5 Fascinating Facts About The BF 109

The Bf-109 is the most famous German WWII aircraft and played a key role during the war. Here are five fascinating facts about this iconic plane:

1. It was the Luftwaffe’s main fighter aircraft

During WWII, it saw action at the Battle of Britain and was used for defense by Germany at the end of the war.

During that time, the fighter was considered superior to every enemy fighter out there, except for the equally famous Supermarine Spitfire. 

2. It was one of the first modern fighters of the time

The fighter had an all-metal construction, a retractable landing gear, and a closed cockpit. It was also powered by a liquid-cooled, inverted V12 aero engine.

3. It was the most produced fighter and single-seat aircraft in history

All in all, 33,984 airframes in total were produced from 1936 to 1945.

4. It was only a bit slower than the Fw 190

While the Messerschmitt had two machine guns and one cannon, the FW 190, meanwhile, had two machine guns and four cannons.

The Bf 109 was also a lot lighter than the FW 190, but was almost as fast. The Fw 190 was only 16 kph faster than the Bf 109. 

5. Its weapons had several advantages over the British

The Bf-109 had won several dogfights against Allied planes such as the Spitfires and Hurricanes thanks to several advantages.

One advantage is that it carried cannons while early British warplanes only had machine guns firing rifle-caliber bullets.

Thus, the Bf-109 had better range causing its opponents more destruction.