Messerschmitt Bf 109 | Nazi Germany's most important fighter aircraft | Full Documentary

[Music] by the end of 1934 prior to the formal announcement of the Lu buffa's establishment Germany possessed fewer than 600 combat ready Frontline aircraft however when the Second World War began the 30% were single engine Fighters and over the next 6 years a compact yet robust aircraft the mmid BF 109 would serve as the Cornerstone of the German fighter Fleet this legendary machine remained in continuous action from 1939 to 1945 and in doing so it shot down twice as many aircraft as any other fighter in history the master Schmid BF 109 saw action in all theaters of war and in the initial two years of the conflict it virtually single-handedly decimated the majority of European Air Forces with a production exceeding 33,000 units the 109 emerged as the most prolific fighter aircraft of the second world war and ranked as the second most abundant aircraft in the annals of military Aviation over a 10-year period a total of nine main variants in near 80 subvariants were produced ongoing enhancements ensured that the aircraft maintained its formidable combat capabilities right up until the conclusion of hostilities even with the introduction of the exceptional folf 190 the BF 109 remained the German aircraft destined for unparallel fame solidifying its status as the most renowned aircraft ever constructed in Germany the story of the bf1 9 began in 1933 when the German air industry initiated a competition to seek a replacement for their current biplane Fighter the hle h51 as a new Frontline aircraft the Tactical requirements for the rlm specified a single engine single seat Pursuit fighter to be developed and made ready for evaluation by the end of 1935 the new aircraft was required to be equipped with two fixed machine guns and had the capability to reach speeds at up to 400 kmph development contracts were placed with four of Germany's leading manufacturers aado Hano folf and beish fuk vaka each produced its own design and after a series of evaluation trials Willie messers Schmid BF 109 was chosen to become gered standard funline fighter meanwhile in England two new British aircraft had conducted their inaugural flights the supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker hurricane since both Fighters were armed with eight Browning machine guns the rlm decided to increase the Armament of the 109 an additional weapon firing through the propeller Hub supplemented by the two existing nose mounted machine guns in December 1936 the first batch of water9 were sent to Spain where they were tested in combat by the L Fox Condor Legion they achieved immediate success demonstrating their superiority over all other aircraft in the Spanish Civil War during the initial two months of combat made up of volunteer Pilots the Condor Legion fought on the side of Franco's nationalist forces anol Gallant who would later emerge as an exceptional fight erase with 10 104 victories and became dr's youngest General experienced his first combat in Spain I flew the anle 51 bip plane but this was uh at the time already an obsolete fighter and therefore we used it only for direct support strafing and uh bing the Spanish Civil War marked the end of the biplane era and the dawn of the monoplane Fighter the concept of a Canever aircraft with enclosed cockpits was entirely novel leading experienced pilot to view the new mmid with a degree of skepticism fight a pilot in a close cockpit is an impossible think because you should smell the enemy you could smell them because of the oil they were burning back in gery the first available 109s were delivered to the first and second routs of the ren Fighter Wing as the 109 Pilots gained experience they began to develop a new and more effective fighter tactic known as the schab a quart head of flying aircraft in a loose formation or considerably less susceptible to attacks compared to the conventional grouping methods employing a formation pattern reminiscent of the spayed fingers of an outstretched hand each fighter within the Schwab formation offered protection from the one position behind it ensuring that all four aircraft enjoyed optimal visibility in my view one drawback was the placement of the undercarriage near the canopy occasionally especially for inexperienced Pilots this configuration could cause the aircraft to Veer to the left during takeoff we had many accidents because of this9 in comparing the 109 to the FW 190 its under Carriage was on the wings there was a wider span dealing with the mess Schmid on uneven surfaces posed an extremely perilous challenge often resulting in trainy Pilots losing their lives during the inaugural fights that's problem one problem was especially for inexperienced Pilots when taking off insufficient attention to acceleration as the tail lifted and the propeller be began to turn could often lead to the aircraft veering