We have a rather intriguing title for our latest Newsletter. Over the years, I have been asked this question on literally hundreds of occasions and I thought it was about time that we looked at it in a little more detail – ‘Should it be Me, or Bf when talking about Messerschmitt fighters of WWII?’ To borrow a Shakespearean quote, it could definitely be a case of ‘To Bf, or not to Bf, that is the question!’ So what is the definitive answer? Well, it’s quite simple really – it is all in the name of the manufacturing company. Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (literally the Bavarian Aircraft Works) were successful in producing a beautiful little touring aircraft called the Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun, which incorporated a number of significant technical ‘firsts’, and was designed by the gifted Willy Messerschmitt, who was employed by the company. Flushed with this success and wishing to compete for a German Ministry of Aviation (Reichsluftfahrtministerium – RLM) contract to build a new fighter aircraft, the company used all the technology incorporated in the Taifun design and added a host of other groundbreaking features, such as automatic leading edge slats, trailing edge flaps, fully retracting hydraulic undercarriage, advanced fuselage construction and a fully enclosed cockpit. This was a huge risk for the company, as much of this technology was very new, but they had to go for broke, as senior company officials were not liked at the Ministry and for this reason, they felt certain that they would not be awarded the contract under any circumstances. In essence, they had nothing to lose, so they gave Willy Messerschmitt his wings and let him have a free reign with the design of the new fighter.
The Augsburg Eagle takes flight
The new Messerschmitt fighter was given the reference Bf 109 by the RLM, which was simply the next number available, in a block of numbers which were assigned to Bayerische Flugzeugwerke. At the end of May 1935, the new Bf 109 fighter took off from the company’s airfield at Augsburg, in Bavaria and entered the history books as one of the most successful fighter aircraft ever to take to the skies. It easily won the RLM fighter competition, as it was superior in almost every aspect – the only areas of concern raised by the pilots were the high sitting angle made the aircraft a challenge to handle on the ground and the narrow track undercarriage was also a little tricky to master, but once in the air, the Bf 109 was a superb fighting aircraft. As the RLM were receiving information about a new British fighter (the Spitfire), they immediately ordered the Bf 109 into priority production and I suppose that the rest is history. The aircraft made its first public debut during the Berlin Olympic Games of 1936, by which time, the world was already preparing itself for conflict – the Messerschmitt Bf 109 would play a leading role in the coming years.
Is my Messerschmitt a Bf, or an Me?
There are one or two little complications, but in the main, Messerschmitt aircraft awarded an RLM designation before 11th July 1938 will carry the Bf letters, as the company was Bayerische Flugzeugwerke. Therefore, ALL Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters, no matter which mark (e.g Emil, Freidrich, or Gustav) are Bf’s and not Me’s. The same applies to the twin engined Bf 110 Destroyer series of heavy fighters. Following the success of the aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and wishing to capitalise on their growing business influence, the company incorporated on 11th July 1938 and became known as Messerschmitt AG, with Willy Messerschmitt as both Chairman and Managing Director. From this date, Messerschmitt aircraft carried the Me prefix – this includes such types as the Me 163 Komet, Me 210 Heavy Fighter, Me 262 Schwalbe, Me 323 Gigant and Me 410 Hornisse.
Does that clear things up? ….. I thought not! In truth, this is not a surprise, as over the years, there have been many discrepancies in the Messerschmitt naming story. Unfortunately, the worst culprits were allied pilots, who learned to fear the Messerschmitt fighters they were facing and had a morbid fascination with them. As the name of the aircraft was the Messerschmitt 109, they simply took the first two letters as the abbreviation, which we have seen is actually incorrect, but to the public at large, if our fighter pilots call it that, then that is good enough for us – Me 109 it is! But that is not all – despite specific instructions from the German Ministry of Aviation, following the re-naming of the company, even the Germans managed to get it wrong. On official documentation, Me can be seen used to describe the 109 and in the worst cases, both Bf and Me are used to describe the 109 fighter on the same Messerschmitt company document! At the end of the day, only the most pedantic will pull you up on the naming of this most famous of German fighters, but at least now you have the definitive explanation (I think).
The pictures that I have used to illustrate our Messerschmitt naming feature show Hendon’s magnificent Bf 109G-2 (Trop) ‘Black 6’ G-USTV, whist in her previous location. I am glad that I managed to catch her whilst she was displayed here, as I think it was a better position for photography, as you could use natural light for your pictures on all but the dullest of days. Having seen her blast around the skies of Duxford and Yorkshire, during her glory days, I was extremely sad to see her incarcerated in the RAF Museum, when she should still be serving as a living memorial to the fighter pilots of WWII, but I suppose the up side is that she will now be preserved for many generations to come (unless I win the Euromillions lottery and put her back in the air). In any case, we do have a spectacular 1/32nd scale die-cast example of this magnificent aircraft for us to admire on our display shelves, courtesy of the Corgi Aviation Archive range – in my opinion, one of their finest creations. As we are now in the final few weeks of trading, we have very few of these spectacular models still available, but our last few are being made available at a great price – click on this CLASSIC GUSTAV link and grab yourself an absolute bargain!
