Combat warrior: The historical view

The Bf 109 came about In very strange circumstances. On February 26,1935, when the clandestine Luftwaffe officially came into being, it had already issued a requirement for a singleseat, high-speed fighter. This had been sent to three established aircraft manufacturers, but not to Professor Willy Messerschmitt's company. Nevertheless, Messerschmitt was eventually invited to submit a design, probably owing to the intervention of famous WW I ace Ernst Udet and the influence of Rudolf Hess, who was a lifelong friend of Willy Messerschmitt.

A new fighter

company for a new Luftwaffe

The Messerschmitt design was the unique Bf 109-a cantilevered, low-wing monoplane built of metal with a flush-riveted, stressed skin. The oval-section, monocoque fuselage had an enclosed cockpit; the single-spar wing had automatic leading-edge slats, and the inboard portions of the trailing edge carried slotted flaps. The narrow-track landing gear retracted outward into the wing, but the tailwheel was fixed. Although designed around the 61Ohp Junkers Jumo 210A 12cylinder, inverted-vee, liquid-cooled engine, the prototype was, unbelievably, powered by an imported 695hp British Rolls-Royce Kestrel V. The first flight was made in early September 1935, and in October, it competed in the comparative trials of the four different fighters.

The second prototype flew in January 1936 with the Jumo 210A, and the third flew in June 1936. These models carried two .30-caliber (7.9mm) machine guns above the engine cowl. In all, 13 prototype and preproduction aircraft were built before 1938; the main differences between them were armament, engines and propellers.

By autumn 1936, the choice for the new Luftwaffe fighter was between the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Heinkel He 112. As inspector of fighters, Lt. Col. Udet was responsible for the final decision. He tested both types himself and found little to choose between them. He was, however, convinced that the angular and structurally lighter 109 would be easier to mass produce, so the die was cast. Although the test pilots at Rechin Test Center preferred the Heinkel, the decision in favor of the Messerschmitt was made before their tests had been completed.

A race is on for speed

There then followed an extraordinary series of one-upmanship flights between the two competing companies. On November 11, 1937, Dr. Wurster-Messerschmitt's chief test pilot-set a new world speed record of 384mph (620km/h) in a Bf 109 with an uprated DB 601A engine that could produce 1,650hp for a very short period. Meanwhile, Dr. Heinkel had been redesigning the He 112 and had come up with the He 113, which, for some unknown reason, was redesignated the "He 100." In the summer of 1938, Udet visited the Heinkel facilities in Warnemunde to fly the He 100, and on June 6, he casually increased the world speed record to 394mph (634km/h). On March 30, 1939, however, the Heinkel chief test pilot Dieterle reached 463mph (746.6km/h).

Meanwhile, Messerschmitt had designed the Me 209. This version of the 109 had been specially modified to break the world speed record, and chief test pilot Fritz Wendel did this on April 26,1939, at Augsburg with 469mph (756km/h). The official world record book gives the record to an Me 109R (research) aircraft, as the Germans were keen to associate the top speed with their Luftwaffe fighter. Since the He 100 had made its record run at sea level and the Me 209 had flown over the much higher elevation of Augsburg, it had a 9mph (13km/h) advantage, and Dr. Heinkel said he intended to fly the He 100 at the same (higher) level. Udet, however, forbade any further record attempt, since the Nazis wanted the world to believe that the Luftwaffe had a world-record-beater in service, which was, of course, far from the truth.

The first Bf 109B-1s with 635hp Jumo 210D engines and wooden propellers went into service in 1937, and in the same year, 24 109B-2s with 640hp Jumo 210Es and metal propellers were delivered to the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion, which supported Gen. Franco in the Spanish Civil War. The Bf 109C was similar to the 109B-2 but carried more armament; the D version made a significant change to the 960hp Daimler-Benz DB 600A engine and an armament of two .30-caliber (7.9mm) machine guns plus an engine-- mounted 20mm cannon that fired through the airscrew spinner.

Real poduction begins

The first major production version of the fighter was the Bf 109E (popularly known as the "Emil"), and it was powered by a 1,100hp DB 601A with direct fuel injection and improved superchargers. Its engine no longer had a manual, supercharger-shifting mechanism that the pilot had to manage continuously to maintain maximum power as his altitudes changed in combat. The Emil's DB 601A engine had an infinitely variable, automatic, hydraulic supercharger transmission that completely relieved the pilot of that onerous duty. The pilot could now concentrate completely on the outside.

The first prototype for the Emil series appeared in the summer of 1938, and the first production aircraft were put into service in December of that year. By the outbreak of WW II (September 1939), the Luftwaffe had 1,060 Bf 109s of various types.