Messerschmitt Bf 109 | Nazi Germany's most important fighter aircraft | PT. 1

The German Messerschmitt Bf 109, legendary Luftwaffe Aircraft Of WW2, PT. 1.
PT.2 available at: • Messerschmitt Bf 109 |...
Includes an Eric "Winkle" Brown interview: "Things You Might Not Know About The Messerschmitt Bf 109".
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The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a German World War II fighter aircraft that was, along with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. The Bf 109 first saw operational service in 1937 during the Spanish Civil War and was still in service at the end of World War II in 1945. It was one of the most advanced fighters when it first appeared, with an all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. It was powered by a liquid-cooled, inverted V12 aero engine. It was called the Me 109 by Allied aircrew and some German aces, even though this was not the official German designation.
It was designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser who worked at Bayerische Flugzeugwerke during the early to mid-1930s. It was conceived as an interceptor, although later models were developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter-bomber, day-, night-, all-weather fighter, ground-attack aircraft, and reconnaissance aircraft. It was supplied to several states during World War II and served with several countries for many years after the war. The Bf 109 is the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 34,248 airframes produced from 1936 to April 1945. Some of the Bf 109 production took place in Nazi concentration camps through slave labor.
The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of all time, who claimed 928 victories among them while flying with Jagdgeschwader 52, mainly on the Eastern Front. The highest-scoring, Erich Hartmann, was credited with 352 victories. The aircraft was also flown by Hans-Joachim Marseille, the highest-scoring ace in the North African Campaign who shot down 158 enemy aircraft (in about a third of the time). It was also flown by many aces from other countries fighting with Germany, notably the Finn Ilmari Juutilainen, the highest-scoring non-German ace. Pilots from Italy, Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Hungary also flew the Bf 109. Through constant development, the Bf 109 remained competitive with the latest Allied fighter aircraft until the end of the war.
General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 8.95 m (29 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 9.925 m (32 ft 7 in)
Height: 2.6 m (8 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 16.05 m2 (172.8 sq ft)
Airfoil: NACA 2R1 14.2; tip: NACA 2R1 11.35[86]
Empty weight: 2,247 kg (4,954 lb)
Gross weight: 3,148 kg (6,940 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 3,400 kg (7,496 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Daimler-Benz DB 605A-1 V-12 inverted liquid-cooled piston engine 1,475 PS (1,455 hp; 1,085 kW)
Propellers: 3-bladed VDM 9-12087, 3 m (9 ft 10 in) diameter light-alloy constant-speed propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 520 km/h (320 mph, 280 kn) at sea level
588 km/h (365 mph; 317 kn) at 4,000 m (13,123 ft)
642 km/h (399 mph; 347 kn) at 6,300 m (20,669 ft)
622 km/h (386 mph; 336 kn) at 8,000 m (26,247 ft)
Cruise speed: 590 km/h (370 mph, 320 kn) at 6,000 m (19,685 ft)
Range: 880-1,144 km (547-711 mi, 475-618 nmi)
Combat range: 440-572 km (273-355 mi, 238-309 nmi) 440-572 km to the front and back home
Ferry range: 1,144-1,994 km (711-1,239 mi, 618-1,077 nmi) 1144 without and 1994 with drop tank
Service ceiling: 12,000 m (39,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 20.1 m/s (3,960 ft/min)
Wing loading: 196 kg/m2 (40 lb/sq ft)
Power/mass: 0.344 kW/kg (0.209 hp/lb)
Armament
Guns:
2 × 13 mm (.51 in) synchronized MG 131 machine guns with 300 rpg
1 × 20 mm (.78 in) MG 151/20 cannon as centerline Motorkanone with 200 rpg or
1 x 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannon as centerline Motorkanone with 65 rpg (G-6/U4 variant)
2 × 20 mm MG 151/20 underwing cannon pods with 135 rpg (optional kit-Rüstsatz VI)
Rockets: 2 × 21 cm (8 in) Wfr. Gr. 21 rockets (G-6 with BR21)
Bombs: 1 × 250 kg (551 lb) bomb or 4 × 50 kg (110 lb) bombs or 1 × 300-litre (79 US gal) drop tank
Avionics
FuG 16Z radio
00:00:00 Messerschmitt Bf 109
00:10:05 Eric Winkle Brown. Documentary
01:28:32 Messerschmitt Me 262
01:42:05 Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet Testing
01:52:03 Watch More Aircraft Videos
#airplane #messerschmitt #bf109

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[@RevMikeBlack]

The BB40 "fighter glider" sounds completely insane. You'd have to be a true believer to volunteer for that squadron.

