Luftwaffe TA-152 Full Color Print World War 2

Description

Luftwaffe TA-152 Full Color Print World War 2.
Print measures 11X17 and is a high quality print on glossy heavy paper. Perfect for the aircraft enthusiast, World War two historian. I will combine prints on any number or type to reduce shipping and offer discounts on bulk purchases
The
Focke-Wulf Ta 152
was a
World War II
German high-altitude
fighter
–
interceptor
designed by
Kurt Tank
and produced by
Focke-Wulf
.
The Ta 152 was a development of the
Focke-Wulf Fw 190
aircraft. It was intended to be made in at least three versions—the Ta 152H
Höhenjäger
(“high-altitude fighter”), the Ta 152C designed for medium-altitude operations and
ground-attack
using a
Daimler-Benz DB 603
and smaller wings, and the Ta 152E fighter-
reconnaissance aircraft
with the engine of the H model and the wing of the C model.
The first Ta 152H entered service with the Luftwaffe in January 1945. The Ta 152 was produced too late and in insufficient numbers to have a significant role in the war.
By October 1944, the war was going poorly for Germany. RLM realised the urgency pushing Focke-Wulf to quickly have the Ta 152 into production. As a result, several Ta 152 prototypes crashed early into the test program. It was found that critical systems were lacking sufficient quality control. Problems arose with superchargers, pressurized cockpits leaked, the engine cooling system was unreliable at best due in part to unreliable
oil
temperature monitoring, and in several instances the landing gear failed to properly retract. A total of up to 20 pre-production Ta 152 H-0s were delivered from November 1944 to
Erprobungskommando
Ta 152 to service test the aircraft. It was reported that test pilots were able to conduct a mere 31 hours of flight tests before full production started. By the end of January 1945, only 50 hours or so had been completed.
III./
Jagdgeschwader
301
, initially a Luftwaffe
Wilde Sau
unit, was ordered to convert to the type in January 1945, which it did (and flew them operationally for a short time). In the end, Ta 152s were pooled in a special
Stabstaffel
JG 301, first based at Alteno Air Base near
Luckau
, then at
Neustadt-Glewe
in Mecklenburg. The
Stabstaffel
never had more than 15 Ta 152Hs available, both H-0s and H-1s. Since the usual transfer system had broken down, replacement parts became nearly impossible to obtain.
[9]
An early Ta 152 combat occurred on 14 April 1945 when
Oberfeldwebel
Willi Reschke
tried to intercept a
De Havilland Mosquito
over Stendal but failed to catch up due to engine trouble.
[10]
[
page needed
]
On the evening of that same day, Reschke was to demonstrate that the Ta 152H could be used as a low altitude fighter. A section of four
Hawker Tempest
Vs of
486 (NZ) Squadron
were out on patrol. After attacking a train near
Ludwigslust
, the section split up into pairs;
Wing Commander
Brooker ordered the Tempests flown by
Flying Officer
S. J. Short and
Warrant Officer
Owen J. Mitchell to make their own way back to base. On the way back, this pair, which was strafing targets along the railway tracks near Ludwigslust, was spotted by lookouts posted at Neustadt-Glewe. Three Ta 152s – flown by Reschke,
Oberstleutnant
Aufhammer and
Oberfeldwebel
Sepp Sattler – were scrambled, catching the Tempests by surprise. Reschke recalled:
As the direction of take-off was in line with the railway tracks leading straight to Ludwigslust, we were almost immediately in contact with the enemy fighters, which turned out to be Tempests. Flying in No 3 position I witnessed Oberfeldwebel Sattler ahead of me dive into the ground seconds before we reached them. It was hardly possible for his crash to have been the result of enemy action, as the two Tempest pilots had clearly only just registered our presence. So now it was two against two as the ground-level dogfight began. We knew the Tempest to be a very fast fighter, used by the British to chase and shoot down our V-1s. But here, in a fight, which was never to climb above 50 metres, speed would not play a big part. The machines’ ability to turn would be all important. Both pilots realised from the start that it would be a fight to the finish and used every flying trick and tactical ploy possible to try to gain the upper hand. At this altitude, neither could afford to make the slightest mistake. And for the first time since flying the Ta 152 I began to fully appreciate exactly what this aircraft could do.
Pulling ever tighter turns I got closer and closer to the Tempest, never once feeling I was even approached the limit of the Ta’s capabilities. And in order to keep out of my sights, the Tempest pilot was being forced to take increasingly dangerous evasive action. When he flicked over onto the opposite wing I knew his last attempt to turn inside me had failed. The first burst of fire from my Ta 152 caught the Tempest in the tail and rear fuselage. The enemy aircraft shuddered noticeably and, probably as an instinctive reaction, the Tempest pilot immediately yoked into a starboard turn, giving me an even greater advantage.
Now there was no escape for the Tempest. I pressed my gun buttons a second time, but after a few rounds my weapons fell silent, and despite all my efforts to clear them, refused to fire another shot. I can no longer remember just who and what I didn’t curse. But fortunately the Tempest pilot didn’t realise my predicament as he’d already taken hits. Instead, he continued desperately to twist and turn and I positioned myself so that I was always just within his field of vision. Eventually – inevitably – he stalled. The Tempest’s left wing dropped and he crashed into the woods immediately below us.
It so happened that the site of Oberfeldwebel Sattler’s crash, and that of the Tempest pilot, who proved to be New Zealander Warrant Officer Owen J. Mitchell, were only about one kilometre apart. They were buried side-by-side in Neustadt-Glewe cemetery the next day with full military honours.
[11]
It is assumed that Sattler was shot down either by Sid Short
[12]
or Bill Shaw
[13]
of 486 Sqn, who claimed a Bf 109 E in the same area.
[13]
Operational missions were flown in April 1945 from Neustadt, mostly escorting close support aircraft to the
Battle of Berlin
. Reschke claimed two
Yakovlev Yak-9s
near Berlin on 24 April, while Obfw.
Walter Loos
, claimed four air victories on 24, 25 and 30 April.
[14]
[
verification needed
]
The Ta 152 score at the end of the war was probably seven victories and four losses in air combat, although a degree of uncertainty about those numbers exists. Four victories were achieved by Josef Keil, from 1 March 1945 to 21 April 1945,
[15]
and at least three victories were achieved by Willi Reschke.
[16]
The Ta 152 was delivered to JG 301 on 27 January 1945 and the first Ta 152 mission against American bombers took place on 2 March 1945. There was no contact with the Americans because the 12 Ta 152s were forced to fend off repeated attacks by the Bf 109s of another German unit, as the shape of the Ta-152 was virtually unknown to other
Jagdgeschwader
. There were no losses, as the climbing ability and manoeuvrability of the Ta 152s enabled them to evade these attacks.
[17]
The four losses in air combat were: Hptm. Hermann Stahl, killed on 11 April 1945; Obfw. Sepp Sattler, killed on 14 April 1945; two unknown JG11 pilots, downed by Spitfires in the last days of April 1945 during transfer from Neustadt-Glewe to
Leck airfield
.
[18]
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