Messerschmitt

Messerschmitt is a famous German aircraft manufacturer, known primarily for their World War II fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 and Me 262. The company survived in the post-war era, undergoing a number of mergers and evolving into Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm before being bought by DASA in 1989.

Background

The Messerschmitt story begins with Professor Willy Messerschmitt joining the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in 1927 and forming a design team. He promoted a concept he called "light weight construction" in which many typically separate load-bearing parts were merged into a single re-enforced firewall, thereby saving weight and improving performance. The first true test of the concept was in the Bf 108 Taifun sports-plane, which would soon be setting all sorts of records. Based on this performance the company was invited to submit a design for the Luftwaffe's 1935 fighter contest, winning it with the Bf 109 based on the same construction methods.

Related Topics:
Willy Messerschmitt - Bayerische Flugzeugwerke - 1927 - Bf 108 - Luftwaffe - Bf 109

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From this point on Messerschmitt became a favourite of the Nazi party, as much for his designs as his political abilities and the factory location in southern Germany away from the "clumping" of aviation firms on the northern coast. Messerschmitt AG was incorporated as a separate company on July 11 1938, with Willy Messerschmitt as chairman and managing director. The renaming of Bayerische Flugzeugwerke to Messerschmitt AG on that date, resulted in the all future types being designated Me instead of Bf. Existing types, such as 109 and 110, retained their earlier designation in official documents, although sometimes the newer designations was used as well.

Related Topics:
Nazi - July 11 - 1938

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~