Messerschmitt Bf-109E-1 Emil

From The Air Combat Wiki

Contents 1 Fighter Ace Screenshots 2 Fighter Ace Ratings 3 Fighter Ace Performance 4 Historical Statistics 5 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 7 History 8 Sources 9 See Also

Fighter Ace Screenshots

Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ
Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ

Fighter Ace Ratings

Durability: 2

Speed: 6

Maneuverability: 7

Firepower: 1

Climb Rate: 5

Ground Attack: 1

Fighter Ace Performance

Top Speeds						Climb Rates
	Sea Level	4921' 1500m	9843' 3000m	19685' 6000m	Best Speed	Best IAS	to 1000m	to 3000m	to 6000m
mph	295	316	335	343	350@ 14463'	165 mph	1:18	3:23	6:42
kph	475	508	539	552	563@ 4400m	265 kph

Historical Statistics

Service Date: March 1939

Primary Guns: 2x MG17 7.9mm machine guns with 1000 rpg in cowl

Secondary Guns: 2x MG17 7.9mm machine guns with 420 rpg in wings

Ordnance: 1x 551 lb (250 kg) bomb or 1x 475 lb (215 kg) drop tank

Engine(s): 1x Daimler-Benz DB-601Aa in-line rated for 1,175 hp at sea level

Int Fuel Capacity: 634 lbs (287 kg)

Ext Fuel Capacity: 476 lbs (216 kg)

Maximum Speeds: 295 mph (474 kph) at sea level, 350 mph (563 kph) at 14,560 ft (4,438 m)

Ceiling: 34,450 ft (10,500 m)

Loaded Weight: 5,800 lbs (2,630 kg)

Wing Area: 176.5 sq ft (16.4 sq m)

Wing Loading: 33.3 lbs/sq ft (162.5 kg/sq m)

Strengths

Speed: The top speed of 334 mph is very good for an early war fighter.

Climb Rate: The Bf-109s all had superior climb rate over their competition.

Weaknesses

Firepower: The four 7.9mm machine-guns were only half as many as mounted in the Spitfire and Hurricane.

Durability: The 109 was a small plane and not capable of absorbing much combat damage.

History

Willy Messerschmitt's masterpiece, the Bf-109, was the prototypical modern fighter at the beginning of the war and was still going strong at war's end six years later. Ironically, the plane was almost rejected before it was submitted. Due to several previous run-ins over a previous transport design, Erhard Milch, the Reich Commissioner for Aviation, flatly stated that Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (Bf) and Willy Messerschmitt wouldn't be allowed to build anything but other peoples' designs.

Despite assurances he would never get a contract, Messerschmitt went ahead and entered the competition to provide a new front-line fighter for the Luftwaffe. Besides using the most advanced technology available in 1934, the Bf-109A was designed to be able to use either the Junkers Jumo 210 or the Daimler-Benz DB-600 engine, both of which were under development at the time.

With the new engines undergoing developmental delays, a Rolls Royce Kestrel engine was installed in the prototype and the Bf-109V-1 first took to the air in September 1935. A month later the Jumo 210A became available and was used to power the second prototype, which commenced flight testing in January 1936. With the completion of the third prototype with the Daimler Benz engine in June, the Luftwaffe was impressed enough to order ten pre-production machines.

By the time the fourth prototype was undergoing testing, the guns had been installed and the Bf-109 was officially a fighter. The initial guns arrangement consisted of a pair of MG-17s in the cowl and another MG-17 firing through the propeller hub.

In late 1936 the third, fourth, and fifth prototypes were sent to Spain for combat evaluations against the Polikarpov I-15 fighters, which were outclassing the older He-51 biplanes. After three months of successful testing, the prototypes were returned to Messerschmitt to allow continuation of the development program.

The first official production machine, the Jumo 210Da powered Bf-109B-1, was delivered in February 1937. The planes were assigned to JG 132 Richtofen and after hasty training, the unit was sent to Spain to counter the I-15s and the new I-16 Ratas that were just starting to appear. Throughout 1937 B models were hurriedly produced, brought into service, and shipped off to the Condor Legion in Spain.

Using the more powerful Jumo 210Ga, the Bf-109C-1 made its first appearance in the early spring of 1938. Originally intended to mount an MG-FF 20mm cannon in the propeller hub, problems with the gun required another alternative to be used, resulting in the installation of an MG-17 in each wing, outboard of the wheel wells.

Thinking that the new Daimler Benz DB-601 was ready for production, the new "D" model was introduced, but engine production delays meant that the Jumo 210Da had to be used for the Bf-109D-1 ìDoraî.

In 1937, a tuned Bf 109 E (V13 with a 1 650 hp DB 601) broke the speed-world record with 611 km/h on 11 Nov. In the summer of 1938, the DB-601A-1 was ready and the first Bf-109E-1 Emils started to roll off the production line by the end of the year. As with the C-1 and D models, the E-1 was fitted with a pair of MG-17s with 1000 rpg in the cowl and another pair of MG-17s with 420 rpg in the wings.

On 1 Sep 1939 the Luftwaffe posessed 1 056 Bf 109s (about 700 Es, 100 Ds, 100 Cs and 150 Bs), but only 200 were included in the Luftwaffe’s order of Battle against Poland because the retention of the bulk of the Jagdstaffeln in the West was deemed necessary as a safeguard against any eventualities. Those Bf 109s used in the Polish campaign flew uncontested by Polish fighters strafing targets of opportunity. Attrition was nevertheless high, 67 aircraft had to be written off, mostly owing to groundfire.

Meanwhile first encounters with the British occured in the West, starting on 4 Sept when a Bf 109 E-1 shot down a Wellington off Brunsbüttel. On 8 Sep, two French fliers shot down a Bf 109 each near Landau, during an aerial combat between five Curtiss Hawk fighters and four Bf 109s. These were the first French air kills of the war. On 20 Sept, three Fairey Battles, patroling the frontier near Aachen, were attacked by Bf 109s and two Battles were shot down. The gunner of the third Battle shot down a 109 - the first enemy aircraft to be destroyed by the RAF in WW2.

By the end of 1940 all older 109-models had been replaced with the E-model, except for a few D nightfighters.

Sources

Beaman Jr., John R. and Campbell, Jerry L.; Messerschmitt Bf 109 In Action, Part One; Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, TX; 1980.

Green, William; War Planes Of The Second World War: Fighters Volume One; Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY; 1970.

Green, William; Warplanes of the Third Reich; Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY; 1970.

See Also

Fighter Ace Planes Inventory

Messerschmitt A.G.

Aircraft Manufacturers During World War II