This article, written by a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, tells about the acquaintance in the summer of 1943 of Soviet combat pilots with the German Bf-109 fighter of one of the latest modifications. In this article, the author speaks with confidence about the Bf-109K, distinguishing it from the already seen Bf-109G. However, this car appeared only in 1944. In the collection of Artem Drabkin "I fought in a fighter. Those who took the first strike. 1941-1942" we are talking about just Bf-109 without any specification of the modification. Therefore, I decided not to change anything in the author's text and leave everything as it is.
In the summer of 1943, shortly after the end of the fighting on the Kursk Bulge, I, at that time an aircraft mechanic, received an order to hand over my La-5 and urgently report to the headquarters of the 8th Guards Fighter Aviation Division. There I learned that I was included in the group to carry out a particularly important task, the essence of which will be reported by the commander of the group, Captain Vasily Kravtsov. In addition to him, the group included five of the most experienced pilots of our division. 6 in total, two from each regiment, and two technicians.
Captain Kravtsov gave us a detailed account of the mission. He said that a few days ago, two Messerschmitt-109s landed at one of the alternate airfields, which, apparently, got lost. When the pilots moved far enough from the aircraft, the BAO soldiers came out of cover and surrounded them. One pilot, a lieutenant, shot himself, and the second, chief sergeant-major, surrendered. During interrogation, he testified that he flew over deliberately and, being the leader of the pair, deceived the vigilance of his wingman, an officer. Nemets also said that he was a test pilot of the Messerschmitt company and had arrived at the front to test a new machine. Kravtsov explained that the translator sent "from above" is unlikely to be useful to us, since he is absolutely not familiar with aviation technology. Therefore, the division commander assigned me to act as an interpreter.
After a short gathering we were taken to the airfield, where both aircraft and the German pilot were stationed. He was a brown-haired man of average height, about twenty-eight. Outwardly, he did not in any way resemble a military man; long stripes and a sports suit made him look like an athlete or an artist. He wore trousers outside, boots and a jacket made of light gray material. He behaved absolutely calmly and did not in any way resemble the arrogant Wehrmacht officers with whom we had already dealt. The only reminder of his participation in the war was the "Knight's Iron Cross", which hung around his neck.
The airfield to which we were brought was small and well sheltered from prying eyes by the forest plantations surrounding it. We were assigned a small subdivision of the BAO, which provided everything necessary, including the protection of the airfield. One of the German fighters turned out to be a well-known Me-109F, and the second was unfamiliar, although it was quite obvious that this was also a Messer.
At first we thought it was Me-109 G-2, which we had heard a lot about and seen more than once in the air. But, unlike the sharp contours we are used to, the Me-109 had rounded ends of the wings and tail. The German pilot told us that this is the latest model, the Messerschmitt 109K, which is in the final stages of development. That he flew in to conduct front-line tests and there are only a few of these machines. Their arrival at the front is planned for 1944.
On the very first day, mechanic Bedyukh and I successfully mastered the rules of operating the Messers and instructed the pilots. It turned out to be an easy task thanks to the active assistance of the German pilot and due to the high degree of automation of the machines. On the second day, it was possible to start flying. But then they made an unfortunate mistake. Captain Kravtsov decided to immediately try out the new model Me-109K, without consulting the German pilot, and on takeoff, much to our chagrin, he thoroughly crashed the car. We had only one serviceable Me-109F at our disposal. The first flight on it was made again by Kravtsov, but after a thorough consultation with the German.
It turned out that the "Messer" was not easy during takeoff: due to the strong reaction of the propeller and the rather small distance between the wheels of the landing gear, the plane was leading sharply to the right, and it was necessary to "give the left foot" completely in advance during the takeoff run. In the second attempt, everything went well, and Kravtsov flew in a circle around the airfield.
After Kravtsov, the other pilots of our group took off in turn in the Messer. A comprehensive study of it in the air and on the ground lasted about three weeks. According to the unanimous opinion of the pilots, the plane was folded on takeoff and extremely easy to land, Kravtsov noticed: he turned off the gas - and he sits down himself.
