Well... about as definitive as your going to find.
I have always seen many different opinons on the Ta-152's, how many were made, how many saw combat, and a couple of other arguements.
So today I went completely thru "Focke Wulf Ta152, The Story of the Luftwaffe's Late War High Altitude Fighter", by Dietmar Harmann, ISBN # 0-7643-0860-2. This book was originally published in German under the title "Focke Wulf Ta152: Der Weg zum Hohenjager." For those of you unfamiliar with this book, its the equivalent of American's Hundred Thousand, for the Ta-152. It contains detailed technical drawings, flight test data, design and development history, combat history, and an accounting of all known werk numbers.
So here is the question, "How many Ta-152s were produced, and how many of those saw Comabt?"
The Answer:
- 3 Prototype Ta-152A's (all converted from earlier 190 models and test aircraft)
- 4 Prototype Ta-152B's (only 1 prototype aircraft actually flew)
- 4 Prototype Ta-152C's (all converted from earlier 190 models and test aircraft)
- 2 Ta-152C's produced
- 7 Prototype Ta-152H's
- 43 Ta-152H0's and Ta-152H1's produced
Total: 25 Prototypes, and 45 Production Aircraft produced.Of the 45 production aircraft, 16 were destroyed or seriously damaged before delivery to the Luftwaffe on 16 Jan '45, by a raid of P-51 Mustangs and P-38 Lightings at the airfield where they were awaiting delivery . Additionally, another 4 aircraft are documented to have crashed and been written off before they were used in service. Other aircraft are known to have crashed or crashed landed, and these were known to have been repaired or used for parts to repair other serviceable aircraft, total number unknown.
So therefore, other than the use of prototype aircraft, a total of 23 Ta-152H's, and two Ta-152C's saw actual combat service.
Some other interesting information:
- In combat the pilots of Ta-152's claimed 10 enemy kills (mostly Yak-9's), while losing 2 of their own.
- The highest number of Ta-152's in combat service at any one time was when III/JG301 received their initial delivery of 11 aircraft on 27 Jan '45.
- Typical unit strength was around 8 aircraft, with only 75% of these operational.
- The Ta-152H0 was not used with MW50 in active service due to engine problems, and GM1 was not installed.
- The Ta-152H1 was initially equipped only with active MW50 systems. Only the last few aircraft were equipped with GM1 systems (not including prototypes).
- It is not known if any GM1 Ta-152H1's actually encountered enemy aircraft (no documented encounters).
So thats about it. I hope this clears up the whole Ta-152 "numbers" issue.
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Vermillion
**MOL**, Men of Leisure
"Real Men fly Radials, Nancy Boys fly Spitfires"
