ME109 TAXING
Messerschmitt Bf 110C "Destroyer" (Luftwaffe)
The Bf 110 was an aircraft designed for one mission--as a strategic fighter to accompany bombers to and from their targets--that found its greatest success in an entirely different role as a night fighter. First conceived in 1934, successive refinements led by 1939 to the Bf 110C model, which served with some distinction during the Blitzkrieg from Poland to France and the Low Countries, but more than met its match in the Battle of Britain. This twin-engine, heavily armed fighter, or "Destroyer," as the Luftwaffe classified it, had greater range than its single-engine counterparts, and was nearly as fast. The problem was maneuverability.
Spitfires and Hurricanes were far superior to any opposition the 110 had yet encountered, and they made mincemeat of the slow-turning, slow-climbing 110. Over England it became an escort fighter that needed its own escort, and before long the 110 was withdrawn from the Battle of Britain. From 1942 on the 110 was developed into a highly effective night fighter, and in this r ole it ran up an impressive tally of kills against British bombers. As the American daylight strategic bombing campaign intensified, the 110 was pressed into service--escorted by high-flying Bf 109s--as a bomber destroyer, lobbing rockets into bomber formations, and riddling stragglers with cannon fire. Although always vulnerable to fighter opposition, the 110 carried two 20 mm cannon and four light machine guns firing forward, and a single rearward-firing light machine gun, so approaching a 110, even from behind, was risky. The last Bf 110 was delivered to the Luftwaffe in March 1945.
Messerschmitt Bf109E and G
When Willy Messerschmitt designed the 109 in 1934 it was an ultramodern fighter, mating a big and sophisticated V-12 to the smallest possible fuselage and a thin wing. Tested during the Spanish civil war of 1936-1939, it proved fast and agile. The 109 evolved into the Bf 109E used in the Battle of Britain in 1940, and the more numerous Bf 109G, which flew from late 1942 until the end of the war. Its extremely narrow landing gear and massive propeller torque made the 109 tricky to take off and land: five percent of the 109s destroyed weren't shot down, they came to grief simply while getting off, or back onto, the ground.
When the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 appeared, some thought it should replace the 109, but many ace pilots preferred the superior high-altitude performance of the older aircraft and refused to give it up. By war's end some 35,000 Bf 109s had been produced. The 109 got its "Bf" designation because when he designed it, Willy Messerschmitt was working for the Bavarian Aircraft Works.
Messerschmitt Bf 109E
Weight: 4,189 / 5,523 lbs (1,900 / 2,505 kg)
Span: 32' 4½" (9.87 m) Length: 28' 4" (8.64 m)
Engine(s): Daimler-Benz DB601D 12-cyl V liquid cooled, 1,050 hp
Armament: Two 20 mm MG FF cannon w/60 r.p.g., & two 7.9-mm MG 17 machine guns w/1,000 r.p.g.;. E-1/B had racks for 4 110-lb bombs or 1 550-lb bomb
Max Speed @ Altitude: 342 mph (550 km/h) @ 13,120 ft (4,000 m)
Ceiling: 34,450 ft (10,500 m)
Climb Rate: 3,100 ft (945 m)/min
Range: 410 mi (660 km)
Messerschmitt Bf 109G
Weight: 5,880 / 7,496 lbs (2,667 / 3,400 kg)
Span: 32' 6½" (9.92 m)
Length: 29' 8" (9.04 m)
Engine(s): Daimler-Benz DB605A V-12 liquid cooled, 1,475 hp
Armament: One 30-mm Mk 108/one 20 mm MG 151 cannon firing through prop hub; two 13-mm MG 131 machine guns w/300 r.p.g. above engine. Optional: Two 20 mm MG 151 can-non w/150 r.p.g. in pods under wings (pods add weight & drag). G-6/R2 can mount rack for four 110-lb bombs or 1 550-lb bomb; G-6/R2 carried two WGr 21 rocket tubes.
Max Speed @ Altitude: 387 mph (623 km/h) @ 22,970 ft (7,000 m)
Ceiling: 38,500 ft (11,750 m)
Climb Rate: 3,300 ft (1,005 m)/min
Range: 450 mi (725 km); with belly tank, max. 615 mi (990 km) (Bf 109G can carry one 300-liter tank under fuselage, or one on each wing)
