P-51 Mustang ambushed by a Luftwaffe fighter at point blank range

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[@ThomasEPeters]

Still had tanks attached. Ambush is a good term for it clearly no idea the German was there. Wonder where the wingman was?

[@machector892]

Probably distracted somewhere else or shot down.

[@arthurambroise7894]

He probably was the wingman.

[@kfcinafrica2111]

Attacked at meeting point probably

[@panchopistol6897]

Not doing his job

[@redhed9776]

@@panchopistol6897 sometimes you get the bear, sometimes the bear gets you. reality.

[@stevenhansen5251]

Years ago I met a WWll fighter pilot who said, the sky's over Europe in 1944 was no place for a beginner..

[@to1tu_sr7_34b]

Возможно. Но не для СССР. Война всегда требует людей.

[@Keckegenkai]

you can see the ammo falling out of the left wing

[@andydevers3789]

Germany had great pilots also and their planes were pretty good also especially the Me 109 it didnt carry a 50 cal but it sure had a surprise in the nose of it..

[@HEYYAlex95]

Depends on the variant. Some had 13mm mgs

[@felixg.6493]

​@@HEYYAlex95The two 13s where additional

[@user-vh4mm4iz5z]

Depends on the variant, later g and k variants replaced the 7.92s with 13mm machine guns and keeping that mentioned surprise in the prop

[@piotr6152]

Niemcy mieli super samoloty i pilotów, a w Bitwie o Anglię spadali jak muchy. Wszystko mieli najlepsze a przegrali wojnę. Ogarnij się chłopie. Wierzysz w mity.

[@piotr6152]

Jedynie rycerskości im nie można odmówić... Strzelali do pilotów na spadochronach, w tym byli wyjątkowi.

[@maruftim]

20mm? thats brutal

[@hw97karbine]

Most likely, it certainly was cannon fire but the damage from 30mm would have been more significant, also the thumping recoil from the MK 108 tended to shake the airframe of the attacking aircraft enough that it would be visible in the footage.

[@maruftim]

@@hw97karbine interesting!

[@davidvaughn7752]

​@@hw97karbineyou can see the cannon shells detonating on the P-51 from The Luftwaffe Fighter. BDA is hard to determine since it is a short clip and the Luftwaffe aircraft flies into the smoke and debris of the P-51 so the full extent of damage cannot be fully appreciated. I'm sure with all those cannon hits the plane broke up and the pilot probably died from the raking cannon fire. Most Luftwaffe gun cameras are not this clear and I would agree that it is strange that you do not see recoil from the larger ordinance.

[@Ronald-ni4rt]

He was more than likely killed in this attack. My uncle was shot down , over the sea near Gibraltar in WW2 and killed in a Spitfire similar encounter.

[@toddburks9182]

I agree, he probably snuck up on the wing man and did a quick burst then hit the lead before he even knew what was happening.

[@nickf4333]

Sorry to hear that.

[@JorgeWashingtonLombaLove]

Me too 😢

[@DannyBoy777777]

No chance. No Spitfires operated from Gibraltar. And none had the range to reach it from Africa. There were no aerial battles anywhere near it.

[@michaelbinney9913]

​@@DannyBoy777777Maybe flew out of Malta.

[@allgood6760]

Scary having an enemy plane on your 6 o'clock!✈️🤔

[@nickweis2237]

YOU'VE GOT A HOLE IN YOUR LEFT WING!

[@drott150]

Those long escort missions. You can't keep your head on a swivel every second.

[@davidvaughn7752]

For sure! The autobiographies I've read as well these Pilots mentioned that as well, and also that they would zig and zag all the time so not to present themselves as an easy target in case there was somebody coming up on them.

[@robertlemaster7525]

With all the exploding cannon shells going off, how did his tanks NOT detonate???

[@jeroengeronimo]

Self sealing fueltanks

[@bezimienny_andzej6425]

Fragments will puncture them, but they won't make them boom. You need a direct hit with incendiary or high explosive incendiary to get a desired effect, or perforate it first then get incendiary around them, German HE shells were thin walled so fragments were able to do damage only in front of the shell (because frontal part of the shell was fairly thick) or from a very short range.

