|
The propably oldest flying Bf 109 is owned by David Price, the director of Museum of
Flying in Santa Monica.
It is the original Werknummer 3579, produced by Arado.
At first, it was used with Lehrgeschwader 2, operating with JG 77. It is said, that even
Hans-Joachim Marseille was flying this special plane.
Its loss was recorded on September 2nd, 1940, without hints of its markings or the pilots name.
Marseilles crash-landing was recorded seperate. So there is no evidence, that Marseille
was really a pilot of this plane.
After repairing, the plane was transferred to the Eastern Front. There it was shot down and
given up by the Germans.
In 1991 he wreck was transportet to England, together with some more wrecks.
For Craig Charlestoni was a great frontier, to restore the plane and prepare it for
its next take-off, because many parts were missing and the frame was very corroded.
The engine was bought from a collector in the USA. During its second "maiden flight"
in September 1999, difficulties with the oil cooling of the Bf 109 appeared, that first
had to be solved. Otherwise the plane was quite easy to handle, as long the pilot
wouldn´t do a mistake.
The E-4 is fixed with its original markings during its first crash in September 1940,
and its it was painted with original code: "white 14".
It was sold to Canada in the end of 2003.
At the beginning of the seventies, the Messerschmitt AG decided to bring a
Bf 109 back in the skies with Daimler-Benz engine. therefore, the Spanish
HA-1112 M-1L serial number 195, built in 1959 and later displayed as "black
8" of the I./JG 27 in an US museum.
When the restoration begun in 1976, the workers discovered, that the fuselage came from
German production, being an "original" Bf 109 fuselage. The engine came from
Sweden in 1978, being a licence built DB 605. It was checked in Germany and installed
to the Bf 109. A huge number of problems threatend to destroy the project, but on 4th April 1982
the Bf109 took of for its maiden flight.
Until summer 1983 it flew 49 times and was a highlight at many air-shows.
On June the 3rd 1983, the plane broke out during the takeoff and ended as a wreck.
The MBB decided to repare the plane another time. Another Ha 1112 fuselage was bought
in France (serial number 156) and in Spain suddenly original construction documents were
discovered, that enabled the restorateurs to reconstruct nearly every part of the
"Gustav".
The engine survived nearly undamaged and was used for the new plane, after it was carefully
reviewed. More spare parts were organized and so the Bf 109 got a more realistic view, than
before. Also the handling was better than that of the first restored Bf 109. The first
takeoff was in June 1986, three years after the crash. Since that time, the "FM+BB"
travelled from air-show to air-show, now belonging to the "Messerschmitt Foundation"
and based in an EADS hangar at the Manching airbase.
On the ILA 2002 in Berlin, there it cames nearly to a desaster. During a show-flight, the
"FM+BB" suddenly got a smoke trail and Walter Eichorn had to land the warbird with
a standing propeller. Because it is even difficult to fly a functional Bf 109, the achievement
of the pilot is very honorable. The landing was okay, but the engine wasn´t.
What had happened? During the time coal dust deposited on the crankshaft. This caused a
connecting rod to knock through the engine and leaving a hole, with the seize of a fist!
The repair - the changeing of the engine - was planned to be completed in early 2003, but it was late 2004,
until the FM+BB was able to fly again. It´s first presentation in flying display was at Hahnweide on September 2nd 2005.
(See pictures of this plane in the gallery)
The haulier Hans Dittes, being interested in planes of Worldwar 2,
owned, beside some Bücker planes, also a Spanish Ha 1112 "Buchon", the Spanish version
of the Bf 109. In 1991 he gave advice to turn the "Buchon" into a Bf 109 G-10.
Therefore, he bought an "alteration kit", consisting of engine, cowling and some other
parts, presumably in the CSSR. The cowling supposedly was produced in Regensburg or Wiener
Neustadt. The engine was - according to Mr Dittes - discovered in an old factory. It was a
brand new DB 605 D-1 engine.
A very good friend of Dittes was Friedrich Karl Müller, being known as "Nasenmüller". He
still owned the fin rudder of the Bf 109 G-10, he flew during the war. He offered this
origin part to Dittes, for using with the developing Bf 109. Soon it was getting clear,
that its condition was too bad, to use it with an airworthy plane again, so it had to be
reconstructed. The Bf 109 got the markings and paintings of Müller, who unfortunately was
not able to see "his" plane rising again, because he died in 1991.
The story, spread by Dittes himself, stayed obstinate, but it seems to be pure fiction.
Dittes insisted, that he had discovered an original G-10 fuselage in the CSSR and that he
had smuggled it through the Iron Curtain by adventurous conditions. This fuselage now
supposedly got the base of the "black 2". Some parts of his "Buchon" were used to complete
this plane. In the end, a type plate, belonging to a 109, that also gave some spare parts,
was added.
The version above seems to be more plausible. In 1995, the plane was registered as
"black 2" of I./NJG 11, with the serial number 151591 and the code D-FEHD. The
serial number does not belong to this fuselage, but many parts of this plane were supposedly
used during the restoration. The maiden flight took place at Mannheim.
In the same year, the plane was transferred to Duxford, from where it visited
many airshows in the world. In 1996, it returned to Germany, now registered
with the code D-FDME.
In early 1998, the plane became an actor. It played a role in the movie "The
last flight", it acts from the disappearing of the French aviator and writer
Antoine de Saint Exupéry. After the film shootings, it was transferred to the Willy-
Messerschmitt-Foundation at Manching. On 24´th June 1998, it was heavily damaged during
an instruction of a new pilot. During taxi tests it broke out on the concrete runway.
The right gear broke and the propeller was damaged. Later a car struck the damaged
plane and caused further damage on one of the wings.
The repairings lasted until the year 2000, before it took off at November 18´th 2000
again.
After the winter period 2003, the "black 2" took of for ist first flight of the year
on April 17´th 2003. During the landing, suddenly white smoke appeared. It was discovered, that
a connecting rod was broken. The repair will last until end of 2003. The work is still in
progress but is planned to be done in 2006.
(See pictures of this plane in the gallery)