with afterburner GM 1, then the serial ones received DB 605ASCM or DB 605DCM - the latter with GM 1. The first aircraft left the assembly line in October 1944. These were the Bf 109K-2 and K-4, differing only in the cabin pressurization on the latter. The last aircraft of the K-4 series received a 30-mm MK-103 cannon instead of the MK-108 propulsion cannon, but the 65-mm cover that covered the gun barrel made replacing the latter in the field with a non-trivial task. The MK-103 cannon was also installed on the Bf 109K-6, the main task of which was the fight against bombers, for which it carried two more 30-mm MK-103 in underwing gondolas, however, the fuselage MG.151 were again replaced by 13-mm machine guns MG.131. Deliveries of the Bf 109K-6 to fighter groups began in January 1945, but before the collapse of the Third Reich, only a few of these machines arrived - given that its takeoff weight (3600 kg) made it so poorly controlled, it actually was happiness for the Luftwaffe pilots in the face of complete air superiority of the Allies. ![]() Bf 109K4-14 JG53 WNr 332579 Munich, February 1945 |
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