Flying the "Franz." In 1941, the aging 109-E was replaced by the 109-F. The F series features an improved, streamlined cowl, a retractable tail wheel, self-sealing fuel tanks, and an improved weapons package. Many view the 109F's firepower as inferior to the 109E's, however the guns package of the 109F is in many ways superior. Since all of the guns are in the nose, the 109F has no convergance to worry about. More important, the 109F has a single 20mm Mauser MG 151/20 cannon firing through the spinner, compared to the dual MG/FF low velocity cannon in the wings of the 109E. The 109E's dual cannon can spit out 18 20mm shells per second, the 109F's single cannon fires 14 20mm shells per second at nearly twice the velocity, and all the shells will impact the target in the same place. In combat, the 109F can nail snap shots that the Emil can only dream of. Plus its performance in flight is markedly superior.

Comparison to the Spitfire Mk Vb: The SpitV turns better, and has greater firepower than the Franz. The 109F dives better, accelerates better, climbs better, and is faster at all altitudes. The overall superiority of the Franz over the SpitV gives the 109F pilot many options that he never had in his Emil flying against Spit Mk I's; such as spiral climbs, and speedy extentions.

Method of attack: Begin your diving attack on the Spit from his high 4, 5, or 6 o'clock position. Rather than shooting from above though, plan your dive so that you are below him when you attack. Think of flying a shallow "U" through the sky. This capitalizes on the 109F's superior speed over the Spit, while in the Emil diving like this might leave you gasping for airspeed to catch the Spit. The positive aspects of the "U" attack are that by attacking from the Spit's low 6 positon he may not see you, it is less likely you will be over speeding, and if you miss you have already started a zoom climb!

If he does see you and performs a Split S, do not follow, simply keep climbing and re-evaluate your options.

When the Spit break turns, evaluate your closure and speed, roll to his turn, switch from a pure pursuit to lead pursuit and attempt a deflection shot. The Franz's guns are excellent for deflection shooting, it's not at all unreasonable to begin firing from 400 yards away if you're a good shot. After you attempt your firing pass, zoom climb up to save energy. Look over your shoulder and see what the Spit is doing. He is most likely finishing his turn, so dive back down on him, and try to use roll in the vertical to match his turn. I have even cut my throttle to near idle at times while diving straight down on turning Spits. With the E advantage you have, you can afford to do this and you may be able to pull lead for a shot in the horizontal, though make sure to firewall the throtlle after you're out of the (downward) vertical.

The Merge: In a duel situation the Franz has a good chance of winning, and if you play your cards right, the very worst outcome is that you have to run away. NEVER accept the head-on shot with a SpitV while flying the Franz. With that out of the way, your first goal in a duel is to gain the energy advantage after the merge. Hit WEP, and dive a bit before you pass the Spit. Go under him, and then zoom up into steep climb. Look behind you, and see what the Spit has done to counter your move.

If he has made a hard flat turn, then you have won the duel already. Boom and zoom him to death, or sucker him into a "rope a dope." Make sure you don't lose the energy advantage you have gained. Wait for the great shot opportunity before you get anxious and blow your advantage.

Looking back, if you see the Spit has made an Immelman, he will now be in a climbing pursuit. You need to visualy gauge his closure rate and decide rather to extend, or continue climbing and make him stall out. In most of my experiences with duel situations where I knew we had started co-E, it was safe to keep zoom climbing up, and make him stall out below you. Remember, your goal at first is not to gain angle, but to gain an altitude advantage.

The Spiral Climb: This is probably the most useful maneuver the Franz can perform against the SpitV. The Emil could never dream of a spiral climb to escape anything but a Hurricane. Use the Spiral Climb when you are caught in a chase situation. This may be after a zoom climb in a merge, or you may have been caught from above. First, you need to gain some seperation between you and the Spit. Dive away, or if you can, run away level. After you have gained 10000-12000 yards of seperation (d10-d12), ever so slowly start climbing. You want to start climbing very gently, and gradually increase your rate of climb until you have maxed out your VSI. Continue this climb for one vertical kilometer or so, and then add in a bit of left or right rudder. The trick is to start your "Spiral" part as gradually as you did your climb. At first, you want to be barely turning, then you want to increase the rate of turn until your hanging on your prop. It's important to check back behind you often to watch the Spit. When you see him give up or stall out, strike! Now your back to "Boom and Zoom", and "Rope a Dope's!" The spiral climb can turn a bad situation into an energy advantage!

When you are attacked from above by a SpitV, I do not recommend trying to fight him off from below. Instead, run away until you can execute a Spiral Climb, or just keep running. Dont play the Spit's games, fly your 109 like a 109, not like a Spit.

If you end up in a very bad situation, perhaps with five Spits on your six, then survival is your main concern. Not gaining the advantage again. Good escape maneuvers include outside loops (when you are at < 450 kmh) followed by a Split-S, or a shallow inverted dive with a sharp push forward on the stick, then back pressure to execute a Split-S. Then hit WEP, dive to the deck and make for a friendly field.

Guns Defense: A Side Slip is a good way to throw off an attacker's aim. Bank your wings almost vertically, and use opposite rudder to keep your nose high. To the attacker, you will seemingly slide out of his gunsight. Do not use the Side Slip for a long time though, as it is easy to adapt to. A fake turn works much better than you'd ever think. Bank your wings, hold them there for a second, then roll to the opposite direction and break turn a maximum of 90 degrees. Check six, and you may have given yourself an escape opportunity from the attacking spit. A fake turn works even better when used with a Side Slip. Scissors or rolling scissors can also be good to make the SpitV overshoot, but they tend to not work as well against the SpitV as they did with the Emil against the Spit Mk I.

Guidelines To Fly By... Flying the 109F in the Historical Arena can be one of the best 109 experiences you'll ever have. You are flying the plane which in the right hands, rules the skies. A 109F flown by an expert is untouchable to Spitfire V's. IF you follow these ground rules...

Always stay above any enemy planes you can see.

Convergance at the default 300 yards is fine, with all your guns in the nose you don't need to worry about convergance much.

Fly with 100% fuel in the Historical Arena, and 60% in the Main Arena.

Return to base when you have run out of cannon.

Fly with a wingman!