to the left once that happened there was nothing you could do at all it was a major problem and it happened quite frequently on numerous occasions when Pilots had completed extended missions returned from a day of combat and were called back for another mission during takeoff the aircraft would vear off course crashing directly into the barracks this happened many times by 1938 a European war was inevitable and German rearmament continue to Pace 109 production expanded dramatically and by the end of July 6th more fighter groups had been re-equipped in October the initial Highway productive variant emerged powered by the damler Benz engine known as the BF 109e known as the am it had a maximum speed of 570 kmph it was armed with either two machine guns and two cannons or four machine guns in one cannon on September 1st 1939 Germany invaded Poland and 219 spearheaded the attack thep polish Air Force found itself severely overmatched and within a month of the invasion it had suffered the loss of over 200 Frontline aircraft it's difficult to say that there were significant differences between the mesit and other aircrafts they were very much the same the difference more or less was due to the Pilot's competence you may not know bu and the me 109 was not a very large fighter plane in fact it was one of the smallest planes it was a single-seater flexible fast aircraft designed to hunt down enemy aircraft that was the main role of the me 1099 the L B the casualties in Poland included 67 Ami 109s but most of were lost to ground fire the first clash between the new German fighter and the Royal Air Force came on September the third at P Ban two wellingtons from the number three group were shot down whilst making an attack on the German battle Cruisers shanor sting Eisen now on September 13th 109 successfully eliminated five additional wellingtons and an attack on the Cruisers Leipzig and nberg 5 days later a separate formation of 24 wellingtons from squadrons 9 37 and 149 embarked on a reconnaissance mission over willhelm Haven and schillig Roads intercepted by me 109s and 110 destroyers 10 of the British machines were shot down and other three were badly damaged it was much the same story when Hitler invaded France and a low countries in May 1940 Holland Belgium and Luxembourg were all defeated in quick succession and the French army de was no match for the L bafa in either organization or equipment 16 fighter groups with more than 1,000 BF 109s were deployed in support of German advance in less than a week France had lost more than 34s of its total fighter strength despite the dispatch of a limited number of Hurricane squadrons by Britain to provide assistance their presence was too insufficient to significantly impede the tide on May 23rd 109's engaged in combat with RAF Spitfires marking the first instance when German Pilots confronted substantial opposition no I would like to say and many pilots who went on missions will agree that at the end of the day it was very much to do with who was sitting at the stick we experience that during the Battle of Britain British Pilots shot down German pilots and vice versa it all depends on the pilot what sort of trainings he had received how good he was was he faster than his counterpart that was the problem but the Spitfire would remain a deadly enemy plaguing the 109 throughout the whole of its career as the Germans Advanced through France RAF Spitfire and hurricane squadrons provided air cover for the British expeditionary force during its Retreat to [Music] Dunkirk Commander Douglas bada who had reenlisted in the RAF after losing both legs in a 1931 air crash encountered 109s over the channel during the Dunkirk of uation I shot one fellow down at Dunkirk he was must have been a beginner like myself because he stayed flying absolutely straight and L while I shot him down you know without moving we didn't have a superiority that's but we had enough the Germans left Dunkirk and went on to to Paris and so on which was a great mistake of theirs really we lost quite a lot of airplanes at duner and some jolly good Pilots but uh they managed to get back require 300,000 men I think from the beaches there's a lot of people F dead C see nonetheless despite the successful evacuation by the end of June the RAF had incured the loss of more than 500 Fighters France had capitulated and Germany had achieved Complete Air Supremacy over Western Europe while the Lu Baff regrouped for the invasion of Britain a number of improvements were made to the me 109e Wing mounted machine guns were abandoned in favor of the GFF cannon in power output was increased by using the new damler Ben 601n engine armor plating was added to both pilot seat and the canopy area immediately behind his head in an effort to increase the operational range provision was made for 300 L drop tanks to be carried externally fighter bomber variants were modified to carry either a