[@FrecherPfirsich]

@@bezimienny_andzej6425 in this video you can see a detonating 20mm shell and it’s fragments. „Only in the front“ is not correct. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJXVZaGdqM2Koposi=Pt0VTnMiyT3mSckW

[@falconeaterf15]

Tanks were generally dropped at a predetermined point before entering enemy airspace. Planes flew in loose formation but still fairly close to each other. This poor guy seemed lost and alone.

[@kawythowy867]

He had some external fuel tanks so they must have been escorting the bombers.

[@WaqarkhanTiger1tank-hc1kq]

Looks like ambushed by bf 109

[@bensmith7536]

I did read that the P-38 was bad for cruise settings, meaning the pilot had to be a concert pianist with lighting reactions for setting the controls for combat. A lot of aircraft were apparently shot down as surviving pilots said they were set for cruise, not combat, and barely survived e.g. mix, prop pitch, power, tanks, gun switches, speed etc

[@davidvaughn7752]

Also, two power plants to manage. You are correct; the handling characteristics at combat performance levels was excellent for the P-38, the transitioning from cruise to combat settings however was a bit more complex and that lag can be fatal even if it's just a few seconds!

[@merts1624]

Poor guy 😢

[@user-yr8jj5ut7z]

Duxford Cambridgeshire IWM has a Mustang plane

[@Fidelio1951]

The P-51 was a very resiliant plane. My father told me that he hit one with his triple 15 MM AA-gun. He saw the projectiles sparkling at the side of the fuselage but the plane didn't crash. The pilot turned and my father had the impression that he saluted when passing by.

[@ML-ev3ks]

naja die 15mm geschosse ist jetzt nicht wirklich für ihre wirksamkeit bekannt gewesen. deshalb hat man recht schnell auch eine 20mm draus gemacht. Zumindest wenn man dort trifft wo nix letales verbaut ist

[@vvvci]

I'm not a huge fan of "Masters of the Air" but it does show just how Expendable every single pilot and crewman was all through that bloody war, right up to the very last days. Just taking off in a fighter or bomber heavily loaded with bombs, fuel and ammunition was extremely hazardous -one glitch in any of a dozen critical systems and you were probably not going to make it, much less attacking enemy targets straight down the barrels of enemy AA gunners who had nothing to loose and lived to make kills

[@hw97karbine]

Consider that in WWII almost as many aircraft were lost in non-combat situations as were shot down.

[@hammmodjabeer7278]

The Germans had the best fighters and pilots.

[@charliewelshans3301]

Never stop watching your tail

[@user-bp9cj2cm1j]

戦闘状態で真っ直ぐ飛んでいたら、撃墜される

[@covertops19Z]

It appears he's losing coolant right from the git go...

[@hw97karbine]

Indeed, slowed down I count 5 distinct hits, that I think are most likely from 20mm cannon shells: 1 - to the lower fuselage, that obviously hits the cooling system and causes an immediate coolant leak. This first hit alone would have doomed the aircraft as it would not have been long before the engine overheated. 2 - to the left wing, this has obviously disrupted the flying surfaces considerably, we can see the damage compared to the intact right wing and the significant amount of debris that flies off. 3 - looks like a hit to the left horizontal tail surfaces 4 - is either a hit to the propeller or the cockpit, it's not very clear. 5 - is obscured with smoke so no way to be sure of the location of the impact.

[@zillsburyy1]

not tough like the P-47 jug

[@robertwood6986]

Never fly and level for to long

[@anthroimperzia3927]

I wonder if he got any holes in the left wing…

[@user-qw7qc4hc7r]

США за полгода потеряла больше самолётов чем СССР, за четыре с половиной. При том что люфтваффе был уже далеко не тот как в начале . Я думаю у немцев много было таких кадров.

[@tgorski52]

Weird/pointless statistic. Allies had superior air forces to the Soviets, no question. Had the war continued the B-29 atomic bombing of Moscow would have settled the matter. But the Americans chose not to use their nuclear monopoly to crush all enemies.

[@kenw9681]

​​​​​@@tgorski52Yeah, the U.S. would have sped up its atomic weapons production as much as possible, in the U.S. itself, which was both bomber proof and invasion proof.

[@1SWEETSERENADER]

Messerschmitt had 0% chance against P-51 Mustang in a dog fight.

