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- The Bf 109 G-5/U2 in the 110 000 range production block had the GM-1
boost system pressure bottles located in the left wing, the access cover
for which was on the lower wing surface (7).
Example: Bf 109G-5/U2/R6, WNr. 27112, Flown by Maj. Walther Dahl,
III. /JG 3, Bad Wörishofen, Germany, December, 1943.
Third Production Variant
This characterizes part of Bf 109 G-5 and Bf 109 G-5/U2 production in block
110 000. These aircraft had Erlahaube canopies and short rudders, and are
often confused with the Bf 109 G-6 or G-14.
These aircraft can be identified by the following:
- Short antenna mast.
- Erlahaube-type canopy, non-pressurized. (10)
- Short rudder.
- Usually equipped with a ZVG 16 direction finder unit with its PR 16 loop antenna
on the spine.
- FuG 16 Z radio.
- Command aircraft, equipped with a FuG 16 ZY radio with its Moranmast whip
antenna mounted under the left wing were designated Bf 109 G-5/Y. (8)
- FuG 25a IFF system.
- REVI C 12 D gunsight.
- REVI 16 B gunsight from the summer of 1944.
- A small bulge covering the Knorr 300/10 compressor on the lower leading edge of the
fairing covering the breech of the right fuselage machine gun.
- A small fuel tank was used for starting the engine, with a filler neck on the right side
of the fuselage spine between fuselage bulkheads 4 and 5.
- The Bf 109 G-5/U2 had a cover on the underside of the left wing for access to the GM-1
boost system pressure bottles located in the wing (7)
- No intake gills for cockpit ventilation under the windscreen. In some cases, probably
on aircraft converted from older airframes, the cockpit ventilation openings may have
been covered with circular caps (9)
- Cockpit ventilation on the left side under the canopy were absent.
- The Bf 109 G-5/U2 had a VDM 9-12159. 10 propeller with wider blades
(as with the Bf 109 G-10).
EXAMPLE: Bf 109 G-5, W. Nr. 15729, Flown by Obstlt. Hermann Graf, Stab. /JG11, Jever, Winter 1944. The aircraft is sometimes listed as a G-6
converted from a G-5, but it is a G-5. There could be several reasons why the 15 000 series airframes had an Erlahaube canopy.
M. Baumgartl states that twenty Bf 109 G-5s were built, powered by
a DB 628 A-0 engine with a two-stage supercharger and fitted with a VDM
9-12159. 10 propeller with wider blades (as the Bf 109 G-10). One Hundred
and thirty of these engines were built, so their use in the Bf 109 G-5 is not
really out of the question.
The G-5/R2 version is a bit of an enigma. According to M. Baumgartl,
seventy-two of a planned 126 were built, and according to him, it was
a photo-reconnaissance version, equivalent to the Bf 109 G-6/R2. They were
allegedly made without fuselage machine guns, but whether they were ac-
tually produced is unknown. In addition to these machines, sixteen Bf 109
G-5/R2/AS and 76 Bf 109 G-5/AS aircraft were also produced, powered by
the BD 605 AS engine with the VDM 9-12159. 10 propeller.
Photo Reconnaissance Bf 109 G-6
Part of the Bf 109 G-6 run was dedicated to photo reconnaissance.
In the following paragraphs, the three photo reconnaissance versions are
described chronologically as they were produced. As a result, the Bf 109
G-6/R3 version, produced in the summer and autumn of 1943, is described
before the Bf 109 G-6/R2 version, produced in late 1944.
Bf 109 G-6/R3
The photographic equipment in this aircraft consisted of an Rb 50/30 cam-
era. Access to the camera was from the cockpit through a hatch in the rear
sloping cockpit wall. The Bf 109 G-6/R3 had two grooves in the bottom of the
fuselage/wing section to divert oil escaping from the oil cooler under the
nose and to prevent the leaking oil from obstructing the camera lens. These
grooves were run parallel from the rear corners of the oil cooler across the
entire center wing section to the trailing edge of the wing/fuselage transi-
tion. The main armament was reduced to the MG 151/20 cannon. Fuselage
machine guns were not installed, the gun troughs were fared over, and in-
stead of machine guns, an additional oil tank with a volume of 20 liters was
placed in the compartment of the machine gun mounts. Unlike the later
Bf 109 G-6/R2, the MW 50 boost system was not installed. Radio equipment
consisted of a FuG 16Z radio and a FuG 25a IFF system. A ZVG 16 direction
guidance system (Peilrufanlage) with a PR 16 (Peilrahmen) loop antenna on
the fuselage spine (Rüstsatz R7) could also be installed. The canopy, unlike
the G-6/R2, was of the standard type. In addition to the possibility of car-
rying an auxiliary tank under the fuselage, a variant with two additional
tanks with a volume of 300 liters each under the wings was also developed,
but it is not certain whether it was ever introduced into operational service.
At WNF, 35 were produced in the summer of 1943 (between June and August)
in production block 20 000, and five in the fall of 1943 in production block
140 000.
Rüstsatz R7
(photo: Mikael Olrog / The Bf 109 Lair)
HISTORY
INFO Eduard
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February 2024