single 250 kg bomb or two 450 kg bombs using a fuselage mounted rack the 109e compared well with the Contemporary Spitfire but nevertheless it had its shortcomings Robert Stanford talk an Rafa soon got his first killer Dunkirk had experience of a meal I flew the first one we captured in 1940 at farra which is a test establishment our as you know and we did a comparison trial between this first mes SM and an e me SMY and a Spitfire Mark two they were very comparable in their performance but I thought the 109 going downhill fast was very stiff on control there was too much metal strutting and reinforcing around which restricts your vision very very much by the summer of 1940 more than 2 and a half thousand German aircraft were ready to attack Great Britain based in France the low countries they began the main assault on August the 13th with the aim of achieving air superiority the loop off his bombers targeted airfields and radar stations across the entire southeastern region of England they caused extensive damage and on the first day alone the RAF lost nearly 60 aircraft on the ground during the opening phase of the battle the German bombers were escorted by twin engine bf-1 1110s they were hopelessly inadequate and before long 109 fighter units were being assigned to protect both the bombers and their escorts mess Schmid bf110 proved to be a mistake as both Douglas B and Adolf Gallant would later Testify the Germans thought it was very good actually it was an absolute gift for single engine fighter absolutely absolutely and I think the lightning was uh an eal mistake P P38 pilot uh Angies me about to state in town but the bf110 is not the only problem for the Lu baffa the 109e variant had a restricted range of just 400 miles and his operational time in the Skies over England amounted to slightly more than 15 minutes no longer able to function independently its Effectiveness against the British Fighters was greatly reduced in the initial week of September gurang altered his tactics by shifting Focus away from attacking Britain's airfields and instead concentrating on the city of London the RAF was granted a respite and on September 15th fighter command managed to assemble a force of 300 fighters to intercept the most extensive bombing rate of the battle in the ensuing malor Spitfires and hurricanes outnumbered the 109s by a ratio of 2:1 and as a result 60 German aircraft were destroyed after 2 and 1/2 months of continuous fighting it was a demoralizing blow in spite of all their efforts the Lu bafa had failed to knock out the radar system or to suppress the RAF within 48 Hours of September the 15th Hitler had postponed the invasion of Britain indefinitely as the battle eventually concluded in late October Germany's losses amounted to over 1700 aircraft which included 610 BF 109s in April 1941 Hitler attacked Yugoslavia and Greece as the war Sprint to Africa in the Middle East the 109 was specifically adapted in order to cope with the predominantly Dusty conditions to minimize engine damage a sand filter was fitted over the supercharger air intake and the resulting tropicalized version was designated the BF 109 Trump in June 1941 Germany launched operation Barbarosa and the invasion of Russia the opening attack was supported by 450 BF 109s while a third of these aircraft were EV variants the rest of the force was made up of the latest 109 model the Friedrich the F Incorporated a number of improvements many of which resulted from the experienc gain in the Battle of br Britney the inclusion of a larger propeller spinner and a revamped engine cowling minimized air resistance and distilled the aircraft with a significantly sleeker appearance the incorporation of rounded wind tips and the elimination of tailplane support struts enhanced its performance and increased its operational sealing compared to the Amil variant in the initial two days of operation Barbarosa the LIF Val is 109 e andf successfully downed over 300 Russian aircraft hundreds more were destroyed on the ground in a series of well-timed attacks on Soviet airfields by the end of the month German Pilots have claimed more than 4,000 Russian aircraft for the loss of only 150 of their own yes I can remember all of my battles these are Memories One never forgets I had 22 confirmed hits I can remember various situations one was on September the 15th in Ria I shot down four aircraft in one day one plane in the morning and another 3 in the afternoon all in one go it happened within minutes I would say that as a pilot you have to have good reflexes and a good overall view of what's going on up there in the up yeah meanwhile on the Western Front the supermarine Spitfire was keeping Pace with the development of the 109 although it was much less maneuverable the 109f could outperform both the Spitfire Mark 1 and two but in the spring of 1941 the Spitfire Mark 5 made its first appearance equipped with a new and