About the Bf-109 K-14:
Proposed engine DB605L with 2-stage supercharger and 9.6 Km "Volldruckhöhe", using 4-bladed VDM 9-12199 propeller.
Aerodynamically it probably had all the (visually very hard to recognize) improvements incorporated, that had to be skipped for the mass production of K-4.
Performance:
Using the 30 min climb/combat power:
initial climbrate: 14.0 m/s
Top speed vs altitude:
520 Km/h at 0 m
658 Km/h at 8.4 Km
668 Km/h at 9.0 Km
695 Km/h at 10.5 Km
Using the MV-50 ADI boosted emergency power:
Climbrate: 18.0 m/s (fully loaded)
Speed vs altitude:
542 Km/h at 0 m
690 Km/h at 7.5 Km
723 Km/h at 10.5 Km
Armament:
2* 13mm MG-131 over the engine
1* 30mm MK-108 thru the spinner
2* 30mm MK-108 installed INSIDE wings (so no drag penalty of gunpods)
So essentially the same armament as in K-6.
But were they ever really delivered?
Serial production never materialized, that's sure. There is an alleged assignment of 2 K-14 prototypes to II/JG 52, but it is not confirmed by the unit's CO, Maj. W. Batz. He does not remember seeing any 109's with four bladed propellers in his unit. Still, there is a theoretical possibility of prototypes delivered to operational unit during the mess of the last days of the Third Reich.
Another story by a II/JG 53 officer Maj. Julio Maimberger: At the turn of February and March of 1945 he was visited by a Daimler-Benz employee. After an obvious chat about aircraft topics, the employee said they had a Bf 109 in Malmsheim, that had all the possible improvements installed in it "from engine to cockpit" and that it was the best 109 they had. Meimberg, of course, wanted to try such a machine. After a short talk the man from DB decided to "present" the aircraft to Meimberg. Ofhr Severin, Meimberg's wingman, was to fly the aircraft from Malmsheim. He took off with the machine on March 11, 1945 but on his way he crashed into a hillside near Geislingen and died. Loss report describes the aircraft as Bf 109 Wnr 331 446, ie. Bf 109 K-4. It is highly probable that this machine was a K-4 rebuilt to K-14 standard, as it was said to have all the possible improvements INCLUDING the engine.
-Pentti.
