The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is my favorite WWII plane.
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Messerschmitt bf 109
- Thread starter BlueOvalFitter
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Jackson_Slugger
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It was long-in-the-tooth by the end of the war but still heavily produced even as Germany was banking on jet fighter-bombers. Germany's highest scoring ace, Eric Hartmann, flew it and refused to "upgrade" to an FW-190. He was credited with 352 kills mostly in the 109 and continued flying in the postwar Luftwaffe and later worked closely with the USAF on test projects.
Don't know if I'd say it was one of the most advanced of the war, it was certainly outclassed by the later stages. It did have many advanced features, especially the engine, but curiously had braced tailplanes and not great visibility.
I sat in a Spanish built Merlin engined version of one, the Hispano Buchon, and the cockpit was claustrophobic. Apparently challenging to land....and that is an understatement. They were effective though, and remained that way post war with the Spanish and Israelis.
I sat in a Spanish built Merlin engined version of one, the Hispano Buchon, and the cockpit was claustrophobic. Apparently challenging to land....and that is an understatement. They were effective though, and remained that way post war with the Spanish and Israelis.
I had seen this plane in a few YT videos, but never clicked onto them.
The producers of The Battle of Britain movie borrowed several BF-109s from Spain. This was c. 1968, and Franco was still in power.
Not sure if they were still in front-line service by that time.
I read somewhere that more BF-109s were produced than any other aircraft of WWII - some 30,000.
Oil from coal, correct?
The invading German forces failed to defeat the Soviet Union quickly in 1941 in part due to the winter of '41/42 being exceptionally cold. Initially, the German lubes were not suitable for use in the extreme cold.
1/3 the cost of a spitfire and competitive until the end of the war. Lets see.....I can have one of those or three of these?
More like changing objectives. Either defeat the armies in the field or capture territory. Not both.
Agreed, the uncharacteristic lack of preparedness for the harsh winter was only one factor among many.
Hindsight is 20-20, but an immediate push SE to capture the oil fields would have likely ended the war in the east early. Hitler liked his Blitzkrieg - "Lightning War" - and thought tactically rather than strategically.
Hitler's refusal to withdraw Von Paulus's encircled army from Stalingrad in late 1942 was a huge mistake.
Back in the 90s I met a man from Hungary who shot down a Mig jet while flying an ME 109 in 1956. The story sounds so great and brave. His personal account was a little different. He told me he came out of the clouds and there was the Mig right in front of him, so he triggered his guns. It still made a hero out of him in my eyes.
Very interesting! Hungary, while part of the Soviet bloc, was not being compliant enough, triggering the Soviet invasion. I imagine the 109s were left over from the war, and normally would have been greatly outclassed by a MIG-15 or -17.
I also met a former 109 pilot, in 1984. I visited a small church where my friend Clark was serving as an intern pastor for the summer. After the service he introduced me to a jolly older couple who spoke with German accents. They were both quite short and plump, and very friendly. They were very happy, as he had just retired from driving a transit bus for 35 years. I was doing the mental math; 'This fellow started driving bus here in 1949, when he was about 30, and moved from Germany as an adult. Hmmm ...'
After they left, Clark told me that the bus driver had flown Bf-109s for the Luftwaffe during the war. I would have loved to hear his story, but also wouldn't have wanted to put him in an awkward position. A lot of veterans don't want to talk about their wartime experiences.
It's too bad America came out with the P-51.
I still remember the stories my German grandfather told me (my German mother had to translate them).
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The Great Escape?
Bf 108, inelieve.
Was that an authentic trainer plane the Luftwaffe used to train their fighter pilots?
A 1946 Pilatus P2 was used instead of a Bf 109 in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Although they never call it a Messerschmitt in the movie it's clearly supposed to be a Bf 109. It's the scene after Indy and his dad have escaped from the Zeppelin and get attacked by a couple German fighters on the ground. One plane blows up in a tunnel and the other one is brought down by a flock of gulls.
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