Stona's Bf 109/Ju 88 'Mistel'.

[Rbaker]

Looking Great


Surely in the air these things were hairy to fly even without the chance of Flak Blowing you out of the sky

[stona]

Surely in the air these things were hairy to fly even without the chance of Flak Blowing you out of the sky

By all contemporary accounts they really were easy to fly. Flak and fighter could be deadly.


When P-51s of the 55th FG surprised three Mistel combinations on a transfer flight (they did not carry warheads, the Ju 88s carried a crew of 3), 3rd February 1945, they shot them all down in minutes.


As for ease of operation, I described the method used for aiming and target acquisition above. Here is an account, from Ofhr. Georg Gutsche of I./KG 30, describing an operation against the Oder bridges.


"Take off was set for 17.00 hours. The aircraft were lined up one behind the other with engines running. My Mistel was the second one in line. From my cockpit I could not see the horizon because the nose of my Fw 190 [he flew a Mistel 2 combination] was pointing up too high. The procedure was to move all three throttles in a synchronised manner so that the Mistel stayed on the runway. With sufficient air speed, the stick could be pulled back and the undercarriage and flaps retracted. You then throttled back, adjusted the airscrews and made a steady climb. After reaching our combat altitude of 2,000 metres, I could see the front, the fires and the impact of mortar explosions. The heavy haze made visual orientation very difficult, but the Oder was easy to make out as a silvery band. The bridge that I was looking for was a dark line across this band. I was 'welcomed' by heavy anti aircraft fire, but I put the Mistel into a dive, switched on the fully automatic control system, pulled down the cross hair sight and aimed at the bridge. When the target drifted out of the cross hair sight, I corrected and the automatic control system put the target squarely into the cross hair again. At about 1,000 metres distance, I squeezed the trigger that automatically armed the warhead [in fact there was a three second delay] and separated the Mistel. My Fw 190 climbed as it released itself from the heavy weight of the Ju 88. As I pulled away, I noticed a lightning flash in the river bed below me that quickly went out. Without much difficulty I returned to my home field." 


The system was not reliable. Gutsche's attack was copybook, but other accounts speak of the Mistels having fuel transfer problems,and after separation the Ju 88 not following the correct course, being randomly released or, worse, failing to release. Ofhr. Burkhardt Winkler-Hermaden, of  I./KG(J)30, suffered a failure to release on his first attack on a Warsaw railway bridge. Despite heavy flak he made a second attack, instigating the emergency release procedure which also failed. Finally he made a third attack at a steep angle, pulling up abruptly and literally breaking free of the Ju 88, which certainly missed the target, before deciding, in his words " Now, nothing else, but head West!"


Cheers


Steve

[flyjoe180]

Great job Steve. A truly strange combination.

[Ian M]

I know I have said it before but you should write a book "History for plastic bashers" or some thing like that. I always enjoy these little historical facts that you post on the forum with your builds.

[monica]

Great work there Steve

[Guest]

Hi Steve!!
Excellent work with an interesting historic background......well done, mate!!!

[Guest]

Wow very cool build Steve.


Just for interest sake, how did the controll system of the 88 connect to the 109? 


Theuns

[colin m]

I missed this one. Well that's certainly something different. It looks nice, and I'm sure  I've said before, German engineering during the war was often quite amazing.

[Guest]

Steve another great looking build. As always its great to get the back story too. Thanks for taking the time to post it all up for us to enjoy both!