Messerschmitt Bf 109 E - 4
Type: Single Seat Fighter
Description : Low Wing Monoplane
Designer: W.
Messerschmitt
Wingspan : 32 feet 4.5 inches ( 9.87 m )
Length : 28 feet 4.25 inches ( 8.66 m )
Height (max): 8 feet 2.5 inches ( 2.5 m )
Wing Area : 242 sq feet ( 22.48m2 )
Weight empty : 4,856 lb ( 2010 kg )
Weight loaded : 5,532 ( 2506 kg )
Power Plant : Daimler Benz DB601A 12 cylinder
liquid cooled engine
B.H.P. :1050 bhp
Armament : Machine guns
Performance
Maximum speed : 387 mph ( 623 kph ) at 18,000ft
( 5610 m )
Initial Climb rate : 2,300 ft per min ( 700
m per min )
Ceiling : 36,000 ft (10,950 m )
Range : 575 miles ( 925 km )
First Flight : 5 March 1936 ( Prototype )
Service Entry : 4 August 1938
MESSERSCHMITT Me. 109 single-seat fighters
of the Luftwaffe, are built by the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke A.G., of Augsberg,
Bavaria. It is armed with one 20 mm. (.906 in.) cannon fixed to fire
through the hub of the VDM controllable-pitch airscrew, two 7.7 mm. (.312
in.) machine-guns in troughs on top of the cowling, and two more in the
wings outboard of the airscrew disc.
The Me. 109 has four machine-guns and one cannon,
compared with the eight 7.6 mm. (.303 in.) machine-guns in the Spitfires
or Hurricanes.
The 1,150 h.p. Daimler-Benz DB. 601 is a 12-cylinder
inverted V, liquid cooled, of 33.9 litres (2,069 cu. ins.) swept volume.
It is rated at 3,750 m. (12,300 ft.). It drives a V.D.M. controllable-pitch
airscrew, electrically operated This airscrew has a hollow hub so that
the shell-gun can fire through it. Two 7.7 mm. (.312 in.) belt-feed machine-guns
are mounted in troughs on top of the cowling. An oil tank is set behind
the motor immediately in front of the dashboard. The enclosed cover hinges
on the starboard side and has sliding panels. The pilot has a rear view
mirror. The tail unit is adjustable and the fixed surfaces have metal
covering and the movable surfaces fabric.
The cantilever undercarriage retracts outwards
into the wings in which the wheels fill the whole space between the spar
and leading-edge. The wheels are raked forwards and outwards to prevent
swinging. The tail wheel was made to retract in the early versions but
this was not found to he worth the extra complication and it is now fixed.