more powerful Rolls-Royce engine it was an immediate success and as soon as it arrived in Squadron strength the balance between the Spitfire and the BF 109 was quickly restored it was a question of who had the most powerful engine the stronger the engine the better the airplane by that was a handicap with our planes we always had weaker engines than the English Englander and there four slower planes L for the RAF the Spitfire Mark 5 proved inequality that was very short-lived later in the same year the look baa took the lead once more with the introduction of the radial engine folf 190 known as The Butcher bird it could out climb and out dive at the opposing fighter and in a dog fight with a Spitfire Mark 5 it could engage and disengage almost at will the f wolf had a very powerful engine and in itself was a very robust well-built machine it could cope very well with being shot at probably more than the me 109 the folf had an air cooled engine and the me 109a liquid cooled engine which meant that should the any shrapnel caus damage to the cooling system of the liquid cooled engine then the battle would be over whereas with the [ __ ] wolf with its air cooled engine would continue the FF was also much faster close to the ground that is to say below 6,000 M but above 6,000 M the me 109 was considerably Superior and as most air battels took place at low levels the folf usually had the overall Advantage the aircraft was also much sturdier than the me19 but had some peculiar characteristics for example during certain flights because of the cooling systems were better at higher speeds some engine overheating occurred this could sometimes lead to stability of the aircraft being affected also the aircraft had a nasty habit of pulling to one side or the other sometimes this is almost impossible to control the British response to the butcher bird was extremely rapid by the end of the year rollsroyce had produced a new two-stage supercharged and intercooled engine the Merlin 61 but it was fitted to the long no Spitfire Mark 9 it transformed the situation completely although similar in appearance to its Mark 5 predecessor the mark 9 became the definitive Spitfire it was was a vast improvement over the previous versions and with its dramatic increase in performance it was more than a match for either the 109f or the folf 190 and the Spitfire n reign supreme for the rest of the war it was better than the 190 without climb did the Spitfire was superior but it all depended on what sort of technical tricks the enemy came up with and to get one better when the Spitfire 5 was introduced there was no doubt that we were Superior with our 109 we were faster and also we were able to fly very low so that the Spitfire couldn't catch us but then new models of the Spitfire were brought out with newer and better engines for instance the Rolls-Royce Merlin and therefore they took the lead again as they were faster and could fly higher we have to quickly develop something better so he brought out a water methanol injection system to cool down the engine and that was an improvement of 60 70 80% and once more you're faster than the Spitfire the English would take our planes which should been shot down examine them and try to copy the engines after copying and improving the engines their engines were again more powerful once more the English had caught up with our design they had unlimited amounts of quality materials especially their steel to build better engines than we could because we didn't have any steel that's why we occupied Norway to get highquality steel for our production and that was not enough to many of the luff's experienced Pilots the F4 model was the ultimate 109 variant we have had various types that was the mmid E which was the one involved in the Battle of Britain and then there was the F which was used in Africa it was supposed to be the most attractive of the 109s after that the mmid nickname became the bull because of the large indentations in it to accommodate the machine guns there was one version of of the mess Schmid which even had to carry a bomb on the Dome of the aircraft but I always thought the 109 was really a fighter plane and should not be used as a bomber personally I enjoyed flying it greatly and had no problems with the aircraft at all the F variant served with almost every unit in the yaka and produced some of the highest scoring Aces on both the Easter and Western fronts on September the 1st 1942 while on escort mission in Africa Hans Yim Merc set a record at a 109f when he destroyed 18 British fighters in a single day during the whole of the month he shot down a total of 62 machines and by the time of his death on September the 30th his personal scor St at 158 British aircraft but even this number seem relatively small when compared with the talles of G born and Eric hman serving with JG 52 on the Eastern Front both men amassed more than 300 Comet victories