Messerschmitt Bf.109

[Mister Fork]

James Bradley's Fly Boys cited that you would have to be nuts to be a WWII pilot - the planes were very unreliable usually due to how fast they were introduced into Service without real environmental testing.  A lot of pilots were lost from non-combat accidents... I thought he mentioned it was almost 1 to 1.

[GScholz]

It was the same before WWII and also after the war. Even today flying combat aircraft is a dangerous occupation, especially if it is a new design. F-16s were dropping out of the skies in the 1980s to all kinds of technical problems, and of the 187 F-22s produced two have already crashed due to malfunctions. 129 helicopters and 24 fixed-wing aircraft have been reported lost in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. Only 46 of these have been attributed to hostile action.

[Denniss]

There's a difference. There was no two-seat version of the 109 until the G-12 entered service in December 1944, so the vast majority of Luftwaffe pilots flew their first flight in the 109 solo after only 10-15 hours of flight training in advanced trainers like the Bf 108.

The G-12 was delivered at least from 12/43 so your date is slightly off. And yes, if a pilot doesn't handle the throttle properly while on the ground it could easily swing to one side. It may have become a bit easier with G-10/-14/-K4 having less take-off power available than G-6 (unless you want to waste your MW-50 supply for take-off).

[GScholz]

I must have gotten the year wrong then. Still only about 100 G-12s were converted from old Gustavs, and they didn't see much actual use. "On the job training" was all the Luftwaffe had time for in 1944-45.

[Denniss]

Make this 403 and you are correct. All made by Blohm & Voss between 12/43 and 1/45

[GScholz]

Is that the number of G-12s actually accepted by the Luftwaffe? I've always thought is was around one hundred.