homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Battle of Britain + Battle of Britain II bf109 pics

Not a BoB warbird, but nice to see a 109G restored:
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Folks,

Pat_Pattle:

Absolutely gorgeous 'Gustav'. Note the German flag in the absence of the swastika and the distinctive supercharger intake of the 'G' model. I wonder what Stickman would be willing to pay for a ride? Thank you for posting the link to these delightful pics.

The 109 was often dismissed by the public as inferior to the Spitfire and to certain other allied planes. In the fullness of time the BF 109 came to be appreciated as one of the greatest combat aircraft in history. It is not generally known that the original V1 Messerschmitt (1935)prototype had a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine.

There's more of it here

However the site seems to be down temporarily. Try from time to time as there are movies with sound from the DB605.

I love this "new" 109.
Hope to one day see an restored Emil go into the sky.

From what I've read the 109's in BoB, especially the cannon armed models E1/E3 were a match for the Spit, turning circle excepted. For a few weeks in September they had actually won local air superiority over the 11 group area, a condition that only really ceased when the decision was made that they should fly close escort to the bombers, depriving them of altitude, speed and combat radius.

I can recommend an excellent read 'Who won the Battle of Britain?' by W/Co H.R Allen DFC, my copy is published by Panther in 1976. It challenges a lot of the common thinking of the battle. Very interesting.

Pat,

Thank you very much for posting that link. I am so incredibly jealous of the men who got to fly that aircraft. The Bf 109 is my favorite fighter aircraft of WWII and, while I don't consider myself an expert, I do have a veritable mountain of literature regarding it. In May of 2003 I visited the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. for the sole purpose of seeing the Bf 109G-6 that they have on display there. As I gazed it, I was overwhelmed by the realization that I was looking at one the few surviving examples of that extraordinary aircraft. I thought about how, as the years past, the list of surviving airframes gradually grew shorter and shorter. The 109 was a rare and dying breed. It does my heart good to see that now that list can be increased by one. Hopefully in the future more will be added to that list. I hope other aircraft restorers will follow the example of the team who restored this 109. They did something a little unusual in that much of this 109's airframe is new. It reminds me of a "new" Me 262 that was completed a couple years ago, if memory serves. If I can, I'll try and dig up the article that I read about it. I don't remember all of the specific details, but I do recall that the team involved in the construction of that aircraft managed to borrow an original example that had been in the possession of the US Navy. The team then completely took it apart and made copies of all of the parts, pieces, and components. They then reassembled the original aircraft and gave it back to the Navy. Then, using the new parts and two new General Electric jet engines, they built a new, airworthy Me 262 (the only one in the world, to my knowledge). In Germany, I believe there is at least one, if not two, Fw 190s also being built in this fashion. If this trend continues, we could someday see a whole sky full of new vintage aircraft.

I believe the F (Friedrich) model had a similar, if not identical, supercharger intake as did the later K (Kurfurst).

I don't know what Stickman would be willing to pay for a ride in it, but I can tell you I'd be willing to pay almost anything.

Yes, in his book "The First and the Last", Adolf Galland discusses this at some length. In one passage, he says: "The fighter pilot's element is to attack, to track, to hunt, and to destroy the enemy. Only in this way can the eager and skillful fighter pilot display his ability to the full. Tie him to a narrow and confined task, rob him of his initiative, and you take away from him the best and most valuable qualities he possesses: aggressive spirit, joy of action, and the passion of the hunter." In another passage, he writes: "The German fighters found themselves in a similar predicament to a dog on a chain who wants to attack the foe but can not harm him because of the limitation of his chain."

If you haven't already read it, definitely give "The First and the Last" a read.

Best regards,
Tattered Boots

I remember he made a big thing of how the RAF should have adopted .50's instead of .303's.

That's right Beaufort, I can't remember the figures (I'm at work) but the colt.50 had a rate of fire far in excess of the Browning and a massive increase in weight of fire.

I'm not sure if the author had some particular axe to grind, but he did raise some very good points, if not a little controversial. I may post some of them here at some point as it would be interesting to hear some others opinions of them.

I've read of the 262, nice project and I also thought that there was a Stuka being rebuilt somewhere? There were two (real) 109's flying at North Weald a few years back, simply awsome and very menacing.

I shall look for Gallands book on the 'net later, thanks 'Boots I've been meaning to read it for a while.

Heini !
I think there is a flying "Emil" at Chino Calif.
Happy Landings
Benny

Great Pics, special the last one from the 4# post i mean.