they were the most successful aces of the war and the only two pilots to ever shoot down more than 300 enemy [Music] aircraft Hartman was a strong advocate of tactics and became the highest scoring fighter pilot in the history of Aviation he followed the well-tried methods of many first world war Aces and preferred to attack an enemy only when the odds were heavily in his favor he summed up the advantages of having superiority in numbers by coining the phrase too many hounds are the death of the hair that means that one duck never catch a rabbit but if lots of bus are behind one rabbit then they got him harman's experience as a fighter pilot Spann three whole decades in World War II he flew over 1,400 missions and had combat in more than half of them he shot down 352 enemy aircraft all on the Eastern front and all while flying the me 109 The Secret of his success lay in always maneuvering to gain the advantage [Music] no clouds have to no clouds try to to get in the Sun and start from the Sun you attack do you have clouds then I tried um to go downstairs that I have enemies here in the sky and the clouds and try to get exactly under the airplane then come up with full power and he cannot see you because he has wings he protect you get them down the next step is go away after you get still and watch again the whole area what's going on decide for another one hour go home make a cover break I told to my Pilots always only if the windshield is filled up with the Enemy then pull the trigger they save you a lot of ammunition but in spite of its high speed and good performance at altitude the 109f was never built in really large numbers in May 1942 it began to be replaced by the next 109 variant the Gustav powered by the damler Benz db60 5 engine the new machine had a better performance and a better Armament but it was far heavier and much less maneuverable nevertheless it was built in enormous quantities and for the next 3 years it would form the backbone of the luo's fighter Force by the end of the war 10 main subtypes had appeared including rocket firing fighter bombers twocat training versions photographic reconnaissance models and a whole series of Fighters equipped with both pressurized and non-pressurized cockpits fastest of all of these versions was the 109 G10 with a top speed of 690 kmph at an altitude of 7,500 M the Gustav was eventually followed by both H and K variants but neither of them supplanted it it was destined to serve with every LIF BMP a fighter unit in every theater of war as demand increased the yearly production rate for 109's Rose sharply in 1942 approximately 2 1 12,000 machines had been built during the following year the number was increased to 6,250 but the peak came in 1944 when the mess Schmidt factories combined with numerous subcontractors produced The Staggering total of more than 13,000 aircraft first delivery of the 109g went to jg2 in the channel Coast Area and were used in high altitude interception role particularly against alite bombers by 1943 the American daylight bombing campaign was increasing in intensity and many 109 units were withdrawn from their theaters to cope with the threat to [Music] Germany the types of missions depended on the situation if only a few fighter planes were approaching we would fly our four aircraft but if there were more than that or whole groups we would fly with 8 to 12 planes the Autumn of 1943 produced some of the L Buff's most notable victories over the US bomber force on August the 1st 55 heavy bombers were shot down during a raid on the oil installations at proest 2 weeks later the Americans attacked the industrial centers at leinburg and schin for both targets were well beyond the range of Allied Fighters and the unescorted bombers had to face the full Fury of the love bip for 2 hours each way 60 b7s were lost on the first raid on August the 17 and almost a month later another 60 bombers failed to return from a second crippling raid 109 Pilots used a variety of weapons and tactics against the unending streams of American and British bombers some Fighters were equipped to Fire 21 cm Rockets from beneath each Wing While others flew above the bombers and dropped 250 kg bombs into the large [Music] formations they were always trying to improve all the fighter planes it was the same with the Enemy for instance with the Boeing Flying Fortress we had to find new weapons to combat it that's why we even tried to fight the enemy with rockets which were hung underneath the wings the mmid 109 was at the time the standard plane of the German lofa and the only fighter plane which we could use and which we were very successful with because there was no other plane which could compare with [Music] it I was stationed for a while near gber and was with the JG 304 group I was a so-called high flyer we were moved around quite a lot in the W when the Aram and new Magan Affair happened I took it very personally