Rob - Did I read somewhere that Messerschmitt was personally combative and autocratic? If true or not, the Me-109E was scarcely a match for the Spitfire. ;D

i didn't know that the Germans camouflaged their airplanes, learn something new everyday! Great one Rob! 555! :-)

OMR, historically the Bf 109 is the greatest fighting military aircraft of all time with over 15,000 kills and hundreds of aces made. The Bf 109E-4 was the greatest fighter in the world during 1940 but could only operate for 15 mins once it reached England. It was more maneuverable than the Spit, faster. had more armament, and had fuel injection. The problem was that they were not only outnumbered but had to perform triple escort duty for the He-111s, Ju-87s, and even the Bf 110!!! BTW, the Spit is not the savior of the BoB- it was the Hurricane which 2/3rds of FC's force was made up of. The Hurri also had a faster turn aroudn time than the Spit. FYI...

In addition, in 1945 the Bf 109K-4 was far from obsolete with a DB 605 ASCM/DCM of 2000 hp with MW 50 boost, a speed of 452 mph, climb of 4823 fpm, and armed with 2x 20mm MG-151s upper + 1x 30mm MK-108 or MK-103 in the spinner! It was outnumbered anywhere from 5-7-11:1 in the air. The Allies had numerical superiority. Even the best aces had a hard time in 1945 with survival in the Bf 109, Fw-190Ds/Ta 152, and Me-262 jets. They were never inferior- just outnumbered fighting on three fronts (ETO, MTO, Ostfront). The Ace-of-Aces Erich Hartmann with 352 kills said that the Mustang was nothing special as he shot down 7 with ease. The Bf 109 shot down the most types of aircraft and all of the best Allied types of 1945: Mustang, Spitfire, Typhoon, Tempest, T-bolt, and Yak as well as bombers and intruders.

WCJ, the Germans had Lozenge camouflage in WW1 not only for their planes but their parachutes too!!! Here's a Fokker D.VII in Lozenge: http://www.earlyaeroplanes.com/archive/image8/FokkerD7_7756.jpg Germans were the first to put the "Shark Mouth" on too in WW1 with the Roland C.II of 1916: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v198/baclightning/Roland_sharkmouth.jpg

The Me-109 remained in production in Spain until the 1950's or early 60's, I believe with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine of the Spitfire. By the time the movie "Battle of Britain" was filmed, the producers could still find enough Spitfires for a credible squadron, but the Hurricanes were nearly all scrapped.

The Bf 109 (correct terminology) was also Israel's first fighter and won the first victories over the Arabs. They purchased them from Czechoslovakia as Avia S.199s (Bf 109G new builds with old parts). This was a bad mix of Bf 109 fuselage mated to a Jumo 211F engine driving a paddle-blade VS-11. Armamant was Ok with 2x 13mm and 2x 20mm (underwing). It handled horribly though and reduced speed down to 371 mph. Yet, it scored for the Israeli's. 35,0000 Bf 109s were ultimately produced and were around until the late 1960s.

Rob - Thanks for the info. I was aware of the Hawker Hurricane, although some military history books have (erroneously?) reported that the Hurricanes were used primarily against the bombers and the Avro Spitfire was used for fighter/fighter combat. ;D

Don't forget about the Hurricats too- Hurricanes rocket-launched from CAM ships that once flown had to ditch upon completion of their mission: http://aerostories.free.fr/dossiers/batatlan/hurricat.JPG