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Bf 109 G-14/AS ERLA, Production
Block 460 300 – 460 670 (50 Units)
1. Wide engine cowl side panels with riveted
semielliptical aerodynamic fairings to
fuselage.
2. Radiator under the engine as on standard
G-6, Type Fo 870, though some aircraft
received the larger Fo 987 unit with the
same covering, as on the Erla G-10.
3. Lower engine cowling minus bulge below
the oil tank.
4. VDM 9-12159 propeller with wider paddle
blades.
5. Supercharger air intake on the left side
of the cowling as on standard G-6, although
some aircraft were given the larger intake
as on the G-10.
6. Access cover to supercharger clutch oil
pump on the right side of the engine cowl
was in a lower position.
7. Oil filler cap cover on the left side of the
nose in lower position.
8. Tall tail, Type 1.
9. Short tailwheel (usually).
10. Cockpit canopy with rounded inside
corners at the rear and with an antenna
mast on the canopy frame.
Bf 109 G-14/AS
The production of the Bf 109 G-6/AS was
followed by the production of the Bf 109 G-14/AS
version, powered by the DB 605ASM engine and
equipped, as standard, with a system for injecting
a mixture of methanol and water into the intake
of the MW 50 compressor. The installation of this
system can be recognized by the box-shaped
bulge on the rear wall cockpit, covering the
battery, moved forward from its original position
between the 1st and 2nd fuselage bulkheads for
the installation of the MW 50 system tank. The
DB 605 ASM engine used 96 octane C3 gasoline
as fuel. Another distinctive feature of the Bf 109
G-14/AS was the standard installation of the FuG
16ZY direction finding system and its associated
Morane-type whip antenna (Moranmast), still
installed under the leading edge of the left
wing. The FuG 25a IFF system was also standard.
The Bf 109 G-14/AS were produced as new at
Messerschmitt and Erla. There is no evidence
that they were purposely created by conversion
from older Bf 109 G-6 and G-14, but it is likely that
parts of the airframes of older machines were
used in their production.
Airframes produced in production block 460
300 to 460 670 (50 units) by Erla had the smaller
supercharger air intake and a smaller Fo 870 oil
cooler as on the Bf 109G-6, and had an identicle
lower engine cowl, meaning they did not have
fairings around the oil pumps on the bottom
of the nose. Most machines from production
block 461 100 to 461 999 (73 pieces) then had the
larger Fo 987 radiator, but with a specific fairing
exclusive to Erla, which optically does not appear
as deep as the fairing of the same Bf 109 G-10
radiator produced by Messerschmitt and WNF.
The lower engine cowl of these aircraft thus
corresponds to that of the later G-10 airframes
coming out of Erla.
The aircraft from Messerschmitt in
Regensburg had, in addition to a few airframes
from August 1944 production blocks 165 xxx and
166 xxx, a larger intake to the supercharger and
a larger Fo 987 radiator (as the later G-10). Under
the nose, two characteristic bulged fairings
covering the oil pumps appeared for the first
time. However, the nose oil tank remained of
the small variety with the filler neck in a lower
position just above the port suction pocket. The
fin and rudder was of the tall variety. Later
Messerschmitt production machines received
rudders with a straight lower edge and three
trims. The canopy was of the newer Erlahaube
type with a rounded rear corner of the canopy
frame and low antenna mast on the. The propeller
was a VDM 9-12159 with wide blades. Some later
aircraft received larger 660 x 190mm wheels,
and with them large, elongated fairings on the
upper surface of the wing. The tailwheel on the
Erla aircraft (46xxxx) was short, and long on the
Mtt. Regensburg version. The fill access cover
to the supercharger clutch oil pump on the right
side of the engine cowl was in a lower position,
above the cowl fastener. Most, if not all, aircraft
had fuselage mounted MG 151/20 cannons.. From
the summer (July Erla, August Mtt) 1944 to the
end of the year, around 1400 Bf 109G-14/AS were
produced, 123 of them at Erla and the rest at
Messerschmitt. The date of the end of production
of the Bf 109 G-14/AS at Messerschmitt is unclear.
H.H. Vogt states that production ran until March,
1945. However, as early as October, 1944, Bf 109
G-10s from production block 130 xxx were on
the assembly line, with which G-10 production at
Regensburg ended, again according to H.H. Vogt,
in December 1944, and which produced only 123
units. At the same time, from the end of August
1944, serial production of the Bf 109 K-4 began.
Of course, the completion of some Bf 109 G-14/
AS still early in 1945 cannot be completely ruled
out. It should also be taken into account that the
airframes of the Bf 109 G-14/AS and the Bf 109
G-10 from Regensburg were practically identical,
the production of G- 14/AS and G-10 followed
each other immediately. Some of the few G-10s
produced are said to have been fitted with DB
605 ASM engines and designated Bf 109 G-10/AS.
There is some logic to be found in these largely
conflicting timings, but it is probably wisest to
close the matter with the understanding that it is
very complicated at best.
HISTORY
INFO Eduard12
September 2024