In the air, the Me-109 is easy to operate and reliable, abundantly equipped with electric assault rifles, which allowed young pilots to quickly master it. Especially everyone liked the electric propeller machine and the step indicator. Using this machine, it was possible to change the pitch of the propeller when the engine was not running, which was not feasible on our aircraft. And the pointer showed the pitch of the screw at any moment. It is very simple to use: in appearance it looked like a watch, and you only had to remember the position of the hands.
The system of measures to ensure the survivability of the aircraft turned out to be especially well developed. First of all, we drew attention to the gasoline tank: it was located behind the cockpit behind the armored back. As the prisoner explained to us, such an arrangement of the tank allows the pilot to fly as long as the plane is in the air, since the flame does not reach the cockpit. The Messer has two water radiators - right and left, and each of them has a shut-off valve. If one of the radiators is damaged, you can turn it off and fly with it in good condition. If both radiators are broken, you can turn them off and fly for another 5 minutes until the water remaining in the engine boils away. A similar shut-off system exists in the oil system.
The cockpit canopy surprised us: it did not move backward, as on our fighters, but topple over to the side. It turned out that this was done on purpose so that the pilots would immediately learn to fly with a closed lamp.
We also received an answer to the question of how the reliability of the armament of German aircraft is ensured. All moving parts of the Oerlikon cannons and machine guns perform only reciprocating motion, any delay is eliminated when reloading. The trigger on the control stick is designed so that when the pilot releases it, the weapon is reloaded. Thus, during an air battle, if the cannon or machine guns fail, it is enough to release the trigger - and you can reopen fire.
Since all contacts with the German pilot were carried out through me and we had established fairly good relations, he was quite frank with me. Here's what he said about himself.
His name was Edmund Rossman. In 1943 he was 26 years old, from childhood he was fond of aviation, from the age of 15 he flew on a glider. He graduated from flight school, became a military pilot, and then a test pilot. He flew most German cars and many of ours. He was fond of aerobatics, not without air hooliganism: in the Odessa region he performed a loop on a heavy three-engined Ju-52.
Rossman began his military activities on the Western Front. Then he was a night fighter in the air defense system of Berlin, flew on the Me-110 "Jaguar". He had several orders, including the "Knight's Iron Cross" for the "Flying Fortress" shot down over Berlin. In the fall of 1942, when a group of "Berlin Air Snipers" was transferred to the Caucasus, Edmund ended up on the Eastern Front. Until the spring of 1943 he fought in the Caucasus, personally shot down about 40 Soviet planes.
After being on the Eastern Front, Rossman was determined to end the war. Testing the Me-109K at the front, he realized his intentions. He was convinced that the war was lost and further bloodshed was senseless and criminal.
Edmund willingly answered all our questions. We learned from him that the new model Me-109K, due to improved aerodynamics and increased engine power, develops high speed and has good climb rate and maneuverability. The maximum speed is 728 km / h, the ceiling is 12,500 m. The armament consists of a 20-mm Oerlikon cannon, firing through the propeller hub, and two large-caliber machine guns. The length of the aircraft is 9.0 m, the wingspan is 9.9 m.
Rossman gave an ambivalent assessment of our aviation: he considered the latest aircraft models to be very good, and the instrumentation and automation equipment was backward. I wondered why our planes did not have such simple and necessary things as an ammunition counter, cutoff valves on water and oil systems, a propeller angle indicator and others. He considered the La-5 to be the best fighter, followed by the Yak-1.
By the end of July 1943, all the pilots of our group had completely mastered the art of piloting the Messer and conducted training air battles with it. But it was impossible to use the Me-109F as a scout in the case, since the appearance of the "Messer" over our positions invariably caused fire from all types of weapons. The red stars on the wings did not help either.
Soon we were ordered to return to our units, and the Me-109F and the German test pilot were sent to the Air Force Research Institute near Moscow. I don't know anything about his further fate.