RAF Mildenhall to close
Yesterday saw the distressing announcement that the US government intends to close the massive air base at RAF Mildenhall. I am sure that for many readers, this will be particularly upsetting, as we will remember with great fondness the spectacular Mildenhall Air Fete events in our youth, which will live long in our memories as some of the best shows that we have ever attended. I completely understand that the US government will be looking to save money in these challenging times, but fail to understand the sense in closing a base which has undergone significant and costly infrastructure upgrade work, over the past few months. In a further development, it has also been confirmed that the immediate future of RAF Lakenheath has been assured and indeed, at least two squadrons of the new Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter will be based at Lakenheath from 2020. This is good news, but as we are all aware, a lot can happen in the world of aviation over a five year period and we will have to keep an eye on this situation. For now, UK aviation enthusiasts will lament the passing of RAF Mildenhall and with it, absolute confirmation that things will never be the same again in our hobby.
The Vought F4U Corsair – ‘Whispering Death’ in the air
Our latest OFFER OF THE WEEK has something very special indeed for collectors who have been smitten with the magnificent 1/48th scale range of models produced by Hobbymaster. The Vought F4U Corsair was without doubt, one of the premier fighter aircraft of WWII and earned a fearsome reputation with the Japanese forces it was operating against. Referred to as the ‘Whispering Death’, the Corsair was fast, rugged and packed a serious punch. Following initial difficulties operating this massive fighter off the decks of US carriers, the Marine Corps made full use of this powerful new aircraft and as US forces began to island hop towards the Japanese home islands, the Corsair was an important new asset in this struggle.
As you can clearly see from the diorama image above, the Corsair is all about brute power and is dominated by the massive 2,000hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine, with it’s huge Hamilton Standard three bladed propellor. Having long been a fan of aircraft models in 1/48th scale, I think that this is perhaps the main reason why the scale is perfect for single engined fighters from WWII – it just manages to portray the power and majesty of these mighty fighters so much better than the smaller 1/72nd scale. These aircraft were all about raw power and 1/48th scale is absolutely perfect for these type of models. Certainly benefitting from this extra size, the Hobbymaster Corsair is an absolute beauty and has the added feature of being able to display the model in either flight mode, or with the wings folded upwards for space saving stowage on an aircraft carrier. We have very few models still remaining, but have decided to make all of our remaining stocks available as our latest OFFER OF THE WEEK, which is a great opportunity to either complete your collection, or sample the delights of these stunning models for the very first time – you will be getting a majestic 1/48th scale Corsair for less than the price of a 1/72nd scale example! With several models down to the last one or two examples, please do not delay in ordering your models, as we will have to allocate them on a first to order basis – I will leave you with another tantalising view of what we have available!
New Web-site feature launched – Deal of the Day.
A new year deserves a new addition to the Flying Tigers website and that is exactly what we have done this week. As our remaining model stocks begin to dwindle dramatically, we needed a vehicle to showcase some attractively priced collectables, which might only be available in very small numbers. The best way to achieve this was with our new Deal of the Day section, which you will now see on our website home page slider. As well as hosting some models at great prices, we will feature a new model each week day, even though some of them may only be available in very small quantities – for this reason, it will be worthwhile checking this section of our website every day, to see if we have something which may be of interest to you – it will certainly be at the right price!
We open this feature with one of the unsung heroes of the Hobbymaster 1/72nd scale range – the beautiful Douglas A-1H Skyraider. With so many fantastic models in their range, you can sometimes find that some excellent models slip under the radar of collectors as monthly releases contain a large number of models for us to consider and in my view, the Skyraider is one of the best models that fall into this category. Produced just too late to take part in the Second World War, the Skyraider is an extremely capable strike aircraft, which is certainly one of the largest single engined prop aircraft to enter service. The first model that we have on offer is HA2907, which is an A-1H Skyraider in the colours of US Navy VA-25 ‘Fist of the Fleet’, which operated from USS Midway during the Vietnam War. This particular aircraft ‘Paper Tiger II’ was equipped with a very special weapon to mark the six millionth pound of ordnance dropped by the US Navy, during the Vietnam conflict – a damaged toilet! Described in a tongue in cheek manner as a new type of germ warfare, the release of the toilet resulted in it being caught in the aircraft’s slipstream and almost hitting a second Skyraider, which would most definitely have wiped the smile off their faces. Complete with the unique toilet bomb, this fantastic Vietnam Skyraider is being made available at just £24.99 each, whilst stocks last, which is less than a half price deal. Here is a closer look at our first offer model.