History Of The Messerschmitt BF 109
Messerschmitt BF 109
The Messerschmitt BF 109 was a fighter aircraft employed by the German Luftwaffe in World War II. A total of 33,984 of the aircraft were made. It was used chiefly as a fighter and bomber escort.
More Messerschmitts were built than any other World War II fighter aircraft. The 109 is credited with more aerial kills than any other fighter in the war.
The 109 used the Junkers Jumo inverted V-12 gas engine, then later the Daimler Benz 605. The 109 had a three bladed propeller. Its top speed was almost 400 mph.Its range was 500 miles. The Messerschmitt 109's top service ceiling was 39,000 ft +
The 109's armament consisted of two-13 mm (MG 131) machine guns with around 300 rounds per gun and one MG 151 30 auto cannon (MK 108). It could also carry rockets(BR 21) and one 500 lb bomb.
The Messerschmitt 109's nemesis and foe was the Supermarine Spitfires of Great Britain and they went head to head for air superiority over English Skies in the Battle of Britain. They also flew against the American P-51's.
The Messerschmitt was armed with two Maschinengewehr 131's (13 mm) a slightly larger machine gun when compared to the .50 caliber Browning (12.7 mm) one 20 mm auto cannon (MG 151) with two more underwing, two Werfer-Granate rockets and could carry up to 550 lbs bombs.
It was the Messerschmitt BF 109 that Erich Hartmann flew, when he achieved being the highest scoring fighter ace in history.