then I was shot down near reckling Housen I'm I have to say that these missions were the most depressing experience I have had in my entire life as a pilot when you were flying a very heavily armored aircraft you had to attack transport planes I.E gliders Etc you knew that there were human beings in there and it was really the worst experience meanwhile on the Eastern Front Hitler had launched operation Citadel aimed at destroying the Russian forces deployed in the vital k salad this large scale offensive became the single most decisive battle on the entire Eastern Front 2,500 panzers were supported by eight German fighter groups equipped with both 109g and the fw190 between them these units managed to destroy nearly 450 Soviet aircraft during 7 Days of almost continuous fighting but in spite of the success the German Advance was halted kisk had become the turning point and for the rest of the war on the Eastern Front Hitler's Panzer armies would be permanently on the defensive by 1944 Russia had re-equipped with much improved aircraft the new Yak 3 had a maximum speed of 720 kmph while the stovic 1 L2 was given a rear Gunner and two 37 mm cannons both aircraft were capable of taking on either a funk for Messer Schmid on roughly equal terms with the arrival of the G Series the me 109 had reached the limit of its development potential operated Weaponry had led to an inevitable increase in weight and although they were fast the later models were becoming less maneuverable and much harder to handle at first they had 2 cm cannons and then 3 cm cannons which fired through the propeller many Pilots found that the only disadvantage was that the 3cm cannon Couldn't Shoot fast in succession sh in the and though it would have been better maybe to have only one Cannon which could shoot faster for example during missions I hit Targets on the ground using the 3 cm Cannon and I must say the impact was enormous the 109 had two heavy machine guns which shot through the propeller that is what we had at the Flying school from 1943 onwards 109 Pilots had to contend with one of the most powerful fighters in the second world war the Republic Thunderbolt with 850 caliber machine guns the p47 had unrivaled Firepower its r2800 double wasp radial gave it a high top speed and if it was fitted with drop tanks it had enough range to reach far into Germany Francis gabreski flew p47 with the 56 finder group and became the highest scoring American Ace in Europe he 28 confirmed kills including 10 faul wolf 190s and 10 Emy 109s it was a sturdy airplane built like the T and I could drive it through most anything it was more than a match for the wro uh 190 it wasn't more than a match for 109 we had water injection that uh would was sustain power keep us there for about 3 minutes up to five minutes depend uh depending upon how you use it but it gave us that tremendous Edge that we needed against the German Luft Waffa while the Thunderbolt made a major contribution to the daylight bombing campaign its Effectiveness as an escort on long range missions was limited by the need to carry drop tanks Allied losses fell dramatically with the introduction of the first truly longrange Fighter the P-51 Mustang howed by the Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 it was Superior in speed to the 109g at any height above 28,000 ft it can outpace an fw190 by nearly 70 mph it could out diive the [ __ ] wolf and the mmid outturn both of them and outrun the 109 with ease but most important of all it could do all of this over the German Capital itself the Mustang could fly all the way to Berlin and back the new machine joined the Thunderbolt groups in increasing numbers before long Germany was losing fighter pilots far quicker than it could replace [Music] them 2009 the 109 was mainly used to defend the right Spitfire when the Americans came up with their Mustangs and Thunderbolts especially which had fantastic climbing and flying abilities we could not compete those Pilots that were available were being sent into action with the beest minimum of training by the middle of 1944 the Lo off is dwindling supplies of aviation fuel had reached crisis point in the weeks that followed D-Day more and more airfields in Northwest Europe became readily available to the Allies in August the Americans broke out of Normandy and began the long advanced eastwards the German Fighters were hopelessly outnumbered and those that surviv the initial attacks were hammered Rel endlessly both in the air and on the [Music] ground as he began to disintegrate the L baffa mounted one last major operation code name Borden platter on January the 1st 1945 800 Fighters took off for a surprise attack on the Allied airfields in Holland Belgium and Luxemburg by the end of the day they have destroyed nearly 200 Allied aircraft at the cost of 100 fol and messers schmets it was a tactical disaster since while the Ally aircraft were quickly