Stack up against a:

Me-109K or a
FW-190D-9

In!
Answers from another forum: "BuAer evaluated an FW-190 after the war against the F6F and F4U. The report observed that the FW-190 climbed faster than either of the Navy's best fighters, but that both the F6F and F4U had tighter turning radii at higher speeds. The tactical discussion suggested that if a F6F or F4U was attacked by an FW-190, the Navy should use its superior turning performance to gain advantage on the FW-190. Most tests showed the F4U and F6F gaining advantage in less than one full turn. On the offense, BuAer suggested that it would be difficult to close on the FW-190, so a high angle off attack should be used. Finally, the report observed that the FW-190 had the disconcerting habit of not signally a stall, but stalling abruptly followed by aileron reversal. That made the aircraft very difficult to control at low speeds or high angles of attack.

The BuAer test pilots especially liked the visibility afforded by the FW-190, but otherwise observed that its' engine controls denied them the type of control over the full range of the engine's abilities that the more conventional Navy Throttle, Mixture and Propeller levers. The FW-190 used several electro-mechanical devices to "automate" engine control that took away pilot discretion. Conversely, the Navy used simple lever controls for the three major engine inputs. The aviators were free to manipulate throttle prop and mixture as needed and through their full range of power settings.

My take from the report, all things equal the FW-190 could dictate the time and place of any engagement with the F4U or F6F. The F4U or F6F could generally dictate the outcome of the engagement because once in a fight, the FW-190 could not stay with the F4U or F6F. The only viable offensive move for the FW-190 was a "slash and dash" attack utilizing the type's superior speed in climb and level flight."

There's more opinions at the link.

That seems to be a popular discussion area in some forums.  Here's another example of that debate:

http://ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/hellcat-corsair-vs-messerschmidt-109-fockwulf-190-a-23856.html?s=dd53baa7fefae5ed5fadf8735c9d6be2


Link to pdf of FW-190 comparative performance assessment

This site seems to have a lot of the actual peformance data charts

Website with Bf 109 performance data

Thanks guys!  Good info & reads.  

It appears that at least 2 Bf 109Gs were shot down by British F6Fs over Norway, with 2 F6Fs shot down in return (though possibly by a 190D)

Thanks. I ordered a copy.

One of the links was an assessment of a 190-A.  An F6F or Corsair would chew the A model 190 up.  The D model, well now we come down to who's the best pilot.

Weren't the American planes armored better?

My guess is they all would have been competitive in various ways.  The Hellcat was better at low altitude was it not.  Not sure about the Corsair's strong points.  Both american planes could probably take more of abeating and live through it than the German planes could.  The later 109's were good but at the end of the airframe's capabilities for development.  (Not so goo pilots left though)  The 190D9-D13 were good as well.  (Same problem with pilots.)

I put down the book I was reading to read this one.   Unfortunately the one airplane he didn't fly was the P40 Warhawk/Kittyhaw/Tomahawk.  I would  love to hear what he would have had to say about this plane against the Me-109E-4.

I noticed Eric Brown has several other books.  Does he fly a P40?

in the vertical the corsair would win but in a turning fight I think the 109 K would win I am not familiar enough with the 190 d's performance to hazard a guess.  

the p47 won many engagements against both the p-47 &  I believe the jug was less muneverable the the hellcat & had the same double wasp prat & witney engine as the f4u.

It's actually just about the opposite -  the F4U and F6F could out-turn (and possibly out-dive) the 109K or 190D, but not out-climb them.

They didn't call Grumman the Iron Works for nothing. They could take an incredible amount of damage and keep flying. And their 6 x 50 caliber Browning machine guns tore up other aircraft.

In the vertical the 109k would absolutely dominate the corsair.  The power to weight ratio is very much so in the 109s favor.  Unless it's an f4u-4.