Messerschmitt Bf109K-4 \
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The Messerschmitt 109K came very late in the war, and was the final effort by
Germany to make this legendary fighter competitive with contemporary fighters of
the Allies.\
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History\
The 109K replaced the 109G as the standard production Messerschmitt 109 fighter
in October, 1944.  It was little different from later mark Gustavs, apart from a
wooden rudder, and a slightly more powerful engine.  Principle difference
between late war and early war 109s was horsepower.  The K employed a variant of
the Daimler Benz 605 that produced 2000 horsepower with methanol water boost.
Such a heavy engine in an airframe designed a decade earlier was a mixed
blessing.  The K was very fast, but lacked the agility that had so typified the
109 when it was the world's finest fighter aircraft.\
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The Bf109 in Air Warrior\
The K4 was introduced to Air Warrior in the Air Warrior II release, and largely displaced the 109F4 in online arena play.  Compared to the other 109 variants, it offers the tradeoff of added speed at the expense of maneuverability. It also has more lethal armament, although its lethality falls off sharply after the 30mm nose cannon rounds are gone.  Many 109 aficionados opt for the 109G2 Gustav, as it's more maneuverable, albeit at a sacrifice in speed.\
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Armament: two, 15mm cannon in the cowl; one, 30mm cannon firing through the
propeller shaft.  Ammo Load: 300 cannon rounds per cowl gun; 60, 30mm cannon
shells for the nose gun.  Payload: one, 550lb bomb.  \
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Performance\
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By the time the 109K was introduced into Luftwaffe service, its fundamental role
was as a pure interceptor in the battle against Allied bombing.  For this the K
is well suited.  It has a high rate of climb, very good speed, and delivers
ordnance suited to bringing down heavy bombers.  It is not the dogfighter,
however, that it once was.  The K does not turn well, particularly at the far
higher speeds it can muster but was never designed to handle. \
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Performance Comparison\
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Compared to contemporaries, the 109K is slightly slower than the Mustang and Fw190D-9 but has
the edge in speed over all other types, except the P-47 Thunderbolt at very high
altitude.  Nearly all late war types can out turn the K, except for the Fw190D-9.
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