Messerschmitt Bf 109

Bf 109 of the Luftwaffe

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was a German World War II fighter aircraft from Messerschmitt and one of the first truly modern fighters of the era.

History

German scientists testing a Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter plane, 1940. This was the most advanced wind tunnel test facility in the world at the time.

Bf 109 of the Legion Condor

Messerschmitt Bf 109 E

The Messerschmitt Bf 109, like the North American P-51, might have been the plane that never was. The Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (Bavarian Aircraft Company or BFW) was initially blocked from being sent contracts due to a long running feud between Willy Messerschmitt and the Secretary of State for Aviation, Erhard Milch. In order to save BFW from liquidation, Messerschmitt and his joint manager Herr Kokothanki, obtained a contract from a Romanian cartel, to develop the M-37 light transport. Protests were made against Messerschmitt's acceptance of a foreign contract, but Willy Messerschmitt argued that due to a lack of home support he was forced to seek contracts outside of Germany. Consequently, BFW was awarded a contract for fighter development. In 1934, the German Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtministerium, or RLM) issued specifications for a new fighter monoplane to replace the Heinkel He 51 and Arado 68 biplanes. It was to be equipped with at least two MG-17 7.9 millimeter machine guns, and to have the capability of utilizing the new 12-cylinder, liquid-cooled, vee-engines under development by Junkers and Daimler-Benz. The request was sent to Focke-Wulf, Arado, Heinkel and BFW. Focke-Wulf submitted the Fw 159 V1, Arado the Ar 80 V1 and Heinkel the He 112. The Bf 109 was the winner in the trials, exceeding its nearest rival, the Heinkel He 112, by 17 mph. Only the He 112 provided any other serious competition besides the Bf 109 in the trials and ten preproduction prototypes were ordered for the Heinkel He 112 and Bf 109. Despite the earlier odds of being issued a contract for a production fighter aircraft, Willy Messerschmitt had been developing the Bf 109 A alongside the Bf 108 A.

The first Bf 109 prototype, the Bf-109 V1 had a British Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine when it made its debut in September 1935, and had a higher wing loading (24 lbs/sq ft.) than that of any other aircraft submitted for the competition. (The closet rival had 20.3 lbs/sq ft.) The "Bf-109 V2" used a 455 kW (610 hp) Junkers Jumo 210 A and was not fitted with armament. The Bf-109 V3, was fitted with a pair of MG-17 7.9 mm machine guns. This armament arrangement was envisioned for the Bf 109 A, but this production model was never flown, due to a new international requirement based on the view of the four-gun Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane. Since no wing armament was required at the onset, the Bf 109 had a thin wing with the main spar at mid-chord, requiring a major wing redesign with later versions. On the opposing side, the Spitfire and Hurricane were designed with wing armament in mind from the very beginning. Bearing in mind that the Bf 109 was to become one of the Royal Air Force's major opponents in the Second World War, it is ironic that the prototype had a 695 hp British Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine, when it made its debut in September 1935, as development of light weight aircraft military-type engines was prohibited under the Treaty of Versailles. In any case, Rolls-Royce was using a German built Heinkel He 70 to flight test some of its latest engines at about the same time. [...]

When first 'blooded' in the Spanish Civil War, it became clear to the German Condor Legion that their Heinkel He 51 biplanes were inferior to Italian built fighters, and the Soviet Union Polikarpov I-16s. Although not used in continuous service since they were prototypes, Bf-109 V4, V5 and V6 were sent to Spain and valuable front-line experience was gained to enhance further development. Meanwhile, Willy Messerschmitt was already preparing the first production Bf 109s for dispatch to Spain. The Bf 109 B-1 was supplied to two Gruppen (groups), the JG 132, the "Richthofen" Jagdgeschwader (fighter wing) and the 2nd Staffel (squadron) of Jagdgruppe (fighter group) 88. Bf 109 B-1s arrived in April 1937, and B-2s were supplied to the 1st Staffel of J/88 in August. The B-1 featured a 680 hp Jumo 210 Da engine, a Reflexvisier gunsight, and a short-range FuG 7 radio. Approximately 30 B-1s were produced before they were replaced with B-2s. The main difference was the change from a fixed wooden prop to a VDM two blade variable-pitch prop. The 3rd Staffel was supplied with Bf 109 Cs and Ds in April 1938. It wasn't long before the Republican forces found out their Polikarpov I-15s and I-16s were no match for the Bf 109. A total of 136 Bf 109s had been sent to Spain, including the latest E model. Approximately 50 C-series, and 650 D-series were built. The Bf 109 E was the first true mass production model and was able to outfight or outrun virtually all opposition. Like the Spitfire, the Bf 109 saw action throughout the war. This version was often referred to as the Me 109, but official German documentation referred to as the Bf 109, referring to the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, although the company was reorganized as Messerschmitt A.G. in July, 1938. [...]