replaced the loss of 100 Pilots only served to weaken the Lu off the still further on April the 7th 1945 120 109 GS supplied by a special unit known as the S Commando Elba to Pardon a suicide mission against the large US bombing raid escorted by me262 jets in piloted mainly by volunteered novices the sole purpose of the 109s was to Ram the American bombers 8 B17 flying fortresses were hit before the American fighter escort could intervene but out of the original force of 120 messers schmits only 15 returned to base the BF 109 had taken part in its last large-scale mission of the war with the L baa effectively defeated the Allied air fleets had total control over the Skies of Germany British and American fighters and bombers ranged freely and were able to hit any remaining targets at will one by one the German generals surrendered their armies the final capitulation took place on May the 7th and with guring himself a prisoner of the Allies the resistance of the Lu baffa finally came to an end 50 years later there was only one genuine airworthy survivor of the G Series black six built to G2 scander at ear's lipik factory the machine was delivered to 3 jg77 on October the 21st 1942 during its short operational career it served in the western desert with rl's Africa Corp and was flown by a veteran of the East Front Lieutenant Hines ludman on November the 4th ludman was making an attack on a British bommer Force when he was intercepted by two Curtis P40 Katy Hawks in the ensuing dog fight black 6 was hit in a tailplane propeller and canopy and its pilot was injured in the head ludman managed to fly the aircraft home but it was so badly damaged that it had to be taken to a repair Depot to the southeast of T Brook 9 days later it was captured by an Australian unit and within a few weeks it had been transported to England by ship during the next two years the design was analyzed and the Machine was flown and simulated dog fights against a number of Allied Fighters including the Spitfire Mustang and mosquito after the war it was put into storage and moved from One RAF base to another until it finally deteriorated into a wreck in 1972 a small team of volunteers began an enormous task of restoring it to a full flying condition and after two Decades of painstaking work black six flew again for the first time in over 45 years painted in its original desert colors and bearing the wolf's headrest of jg77 it is the only genuine German World War II combat aircraft find anywhere in the world today willly M Smith's fabled BF 109 was manufactured in greater numbers than any other production aircraft almost 34,000 were built usually referred to as the me 109 at the time the aircraft was conceived it was designated the BF 109 B because the maker was located in Bavaria and F because the company was called flug it was only when William MERS SMI G gain full control of the company that the Emy prefix was assigned throughout the 30s and during the second world war William ersmi endured a dogged relationship with aart milch who had gained High position with the fledgling State airline LT hanser and later with the German air Ministry more often known as the rlm a close friend of milch was was killed piloting a mmith design transport plane the M20 on its first flight milch was to blame mesmi over the accident a grudge that was to last for years fortunately mesas SMI had cultivated a relationship with Herman guring who ultimately became milch's Superior to get his first Luft waffer fighter contract mmi's bf19 had to compete with an advanced hanle design the H 112 there's no question the hanle aircraft was the better looking aircraft but um and incidentally the when it came to the test pilots at rein they gave the2 the better report considerably better over the 109 but udet decided that he was under pressure to produce numbers of aircraft rather than quality and he realized quite rightly that the 109 was Far easier to produce in numbers than the 112 basically because the undercarriage and the 109 was an integral part of the Fus Lage so the Fus and the wings could be produced separately and then joined at a later date in the end the competition Was Won by the 109 and a legend was born the 109 first Saw Service in Spain along with other modern German aircraft like the Shuka the 109 was tested in actual combat conditions the lessons gained would later be applied to a much larger conflict in the Skies over Britain in Spain it became clear that the 109 lacked range and endurance its slender lines made for greater speed but left little space for fuel one possible solution to this problem was to use the bf10 to tow the smaller 109 to the combat area thus preserving its limited fuel for fighting novel though the idea was the towing technique proved impractical for all but glider Warfare however a few years later when Germany was suffering from the Relentless heavy bombing of the US 8th Air Force