ME109, copyright RAF Museum Archive, Hendon
Designed by Willy Messerschmitt, this was the aircraft which more than any other carried the colours of the Luftwaffe. The ME109 had entered service in the Spanish Civil War in 1937 and became the basic fighter of the German Air Force. It was fast, with a top speed of 357 mph, well armed with two cannons. The ME109 wasn’t so much a beautiful aircraft as a very effective one. Powered by a Daimler Benz engine it had the advantage of direct fuel injection rather than a carburettor, which meant that in aerobatics the engine didn’t cut out. The Spitfire, with its Merlin engine, suffered from the engine cutting out in certain aerobatics, meaning that the Me109 could out dive it. The Me109 had come into frontline service more than a year before the Spitfire and so had given German pilots the advantage of longer experience with this type of fighter. It was also hugely popular with pilots.
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July 18, 2010 at 8:12 pm
John Martin BRADLEY
No other aircraft has come close to the beauty of the Spitfire, but the ME109 was also a beautiful aircraft. And yes the German pilots who flew it loved it, in spite of being able to see bugger all out of the badly designed canopy. General Gunther Rall, who I photographed for my book, shot down a very large number of Russian aircraft in a 109. I also photographed Gunter Seeger and Theo Nau who inflicted terrible damage on the RAF and the USAAF in 109′s. However, I was fascinated when Gunter told me he was terrified when set upon by a large flight of Beaufighters in the Med … and this is a man who shot down 28 Spitfires!
July 20, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Ken Sinden
I understood that in the early stages of the battle the Me109E only had 2×7.62mm machine guns mounted in the wings. A single 20mm cannon located above the engine and firing through the propeller spinner was to be the main arnament but was at that time unreliable and removed for modifications.
Ken Sinden.
September 6, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Spitfire Site
I hate to point this, but the photo seems to show a later model Bf 109G, quite unlike the Bf 109E used at the time of the Battle of Britain.
For photo of the latter, see here:
http://spitfiresite.com/2010/08/stories-of-the-battle-of-britain-1940-desperate-hour.html
September 9, 2010 at 4:33 pm
Tony Rudd
Very sorry, that image was supplied to me by the RAF Museum at Hendon, but we rely on eagle eyed contributors like you who really know their stuff! Many thanks!
September 9, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Tony Rudd
Incidentally, would you allow us to use your image instead – if properly credited?