"As far as the 109, all of the German pilots loved that plane, but the FW-190 was harder to shoot down. Just like the controversy over the P-51 and P-47. The P-47 was faster; it just did not have the climb and range the Mustang did. But it had speed, roll, dive and the necessary ruggedness that allowed it to do such a great job in the Ninth Air Force. As far as aerial kills go, we met and beat the best the Luftwaffe had when we first got there. It was the P-47 groups that pushed them back, as I said before. The P-51s had the advantage of longer range, and they were able to hit even the training schools, hitting boys just learning to fly. As the war dragged on, many of the old German veterans had been killed--so much of the experience was gone. As far as the 109 versus 190 argument, the 109 had the liquid-cooled engine whereas the 190 had an air-cooled radial engine, much like ours. One hit in the cooling system of a Messerschmitt and he was going down. Also, none of the German fighters were as rugged as a P-47. When I was badly shot up on June 26, 1943, I had twenty-one 20mm cannon shells in that airplane, and more than 200 7.92mm machine-gun bullets. One nicked my nose and another entered my right leg, where the bullet split in half. I still have those two little pieces, by the way; they went in just under the skin. I had been hurt worse playing football and boxing. However, I had never been that scared, I'll tell you that. I was always scared--that was what made me move quick. "Hub" Zemke liked the P-51 because it had great range, but he put one in a dive and when he pulled out he ripped the wings off that airplane--that was how he became a POW. Adolf Galland, who was a very good friend of mine and who I had known since 1949, flew the Me-262 and loved it, but he still swore by the 109, although it was still easier to shoot down."
When Johnson states that the P-47 was faster than the Mustang, he is using his hotrodded P-47D-5-RE "Lucky", S/N 42-8461 for reference. Johnson's crew chief (Pappy Gould) worked magic on the R-2800. Johnson repeatedly claimed he could pull 72" of MAP and reported airspeeds of 470 mph TAS. Squadron-mates agreed that Johnson's Jug was far faster than any other P-47 in the 61st FS. Lt. Joe Powers flew Johnson's Jug on an escort mission and was horrified at the thought of pulling 72" MAP when Gould briefed him on the airplane. Powers reportedly firewalled the throttle on the return leg and was stupified at the speed. He simply ran away from the rest of the squadron. Even though Johnson's Jug was fitted with water injection, Johnson never used it. In an interview for the P-47 Pilots Association newsletter, Johnson stated, "I didn't need it, it was fast enough."
For the record, Johnson eliminated two of the top Luftwaffe aces in the west.
On October 8, 1943, he shot down and killed Hans Philipp. Philipp was the 12th highest scoring Luftwaffe ace of the war and was credited with 206 kills when he died. I believe that Philipp was the leading scorer flying in the west at the time of his death (although most of his victories came in the east).
On March 2, 1944 Johnson shot down and killed Egon Mayer (of JG 2), 102 kills, all in the west.
My regards,
Widewing