the 109 was employed as a test aircraft in towing a unique glider fighter concept offered by the bloom and Vos company the BV 40 was a very lowcost fighter glider that would have been coupled to a BF 109 when the tiny blman Vos design was in a position above the American bombers it was released to attack them using its two 30 mm cannons and their Limited stock of ammunition the bb40 was so small its pilot had to lie on a mattress in a prone position however the BV 40 relied upon its dominative size to avoid us Gunners only seven BV 40s were built before the project was abandoned probably because the me163 was a slightly more practical and self-contained concept 109s were also pressed into service for clandestine missions dropping spies and sabot Behind Enemy Lines special capsules could be attached to both wings each containing a single parachutist an often overlooked feature of the 109 was its system of Leading Edge slats on the forward surface of the Wings these made for better handling and shorter takeoffs interestingly the concept had been developed and patented by the British Hanley page company and MMI had to pay for the use of the invent ion the slats Pro so successful that they were also used in meas Smith's 410 and legendary 262 jet fighter the 262 had another link to the BF 109 owing to the fact that the Jet's nose wheel assembly is actually a single main wheeel strut from the BF 109's narrow gate undercarriage the 109's narrow gate undercarriage was always a challenge when it came to Landing or takeoff even under normal conditions at one point in the war the Cs Marine had high hopes for its sole aircraft carrier the Zeppelin it was always assumed that the Zeppelin would be equipped with shukas and 109's the shukas wide gate undercarriage would have been suitable for aircraft carrier Landings but the standard 109 Arrangement was not accordingly Meers smmi set to work to modify the wings so that the wheels could function in a more stable wide gate fashion this aircraft was designated the me1 155 the Zeppelin never put to Sea and the5 was abandoned only to be later resurrected by the blowman Vos company as a very high altitude fighter concept but this came too late to help and aen Germany Mesa SMI followed the 109 with the BF 110 although this later became successful in several other roles it was never suitable for the longrange bomber escort Mission meser Smith quickly offered the 210 as an alternative but this proved to be a failure and so the m410 was rushed into development as a precaution in 1942 the company was ordered to develop a backup aircraft based on existing 109 parts and using two fuselages which Ena the creation of a totally new aircraft employing a minimum number of new parts the me 109 Z zilling was made as a single seat very long range heavy fighter it might have shown great promise if the two prototypes had not been badly damaged in an Allied bombing raid this slust demonstrated that Germany needed a Homeland Defender more than a bomber escort at this stage of the war in addition the me262 jet was close to delivery and this groundbreaking design could have been a real game Cher if they had arrived in time possible proof of the me109 Z's viability came with the US North American p82 twin Mustang independently the German designer of the p82 chose to follow exactly the same approach as the me 109z 270 twin Mustangs were actually produced and served in Korea and the United States as night fighters in another pair ing BF 109s were flown with other aircraft during the mistal missions these occurred when Germany's fortunes were declining and the verar were looking to develop a new type of flying bomb the concept would use a disposable unmanned bomber filled with explosives but Guided by a piloted 109 gliders were first used to prove this concept but have eventually two engine bombers were employed the BF 109 was produced in greater numbers than any aircraft in history it served the Lu waffer and other Air Forces well and it proved more than an adequate Fighter for Germany until it was supplanted by the fw10 even then it remained in active service and production until the end of the war the BF 109 was one of aviation's Great [Music] Planes if you enjoyed this video please remember to like And subscribe and as always thank you for [Music] watching [Music] he

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Keywords: messerschmitt bf 109, winkle brown bf 109, me 109, messerschmitt 109, messerschmitt me 109, bf 109 documentary, bf 109, messerschmitt, war stories, aircraft documentary, airplane documentary, WW2 documentary, WWII documentary, history documentary, ww2 planes, ww2 aircraft, fw 190, world war ii, Ww2 fighter planes, World war 2, dronescapes, ww2 documentary, the luftwaffe, hans joachim marseille, german models, german luftwaffe

Id: xMM_ITCOxAc

Length: 56min 8sec (3368 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 07 2023