[@nzmonsterman]

​@1SWEETSERENADER Ha ha, good tongue in cheek humour 😅

[@bezimienny_andzej6425]

@@1SWEETSERENADER Actually wrong. Of course depends on the variant and starting conditions. But the main advantage of P-51 was the ability to choose time and place, thx to its superior speed and high speed controls. But at medium and low speeds Bf 109 was able to dogfight P-51 just fine. The thing is - P-51 usually had local numerical advantage, so Bf 109 was just setting itself up to get 3rd partied.

[@giorgioditizio6293]

Ben fatto, Camerata

[@JohnKobaRuddy]

Poor sod

[@corvus8752]

I think it's a P-51B

[@kingnorlen]

Nah, its a P-51 D, looks like it even has invasionstripes on aswell. Possibly over France.

[@corvus8752]

@@kingnorlen Invasion stripes don't really confirm it's the 51D variant If anything it's even more likely it's 51B, since there was still more Bs than Ds in July of 44

[@kingnorlen]

@@corvus8752 U can clearly see its a D as its a "bubbletop" canopy, and also, most P51B's were painted flat military green on the top half of it.

[@corvus8752]

@@kingnorlen It's not a bubble canopy You can see it's a razorback variant with "Malcolm hood" canopy installed P-51Bs were painted in all kinds of camos bare metal included, just as P-51Ds were commonly painted green

[@-NINE-THREE-]

​@@corvus8752 Yea, if you play back the footage slowly you can see how it's not a bubble canopy. Good spot!

[@yanovamas5484]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@vezdehodchik1]

In this configuration, the Me 109 is a bobardier. He has tanks or bombs under his wings. Therefore, the video is "not about anything". And it cannot in any way characterize the Me-109 & P-51 mustang as a fighter battle.

[@bezimienny_andzej6425]

This is a simple case of plane shooting down plane. A lot of WW2 air to air kills actually looked similar with the target not being aware of having enemy shooting at it until it was too late.

[@TheRobbiUno]

Didn’t even react.

[@michaelstevenson3872]

might be wounded, shock etc.

[@dslaphead]

Is this actual footage and not a game playback?

[@hw97karbine]

All historical footage you see on this channel is genuine

[@robertehrengruber1808]

Was thinking the same thing a game

[@dslaphead]

@@hw97karbine sorry but either this footage has been manipulated or it isn't real in first place, I've seen enough gun camera footage to know that this is too clear to be original.

[@bensmith7536]

@@dslaphead ive played flight sim ww2 combat games since the early 90s, no level of detail in a game supports the pieces flying off the left wing and the quality of the smoke..... edited footage perhaps, but this is of a very similar quality to all the other german gun cameras ive seen that are genuine. Its not a game clip.

[@nzmonsterman]

​@@dslaphead😂😂😂

[@bobnuttall1266]

Ambush?? Failure to warn an enemy aircraft of your presence and intent doesn't seem fair.What has warfare come to?

[@bensmith7536]

All's fair in love and war.

[@wendigoactual8325]

Pilot in the p51 was probably already dead either from flak or being attacked prior

[@nzmonsterman]

How do you come to that conclusion? Is there something happening that would give that theory merit? Genuinely interested.

[@wendigoactual8325]

@@nzmonsterman leaking fuel no evasive maneuvers descending in altitude no wingman. It only began diverting it's flight path when the Germans rounds actually started impacting the tail and wings making it move. Best guess would be a squadron of interceptors found them before he got to his drop point to ditch the tanks and was injured/killed and then had to be left behind and just got picked off for a confirmed downing or they went through some flak and he got unlucky and Germans did cleanup

[@hw97karbine]

If you go frame by frame you will see the coolant starts to leak once the first cannon shell strikes the aircraft, it does not appear damaged before that.

[@peoplehavetherights]

That was the 262 getting shot up 68 years ago?

[@RobertHunt-tn4jz]

Even my Mustangs can be shot down in my pc video game ruse art of deception and sometimes they can be on fire and make it back to base but there are never any parachutes

[@berndb.9890]

It is better to rely on more serious and reliable informations than video games.

[@SRS_BuHokyp]

Красиво горит

[@rudolfroller9414]

Fake

[@dondozer]

війна це зло

[@bezimienny_andzej6425]

Are you russian or Ukrainian? Or maybe even Russian? Because I can agree with you, which is super-rare these days.

[@johnbadell6190]

There is no such thing as a ambush in war !! All things are far game !!😅😅

[@hw97karbine]

To call it an ambush is to describe the situation, it is not a judgement on whether the action is justified.