Me309 reconsidered

[maxmwill]

For all its problems, the Me 309 wasn't really that bad a flying machine, especially if the nose gear and its support structure were strengthened to alleviate the collapse problem. So, what if it was reconfigured as a ground attack fighter? With the trike gear, might it have been able to carry more and better types of ordinance than those fighter which were tail draggers? And, had the Graf Zeppelin aircraft carrier been completed, might it have been placed in the strike fighter role(I'm going in Luft46 territory now), with the possibility of installing one of the new turboprop engines? And for an overload condition, RATO units.

Besides which, being one of those individuals who tends to root for the underdog, the 309 is a rather attractive flying machine, I feel.

[The Wooksta!]

The real problem of the Me 309, even if all the mechanical bugs are fixed, is that by the time said bugs are fixed it's too late because any changeover to the 309 is going to disrupt production at a critical time.  Plus you've got the Me 262 coming on stream in any case so the type is already redundant.

Ah yes, but what about the Fw 190D?  Or the Ta 152?  Well, both of these aircraft use large quantities of bits that are already in production

And the thought of using the Me 309 ion a ground attack role landing on rough strips in Russia is quite frankly laughable given the reputation standard 109s had on landing.  Besides which, the Fw 190F/G series are doing a far better job and having radial engines, can withstand far more punishment in battle.  And the u/c on teh Fw 190 was virtually unbreakable - tests broke the airframe before the u/c.

[tomo pauk]

Me 309 was probably a very bad flying machine. A small wing tasked to carry the heavy DB 603 engine, up to 7 (seven) guns, tricycle U/C, protection for pilot and fuel.
If anything, I'd replace the engine with DB 605 with an annular radiator and reduce number of guns to 3 max = a ful ton saved out of the bat. Then we can add stuff, like bombs and rockets.