Bf109 + belly landing = death!

[juzz]

Well at least for me, always.

Even when I had the gentlest-of-gentle touchdowns, and the plane was smoothly skidding along the runway and slowing down - it suddenly started spinning sideways, then flipped up onto a wing and...

SERVER: You have been killed.  

In contrast; I managed to totally rip both wings off the Corsair in a brutal ground collision - yet the fuselage was in perfect shape and I survived. I know the plane was tough, BUT...

Oh yeah. The Luftwaffe chose the Bf109 over the Fw190 for night operations because the Bf109 didn't flip over if the landing gear broke on landing like the Fw190 did.

[This message has been edited by juzz (edited 02-11-2000).]

[funked]

Juzz,

I won't dispute your point that your death was unreasonable!

But I think you misunderstood the landing gear issue.  The problem with the Fw 190 is that the landing gear was over-engineered - too strong.  If you really screwed up a landing, it wouldn't break off like on a Me 109.  So there was a danger of flipping over if the wheels really caught on something.

Belly landing the Fw 190 was a cinch.  I've read several pilots say they would always land with the gear retracted if they had an engine failure because it was very safe and easy.

In general the Fw 190 seems to have been preferred by pilots for rough-field operations.

[Fishu]

I have noticed this same thing since the begining of AH, I have posted about it few times, twice as a topic into bugs group, but they still haven't fix it!

Belly landing has been deadly for long time in a 109, wonder what they're thinking of.