Messerschmitt Bf 109

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

(Bf 109 was the official Reichsluftfahrtministerium designation, since the design was sent in by the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke company. Because the company was renamed to Messerschmitt, some late-war aircraft actually carried the Me 109 designation stamped onto their aircraft type plates. Me 109 was the name used officially by the Luftwaffe propaganda publications as well as by the Messerschmitt company and the Luftwaffe personnel, who pronounced it 'may hundred-nine'. ME 109 - pronounced 'emm ee one-oh-nine' - was the contemporary English interpretation of the designation.)

Related Topics:
Reichsluftfahrtministerium - Bayerische Flugzeugwerke - Messerschmitt

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt in the early 1930s, the first truly modern fighter of the era combining the features of all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy and a retractable landing gear.

Related Topics:
Messerschmitt - World War II - Fighter aircraft - Willy Messerschmitt - 1930s - Monocoque

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Bf 109 was the standard fighter of the Luftwaffe from just before the start of the war, and spent the first half of the war locked in combat with the Supermarine Spitfire. While early in the war, the Messerschmitt usually held the altitude advantage, the advent of the Spitfire IX with its two-stage supercharger changed the balance in favor of the Spitfire. In the second half of the war, the Me 109's primary opponent became the North American P-51 (which was powered by a two-stage Merlin engine similar to that used in the Spitfire) and the Russian Yakovlev Yak-3 and Lavochkin La-5 fighter planes.

Related Topics:
Luftwaffe - Supermarine Spitfire - North American P-51 - Merlin engine - Russian - Yakovlev Yak-3 - Lavochkin La-5

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Though the Me 109 had some weaknesses, the most important of them a rather short range, it stayed competitive until the end of the war, with the last variant, the Bf 109K-4, matching or outperforming even the Mustang at most altitudes. The only two pilots ever scoring more than 300 aerial kills flew the Me 109 (Erich Hartmann and Gerhard Barkhorn). Though the Luftwaffe kept looking for an all-round replacement, the Me 109's fighting qualities were good enough to keep it in production during the entire war, and in the end the Bf 109 became the most produced fighter aircraft of all time, with 33,000 examples being built.

Related Topics:
Erich Hartmann - Gerhard Barkhorn

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~