23.03.2009, 05:19
iirc...
The objective of the G-4 was to update radio installation (FuG 16 from FuG 7?) and to better accommodate external stores under the fuselage like the 300l tank or 250kg bomb for rough field conditions, with modified undercarriage (more ground clearance and sturdier main wheels), wasn't it?
Externally the quickest tell was the non-retracting tailwheel, if you weren't an expert on radio masts?
Most seem to have gone to JG52 for operations in the Kuban in late 42. JG3 and JG54 seemed to go from the G-2 to the G-6.
I guess if you operated close to HQ and often flew clean you didn't have to worry about radio performance or tearing off external stores so much. Gives an idea how rough the conditions must've been in the Kuban too, for Messerschmitt to tailor a new model. At least this appears to be the case the way I'm figuring.
Especially considering the G-5/6 were entering production in October 42 and the G-1/2 had only just entered service the previous July, the G-4 was really a superfluous variant otherwise. Presently I refer to it privately as "the Kuban G-2 update."
The objective of the G-4 was to update radio installation (FuG 16 from FuG 7?) and to better accommodate external stores under the fuselage like the 300l tank or 250kg bomb for rough field conditions, with modified undercarriage (more ground clearance and sturdier main wheels), wasn't it?
Externally the quickest tell was the non-retracting tailwheel, if you weren't an expert on radio masts?
Most seem to have gone to JG52 for operations in the Kuban in late 42. JG3 and JG54 seemed to go from the G-2 to the G-6.
I guess if you operated close to HQ and often flew clean you didn't have to worry about radio performance or tearing off external stores so much. Gives an idea how rough the conditions must've been in the Kuban too, for Messerschmitt to tailor a new model. At least this appears to be the case the way I'm figuring.
Especially considering the G-5/6 were entering production in October 42 and the G-1/2 had only just entered service the previous July, the G-4 was really a superfluous variant otherwise. Presently I refer to it privately as "the Kuban G-2 update."