The Bf 109 had too limited a range to be fully effective as a bomber escort, so the German authorities found it to be most useful as a defensive fighter in Europe. This was reflected in the more refined, but relatively lightly-armed version of the fighter, the Bf 109 F. Bf 109 V21 and V24, using the 1,050 hp (783 kW) DB 601N engine, served as development aircraft for the Bf 109 F. Gone were the wing root guns, prompting many pilot complaints. After Helmut Wick was killed on November 28, 1940, Major Walter Oesau refused to fly a Bf 109 F as long as spare parts were available to keep his E-4 flying. Another German veteran who disliked the reduction in armament was Major Adolf Galland, who became a General at the age of thirty, and rose to be the Inspector-General of the Fighter arm. Slightly more than 2,000 Bf 109 Fs were built before being replaced by the more heavily armed Bf 109 G. Not until the arrival of the Bf 109 G was faith in the type fully restored, and this version was built in huge numbers for a variety of roles. It was in a Bf 109 G-14 that Major Erich Hartmann of the Luftwaffe reached his unrivaled total of 352 confirmed victories, although these were gained on the Eastern Front where German fighters easily outclassed the early Soviet fighters. From the summer of 1942 the Bf 109 G powered by a Daimler-Benz DB 605 D producing 1,800 hp with water-methanol injection and giving a speed of 685 km/h (428 mph), entered service in Russia and North Africa before being deployed in every other theater. With its standard armament of a cannon and two machine guns the Bf 109 G, remained the major version right up to the end of hostilities in May 1945. The G model served with all forces Axis on the Eastern and Italian fronts, and was exported to Switzerland and Spain.

Variants

Several Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4s from the 8. Staffel/JG 3; Schwarze 5, Schwarze 1 and others shortly before the Western Campaign at Wesel along the Rhine in April 1940.

Bf 109 E-4 vs. Hurricane Mk.I, La Manche Canal, 1940

Variant	Number	Years produced
Bf 109 A	22	1937 - 1938
Bf 109 B	341	1937 - 1938
Bf 109 C	58	1938 spring - 1938 late
Bf 109 D	647	1938 - 1939
Bf 109 E-1	1,183	1938 late - 1940
Bf 109 E-3	1,276	1939 - 1940
Bf 109 E-4	561	1939 - 1940
Bf 109 E-5	19	1939 - 1940
Bf 109 E-7	438	1940 August - 1941
Bf 109 F-1	208	1940 July - 1941 January
Bf 109 F-2	1,384	1940 October - 1941 August
Bf 109 F-3	15	1940 October - 1941 January
Bf 109 F-4	1,841	1941 May - 1942 May
Bf 109 F-5	1	1940 October
Bf 109 G-1	167	1942 February - June
Bf 109 G-2	1,587	1942 May - 1943 February
Bf 109 G-3	50	1943 January
Bf 109 G-4	1,246	1942 September - 1943 May
Bf 109 G-5	475	1943 February - 1944 June
Bf 109 G-6	~5000+	1943 February-1943 August - October
Bf 109 G-6	~2000+	1943 June - July - 1944 January (with Erla Hood)
Bf 109 G-6	~5,000+	1944 January - 1944 July (with Erla Hood, larger tail, and MW-50)
Bf 109 G-6/AS	226 produced/460 converted	1944 April - 1944 August (with MW-50)
Bf 109 G-8	906	1943 August-1945 February
Bf 109 G-10	2,600+	1944 September - 1945 March (many of the G-10s are converted from older G-6/14s; First entered service in 1944 Mid-October)
Bf 109 G-10/AS	100	1944 September - 1944 November (first entered service in 1944 Mid-October)
Bf 109 G-12	500 planned/converted	1944 January - 1944 July
Bf 109 G-14	5,500+	1944 July - 1945 February
Bf 109 G-14/AS	~1,373+	1944 July - 1945 March
Bf 109 K-4	1,700+	1944 August - 1945 March (first entered service in 1944 Early-October)
Bf 109 K-6	1 prototype	1944 Autumn
Totals	37,312 with conversions	-

See also

• Messerschmitt Bf 110
• Focke-Wulf Fw 190

Literature

• John Weal: Bf 109D/E Aces 1939-41, Osprey Publishing 2012 (on Google-Books)