Erich Hartmann was born in April 1922 and died in September 1993 at the age of 71. It is assumed that he was the greatest German fighter ace of the Second World War - he is assigned the reference 352[!!!] certain and probable air victories. Erich Hartmann spent a large part of his youth in the Far East, which resulted from the professional duties of his father - Alfred. He did not return to Germany until 1928 and quickly became interested in aviation. As a teenager, he learned to fly gliders, and in 1939 (at the age of 17) he obtained a pilot's license. At the end of 1940, he joined the Luftwaffe and began his military aviation training. He came to the front in 1942, exactly to the famous one Jagdgeschwader 52, where he was additionally trained by a German fighter ace - Alfred Grislawski, who already then noticed in Erich Hartmann, a talented pilot. He achieved his first air victory in November 1942, knocking down the Il-2 attack plane. He took part in the air fights over the Kursk region in July 1943 and shot down as many as seven Soviet machines in just one day (July 7). In early August 1943, he already had 50 air victories, and at the end of that month a further 48! Then he was shot down and taken prisoner by the Russians, but he managed to escape from captivity. By August 1944, he already had 300 downed enemy machines! It is worth adding that in June 1944, he fought the American pilots for the first time, destroying four P-51 Mustangs. A specific highlight of Erich Hartmann's career was the air victory he won on May 8, 1945, which was probably also the last German air victory in World War II. During World War II, Erich Hartmann made 1,404 combat flights, fought 825 times and achieved 352 air victories in their course. After World War II, he was in Soviet captivity for 10 years. In 1955 he returned to West Germany and joined the West German Luftwaffe.
The Messerschmitt Bf-109 is a German metal-structure single-engine fighter in a low wing configuration with a classic tail. It turned out to be the basic and most produced Luftwaffe fighter during World War II. The flight of the prototype took place on May 29, 1935, and serial production continued in the years 1936-1945. In total, it is estimated that a total of about 35,000 Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters of all varieties were produced, many of which ended up in the Czech and Israeli air forces after the war. The roots of the Bf-109 go back to the competition announced in 1933 by the Luftwaffe for a new fighter plane. In competition with the He-112, the Bf-109 project initially lost, but thanks to Willie Messerschmitt's intrigues, the project could continue and eventually he was the winner of the competition, becoming the Luftwaffe's primary fighter. Several main variants of the Bf-109 were developed in the course of production. The first pre-production series was the Bf-109B (Berta) with different versions of the Junkers Jumo 210 (A or Da) engine. They were tested in Spain from 1937 during the Civil War. The next version is the Bf-109C (Caesar). They had a different engine than the B version, and extensive armament consisting of two 20mm and 2 HP 7.92mm cannons. These machines also fought in the skies of Spain. The third version is the Bf-109D (Dora) with the Junkers Jumo 210 Da or Daimler-Benz DB 600 engine. It fought in the September campaign, but at the turn of 1939/1940 it was replaced by the E version. The most famous model was the Bf-109E (Emil) with a Daimler-Benz 601A or N engine. It was the first to use a three-blade, not a two-blade propeller. Bf-109E fought in the French campaign, over England, and in North Africa and on the Eastern Front. The ace who started his career on the Bf-109E was the famous Adolf Galland. The next version is the Bf-109F (Friedrich), which, according to the German pilots, was the most aerodynamically perfect. It sowed the changed shape of the fuselage, wings, cabin fairings, but no new engine was used. It was put into service at the turn of 1940/1941. As part of the development of the design, further Bf-109 specifications were developed, of which the G (Gustav) version was produced in the largest number of copies. The most important change increasing the machine's performance was the installation of a new 12-cylinder Daimler-Benz DB605A engine with 1475HP. The armament of the Bf-109G was a pair of 13mm machine guns located in the fuselage in front of the cockpit fairing, and the MG151 20mm or heavier MK108 30mm cannon. The last mass-produced version was the Bf-109K (Kurfirst), which production started in October 1944. A Daimler-Benz DB 605DB or DC unit was used as the engine. The Bf-109K was the fastest version produced during World War II, reaching up to 730 km / h. Apart from that, two versions were created - H and Z, but they were rather experimental versions and their mass production did not start. Subsequent improvements in propulsion and armament made the Messerschmitt Bf-109 one of the most dangerous fighters of World War II, and at the same time showed the great potential of the slightly angular airframe created by Willi Messerschmitt. Technical data (version Bf-109 G-6): length: 8.95 m, wingspan: 9.92 m, height: 2.6 m, maximum speed: 640 km / h, rate of climb: 17 m / s, maximum range: 850 km, maximum ceiling 12000m, armament: fixed - 2 MG131 13mm machine guns and 1 MG151 20mm cannon, suspended - 250 kg bombs, or 2 Wfr missile launchers. Gr. 21.