Type: single seat fighter or fighter/bomber
Engine: (B, C) one 635 hp Junkers Jumo 210D inverted liquid cooled V-12 (D) 1,000 hp Daimler-Benz 600 Aa inverted liquid cooled V-12 (E) 1,100 hp DB 601 A, 1,200 hp DB 601 N or 1,300 hp DB 601 E
Measurements: Wingspan 9.87 m , length (B, C) 8.51 m (D, E typical version) 8.64 m , height 2.28 m .
Weight: Empty (B-1) 1,580 kg (E) 1,900 kg to 2,005 kg
Performance: Maximum speed (B-1) 470 km/h (D) 520 km/h (E) 560-570 km/h .
Armament: (B) three 7.92 mm Rheinmetall-Borsig MG 17 machine guns, two over the engine and two in the wings (C-2) in additionone through the center of the propeller (early E-1) four MG 17 plus four 50 kg bombs or one 250 kg bomb
History: Flew for the first time (Bf 190 V-1) the beginning of September 1935. Manufacturung began (B-1) February 1937 (E) January 1939
Me 109B. This was the first production model; there was no Me 109A as such. It used the 635hp Jumo 210 engine and drove a fixed-pitch wooden propeller that was later replaced by a two-blade metal controllable-pitch type. Its initial armament was a pair of 7.9mm machine guns that fired through the propeller and a third gun that fired through the propeller's hollow shaft. Early combat experience was gained with 45 109Bs that were sent to the German Condor Legion, which was fighting in the Spanish Civil War. The Me 109B's gross weight was 4,740 pounds, and its top speed was 289mph at 13,120 feet (4,000 meters).
Me 109C. This model was outwardly similar to the B, but it had an improved Jumo 210C engine and two more guns in the wings. Some Cs were used to test a 20mm cannon that fired through the propeller shaft, but this wasn't yet standard equipment.
Me 109D. The Me 109D, which kept the Jumo engine and two-blade propeller, was the first true mass-produced model; several hundred were built. Although it was soon obsolete, some D models saw action during the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, after which they were "retired" to fighter-pilot schools.
Me 109E. A major change came with the Me 109E, which used the 960hp Daimler-Benz DB 600 engine (an inverted V-12 like the Jumo) but had a three-blade propeller and a markedly different radiator arrangement under the nose. Production Es with 1,100hp DB 600A engines entered service with the Luftwaffe early in 1939. During its production life, a wide variety of armament was incorporated in the E, and the nose-mounted cannon was standard equipment. |
