Barn find - 4 ME109's

[Der Alder]

Interesting history- Germany, Spain, Texas, used in movie Battle of Britain in 1968. Stashed in a barn for 45 years.

http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-art ... -109g.html

[messerschmittfan]

Really interesting, after the filming of the Battle of Britain these Spanish made 109's could be purchased in flying condition for between $8000 and $14,000. Non-flyables were selling for less than $4000. I have about an hour and a half flying one in GB logged in my log book as I and a friend were very interested in purchasing one. The big problem with them was that the Merlin engine rotated in the opposite direction than the original German engine, plus the Rolls engine had a tremendous amount of torque that could overcome the vertical tail surface in a heartbeat which resulted in a ground loop if you were not on it all of the time. The landing gear was also only one meter (about 39 inches) apart and the aircraft is very small. BUT the big problem was the CG or lack of one as the Spanish had removed all of the guns and armor which meant that the CG was about 15 meters behind the plane guarenteeing a roller coaster ride. Working the trim wheel was just to see if you knew what it was for. However the real reason for not purchasing it was that there was a world wide fuel crises at the time and the longest you could stay in the air with a full tank of gas was about 42 minutes. The guide ratio for the Bf 109 was about the same as a cider block. I longed over 35 hours in the Bf 108 that was build as a liaison officers aircraft that was a real sweet plane to fly. It had leading slots on the wings, way ahead of other aircraft designed in the mid-30s. It used a V10 Argus engine that was mounted with the cylinder heads on the bottom. The post war NORD 1000 was the same airframe with a Renault inline engine and the French Air Force flew them into the late 50's. A German friend of mine had one and I got to fly it a lot, he had a civilian version of the OH58 and since I was an SIP at the time he wanted me to give him lessons on flying it in my spare time which I did. He offered to sell it to me for $5000 (the USD was still worth something then) but my wife said it was either her or the plane so it was her. Not really a bad decision as we have been married 48 years now. If I had the money I would be after one of those being offered for sale but not at those prices. Harry

[Der Alder]

Thank you for your insight Harry . I find that kind of first hand info fasinating. Great to have heard an inside story on these great old warbirds.

I wonder if counter weights could be added to correct the CG issue? What would be nice is to turn one of these into a 2 seater (if done without destroying the correct look) like we see done with so many P51's. I know they are tiny inside and the fuel tank behind the seat would be an issue so a perminate "drop tanK" would probably be nessecary. I know they would still be a handful for all but the most advanced flyers. Maybe for the counter rotation issue a few extra inches could be added to the opposing wing tip like the WWII Italian Macchi 202....something most people would not even notice visually.

Tom

[messerschmittfan]

The Spanish and Czech versions did have two seaters that were intended for trainers. I have no idea if any survived. Harry

[42rocker]

Very Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Fixed the double posting etc.

Later 42rocker