Although more than 33,900 Bf 109s were manufactured between 1935 and the end of WWII, ours is one of just a handful of original examples which remain airworthy. With a number of post-war, license-built Spanish variants of the breed often serving as stand-ins at air shows and in movies, the Museum’s Bf 109 gives visitors a rare opportunity to see a restored, German-built aircraft up close.
The Museum’s aircraft is based upon the substantial remains of Bf 109G-4 WkNr 19257, which crashed on May 5, 1943 with Feldwebel Viktor Peterman of JG 52 at the controls. The 109’s coolant system received damage from Russian fighters in combat over the Eastern Front, forcing Peterman to make a belly-landing. Although it took Peterman four days to walk home to his airfield, he had scored his 30th, 31st and 32nd aerial victories in this Messerschmitt before being shot down.
Meier Motors GmbH performed the restoration of this particular Bf 109 at their workshop in Eschbach, Germany. Their effort involved considerable conversation with former Luftwaffe Pilots, to ensure the airplane was rebuilt as accurately as practical. One notable departure from the original design is its use of a composite propeller, owing to the scarcity of original blades.
The engine in the Museum’s aircraft, a Daimler-Benz DB 605, carries an interesting story as it comes from a German aircraft which accidentally landed in Switzerland during WWII. While that pilot destroyed his aircraft to prevent its capture, its engine survived, stored in a Swiss warehouse until after the war.
Hauptmann Klaus Quaet-Faslem: The Museum’s Messerschmitt Bf 109 wears the markings of GruppenKommandeur Hauptmann Klaus Quaet-Faslem of Jagdgeschwader JG3 “Udet” from the period when the unit was based in Germany during mid-1943. This historic fighter wing was founded in 1939 and served on every front in the European theater, from the skies over London, England during the Battle of Britain to Stalingrad, Russia, before falling back to the homeland to defend the Reich against the Allied onslaught.
Quaet-Faslem was born in Kiel, Germany on September 5, 1913 and scored 49 aerial victories before he was killed in a flying accident on January 30, 1944.
Did You know?
To expedite its restoration, the museum’s Bf 109 includes some parts once belonging to Hispano HA1112 Buchón C.4K-64.
Specifications
- Number Built: 33,984 total (approx.10,000 G variants produced)
- Year Produced: 1943
- Serial Number: 19257
- Crew: (1) Pilot
- Current Pilots:
Dimensions
- Length: 29 ft. 4 in.
- Wingspan: 32 ft. 6.5 in.
- Empty Weight: 7,000 lbs.
- Loaded Weight: 8,100 lbs.
- Engine: 1x Daimler-Benz DB 605A inverted V-12, supercharged, liquid-cooled inline piston engine
- Engine Power: 1,800 hp
Performance
- Cruising Speed: 344 mph
- Max Speed: 428 mph
- Range: 350 miles
- Ceiling: 39,000 ft
- Rate of Climb: 3,956 ft./min. initial
Armament
- 2x 7.92 mm machine guns mounted in upper engine cowling
- 1x 20 mm cannon firing through the center of the nose
- Up to one 550 lb. (250 kg) bomb or four 110 to 150 lb. bombs mounted on a belly rack
- Up to 96 4 lb. anti-personnel grenades mounted on a belly rack
- 2x 21cm mortar tubes, one on each wing
- *MAM aircraft is unarmed