RE: P-51MUSTANG RCU.COM
I have to disagree with you here Easton. The Germans were never behind the power curve, just the manpower curve. The late model Bf109's and Fw-190's were every bit the match for our planes, and in some cases better. There was a constant game of "oneupmanship" going on right up to the end.
The real blow to the Luftwaffe was leadership and strategy, primarily from Goering himself.
Goering should have listened to his experienced pilots and leaders like Adlof Galland and Gunther Rall.
They should have rotated their pilots more frequently to allow more training and experience for all their pilots rather than exhaust the few highly trained pilots they had, and replace them with inexperienced youngsters.
They should have built heavy, long range bombers rather than concentrate on a medium bomber philosophy. (They were hoping these smaller 2 engine bombers could outrun fighters, but as technology caught up, that gamble failed.) They could have compiled those resources to make more fighters as well.
They should have stayed after the RAF bases and Radar Stations in the Battle of Britain rather than bombing London (they had the Brits on their knees until Hitler demanded retribution for the bombing of Berlin). This allowed Fighter Command to regroup, and deal the Luftwaffe their first big blow, it wasn't our boys. Had the invasion been successful, we would never have had "The English Aircraft Carrier" from which to launch the bombing raids that crippled the German war industry.
Sure, we kicked but when we got over there, but by that time, they were so outnumbered and demoralized by poor leadership that the wave was insurmountable. It was in no way comparable to the 1st Gulf War. We lost many good pilots to the Germans in air combat. I think we lost zero to the Iraqis.
Dogfights is a great show, but the fact that most of the episodes show our guys winning shouldn't lead you to believe that our planes were significantly better than their front line fighters. We simply had more of them, and by that time, a lot more well trained pilots to fly them.
Cheers!