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Simply put, the DB 605AS and DB 605D
were created by installing the larger
supercharger from the DB 603 in the DB 605A.
The performance of these superchargers was
around 25% greater than the ones installed
in the DB 605A. The first developmental
version of the DB 605 outfitted with the
larger supercharger was the DB 605AS,
originally designated as the DB 605A (Sonder).
The intended fuel for these engines was the
B4 with an octane rating of 87. The first DB
605AS engines were available at the beginning
of 1944. As spring became summer that year,
the DB 605ASM appeared, which burned C3
fuel with a 96 octane rating. Other versions of
the AS engine were developed (ASCM, ASMO,
ASB, ASC) utilizing various combinations of B4
and C3 fuels, and different GM-1 nitrous oxide
boost systems and variations of the MW50
injection system for short term power output of
the engine. These included the GM-1 (injection
of nitrous oxide into the engine cylinders),
MW-50 (injection of a 50:50 mixture of
methanol + water into the compressor intake),
MW-30 (methanol + water at 70:30), EW-50
(ethanol + water 50:50) and EW-30 (ethanol +
water 70:30). The GM-1 and MW-50 systems
could in some cases be installed together in
the same airframe, but their simultaneous
use was prohibited and practically impossible.
Depending on the different sub versions of the
engines used, the aircraft were equipped with
different versions of radiator, oil tank and air
intake to the supercharger compressor, too.
DB 605AS engines powered the Bf 109
G-6/AS and Bf 109 G-14/AS produced at
Messerschmitt's Regensburg and Erla plants
in Leipzig.
The first version of the Bf 109 G powered by
the DB 605AS engine was the Bf 109 G-6/AS.
Its production began in April, 1944 at the
Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg, where
349 units were produced as new builds in the
following production blocks:
• Block 163,000 - 163,994, 226 units were
produced from April to June 1944.
• Block 164,380 – 164,999, 37 were produced
from August to December 1944
• Block 165001 - 165999, 47 units were
produced from August to December 1944.
• Block 166001 - 166644, 39 units were
produced from August to December 1944.
Added to these numbers were 104 Bf 109
G-5 and 472 Bf 109G-6 airframes rebuilt to AS
standard between February and August, 1944
atErla, Mimetall and Blohm & Voss
Besides a modified engine cowling with
large oval fairings over the supercharger
compressor and fuselage guns, known
informally to Luftwaffe personnel as the
‘Horse’s Ass’, an updated and lightened canopy
(Erlahaube), a larger diameter VDM 9-12159
propeller (same as the later G-10 and K-4) and
a tall fin and rudder, the original design of the
Bf 109G-6 was left intact. They were equipped
with a standard Fo 870 radiator used in the G-6,
HISTORY
Bf 109 G-10/U4 WNr. 611943, equipped with a DB 605 D engine, is currently part of the Planes of Fame Air Museum collection in Arizona. This aircraft displays the distinctive
features of the WNF production series. It was captured in May 1945 following the group flyover and surrender of II/JG 52 from Austria to Neubiberg, Bavaria. This Bf 109
probably bore the designation "Yellow 13" and, based on its serial number, is documented to have belonged to the Hungarian 101. Vadászezred unit. Photo: Vladimír Šulc
INFO Eduard
9
September 2024