[@black5f]

There's a small airfield near us in the UK with a resident 2 seater Spitfire (that does rides) and often a Mustang. Now and again a 109 appears over my house, its a Hispano built one and interestingly, is one of those built with a Merlin engine.

[@giancarlogarlaschi4388]

In Adolf Galland's book : " The First and the Last one " , he said : " Douglas Bader wanted to know if he was shot down by an Nco or an Officer ..." I was Very Surprised with this ! At the time I was a young Second Lieutenant at Webb Air Force Base , Big Spring , Texas.

[@sergeipohkerova7211]

0:01 if you pause and zoom in, you can see all the parking tickets on the canopy window, and the police boot on the main landing gear. Meanwhile, in Berlin, the Luftwaffe headquarters gets a third-notice invoice from London parking division, and Herr Hitler barks "just pay it already! Or it'll make registration harder."

[@giancarlogarlaschi4388]

Since a kid in Santiago de Chile , I was Fascinated for two airplanes I saw in my Father's Profile Publication's : Ju 87 Stuka and the BF 109E . Colorful and Striking shapes !

[@REPOMAN24722]

FW-190 will forever be my favorite plane of WW2. A beautiful bird, he-100 should have won the contract for the bf-109

[@FlyingCircusPeanut]

The fact that the he-100s entire skin is basically a radiator makes this not true for me. Way to fragile to be a fighter I believe

[@REPOMAN24722]

@@FlyingCircusPeanut Still, it was more maneuverable, faster and easier to fly than the bf-109, it was fragile but for the missions in the early days of the war it would have been a perfect aircraft,

[@SteveAubrey1762]

The moniker debate of BF 109 vs ME109 was brought up to Mr. Willy Messerschmitt. Which was it. Mr.Messerschmitt emphatically stated it was ME109.

[@MooreFishing-ky3wq]

The Bf109 never had the engine placed cannon operational until the “ Ffrederick “ . The cannon was prone to jamming in the early days if I recall correctly .

[@PORRRIDGE_GUN]

It worked if an MG17 (7.7mm) was fitted. Even a 13mm, but not very reliably and was too troublesome with 20mm. Anyway the E model had 2x20mm and two cowl mounted MG17s, albeit with a rather limited amount of ammo. You are correct that the 20mm didnt become standard until the F variant. Hispano and Jumo both produced inline engines pre-war that could mount a 20mm, it is odd that this took Germany longer to perfect.

[@kennedysingh3916]

Watched from Old Harbour Jamaica.

[@claudiocastellano8265]

Buen avion, algo pesado, le falto agilidad en bajas alturas

[@martinsaunders7925]

The last 109s were built in Hungary and only ceased for lack of complete engines. I believe that was 1964.

[@disposablehero4911]

My two favoritte ww2 aircrafts were the p40 warhawk and the Me/Bf 109. The only wish for the 109 would be for a bubble canopy.

[@ME-wq8lq]

I know it would have been more successful with a bubble canopy but the look would not be as good imo

[@dukecraig2402]

Here's a fun fact that surprised the living crap outta me when I read it, the first ME109 ever shot down was by an American. During the Spanish Civil War, an ex US Navy pilot who resigned his commission signed up to fly a Russian built fighter for the Republicans, he was also the first one to shoot down 2 consecutive ME109's.

[@JustAnother_Opinion]

Source?

[@joshuameader8898]

👍

[@kennymackay4134]

Um..the Bf109 wasn't "Germany's Opponent" as you claim in the the title.. it in fact fought on the side of Nazi Germany

[@Dronescapes]

I am fully aware. I understand the confusion, it should be more clear now

[@frederikhberg1308]

Old guy can have his opinions (no question that the Heinkel He 112 is better looking......) well, for me the Messerschmitt bf 109 is the better looking aircraft of the two, and it is to me the best looking fighter of all time, beacause it looks like a fighter and not just a pretty showpiace . The E models (Emil) are just great. Lots of beautiful planes on all sides during ww2.