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Aviation History
1939
1939-1- - 0932.PDF
The Messerschmitt Me 109 was designed by Professor Willy Messerschmitt and is built by the B.F.W. concern (Bayerische Flugzeugwerke A.G.) which explains why the type is sometimes called the Bf 109. It bears a remark able resemblance to the Me 108 (Taifun) civil four-seater which is renowned for its speed range and all round excel lence of control (see Flight, June 29, 1939) OCTOBER 5, 193c, A post-delivery line-up ot some ot the lower-powered Me 109s. It will be seen that some have wooden airscrews and others metal. The trapezoidal low cantilever wing tapers straight toward square- cut tips. It is entirely of duralumin construction with countersunk riveting. Each half is bolted directly to the fuselage. The entire trailing edge is hinged, the inner sections functioning as flaps and the outer portions as ailerons, and Handley Page automatic slots are fitted over a considerable portion of the leading edge. Fuselage construction is of a straightforward duralumin mono- coque type. The front portion is of oval section, but aft of the pilot's cockpit (which is over the trailing edge of the wing) it changes to a triangular section and tapers sharply toward the tail, which has an adjustable braced tailplane mounted on the fin and a balanced rudder and elevator. The movable surfaces are fabric- covered, with a metal framework. Simple but curious design characterises the under carriage. Although resembling that of the Taifun, it differs in that the legs and wheels are raked outward instead of inward. Retraction is by hydraulic means, the wheels being housed in , wells in the lower surface of ! the wing. Small fairing j panels inboard of, and re- j tracting with, the compres- j sion legs and wheels, cover '; the troughs for the legs and ! large segments of the wheel j wells whan the undercarriage j is raised. The pilot's enclosed cock pit has a generous amount of transparent panelling; the roof opens transversely in stead of sliding fore and aft. Beneath the side panels of the windscreen are small supplementary windows which improve vision in a forward and downward direction. Two-way wire less is housed to the rear of the cockpit and the machine is equipped for night flying. The first batches of Me 109s delivered to the Luft waffe are believed to have been fitted with the Junkers Jumo 210G engine driving a two-bladed airscrew, either a variable-pitch V.D.M. or a fixed-pitch wooden type. A Bt 109 zooms dramatically. Exceptional powers manoeuvre are claimed for this machine. of The two-bladed airscrew, incidentally, is a characteristic of the lower-powered Me 109, the later versions with Daimler Benz DB 600 engine having a three-bladed variable-pitch V.D.M. When the Junkers engine is fitted the radiator is beneath the engine cowling just forward of the wing, bu when a Daimler-Benz is installed radiators are fitted under the wings in addition to that under the fuselage. Uue to the shape of the crankcase of the Junkers and Daimler Benz engines cowling lines are hardly as smooth as those 0 our Spitfire and Hurricane. Armament of the Me 109 is believed to vary considerably, but in any case, there are twin synchronised machine gu in the top of the cowling. Two additional machine gu» ^ or shell-guns, can be mounted in the wings. These a normally of German rifle calibre (0.311m.). It is report
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