109 Myths

Messerschmitt 109 - myths, facts and the view from the cockpit

Article version: 14.10.2006.

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Quick index:

Introduction

Part I: PILOT NOTES ON THE ME 109

General comments on Me 109 | Training to fly the Messerschmitt | Taking off | Landing | 109 undercarriage | Stalling the 109 | Flying Messerschmitt 109 | Climbing in combat | Diving - structural rigidity of 109 in dives | Stick forces and maneuvering in high speeds | Stick force and black outs | 109 needs constant rudder pressure to fly straight? | Trimming | Wing leading edge slats - good or bad? | Fighting in the 109 | Tactics with 109 | Me 109 as gun platform | Me 109 weapon effectiviness | Cannonboot (three cannon) Messerschmitts | Gunsight | Radios | Cockpit | Daimler-Benz engine and engine systems | Luftwaffe fuels | Other systems, radiators | Maintenance | Me 109 fuselage and drag

Part II: Breaking the myths | Forgetting the big picture | Was Me 109 hard or difficult to fly? Comparisons to Spitfire and Hurricane | Why many "western" pilots found it hard to fly the 109? | Various myths debunked | Messerschmitt 109 design features and comparisons by Markus Mikkolainen | Other interesting details on 109

Part III: Other subjects | 109 test flight reports

Primary sources

Introduction

There are also some material about 109 test flights. Those have been and most likely will be subject of endless debate. Fact is, some cannot be taken with face value, because they have interesting small print that are not always mentioned when the reports are shown as proof of whatever the author wants to prove.



The attempt here is to look at the subject, Messerschmitt 109, through the eyes of the 109 pilots .



Most of all, this article is a collection of pilot's anecdotes that relate to actual flying of the plane. The quotes are from interviews, articles and books. They are complemented with some additional technical bits and other comments. It is not a serious study - mainly just bunch of pilot opinions that might be conflicting to each other. Pilot's comments are always "their facts" and may and do contradict each other. Terminology may be faulty at times or the pilots use terms in different way than we're used to today. I do not guarantee 100% that the other materials are always completely correct. Errors may and most likely remain, but you can send corrections - the author is admits to be clueness about technical subjects, so all those bits have been written by others. All in all, reader should try to read between the lines to understand the bigger picture.



Again, this article is not and does not try to be a complete study. Far from it. It is fragmented and might seem as one sided. But after all - if this is attempt to show that some myths or beliefs are wrong, then there sure is material that might been "one sided" to a reader that is used to believe those myths are facts and real. So the author dared to claim that some usual claims about the Me 109 are incorrect and show why? Yup, must be biased, judging from some reactions.

The article has three parts. Part I is the beef, pilot quotes. Parts II and III are more like "bonus" than primary content and written only partially by the author. Mostly the bits on parts II/III were picked up from various sources and added, because they relate somehow to the main topic. All in all, this is a co-work by several different writers and couldn't have been possible without their help.

"All pilot comments are given in brackets."

- Sources are mentioned below like this.

- Also all interview questions and comments by other authors are in their own paragraphs starting with a dash.



All help is appreciated. Quotes from 109 pilots from different sources are most welcome. Please remember to always give the source, name/author and ISBN, if it is from a book. The readers are also encouraged to send other material and write expnalations, dispell myths and add or correct the information in it, be it technical or anything. I welcome you to even write whole paragraphs again, if you disagree with them. And I definitely would like to have more quotes from German, Italian and other Me 109 pilots. Please notice, that the intention here is NOT to have only praise - but to see what pilots have said and thought, both positive and negative. Parts II and III are of course harder, since their content can be debatable at times. If you know better, you're welcome to add or correct them as well.

The Air Warfare Forum's Pre WWII and WWII Aviation board is regarded as the official location for discussions about this article, and this thread as the place that I'll check for comments and possible additional material to the article.

Jukka "Grendel" Kauppinen

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Ps. Personal comment from author: some have thought that this article must have been put together by a "109 fan", but that is quite incorrect. I have to say that actually I'm much more fascinated with the Brewster and Curtiss Hawk fighters than the Messer, if we're talking about fighters. The author is simply aviation history hobby researcher, who got fed up with all those false myths and disinformation spread about this one particular plane type. If you read through the article you'll notice that this is not a "fan article" that only sees the subject as the best thing ever, but there is also plenty negatives and critique. This is simply an attempt to bring more light to the subject of the Me/Bf 109, to offer food for thought and basis for discussion.

Part I PILOT NOTES ON THE ME 109

Eric Brown and Me 109

General comments on Me 109

Me 109:

"Apart from performance, it was also very important the plane to possess a sort of 'goodwill'. The Bf 109 - except for take-offs - was an easy-to-fly airplane, and in addition it brought back the pilot even with serious damage. My plane, 'Blue 1' received hits multiple times, in one case when attacking a Boston formation the skin on the left wing was ripped off on half square meter, the main spar was damaged and the undercarriage tire was blown to pieces, yet it dropped without a problem and the plane landed just like it was a training session. Not to mention it`s valuable quality that it never caught fire during landing on the belly after a fatal hit, in contrast to many other type, with which such emergency procedure put us at a serious risk because of the danger of fire and explosion. To summerize : we loved the Bf 109."

- Pinter Gyula, 2nd Lt., JG101. Source: internet account

Me 109 E:

"In personally facing the RAF in the air over the Dunkirk encirclement, I found that the Bf 109 E was faster, possessed a higher rate of climb, but was somewhat less manouverable than the RAF fighters. Nevertheless, during the campaign, no Spitfire or Hurricane ever turned inside my plane."

- Herbert Kaiser, German fighter ace. 68 victories. Source:The Great Book of WW2 Airplanes, page 470.

Me 109 E:

"Performance by 1940 standards was good. When put into a full throttle climb at low air speeds, the airplane climbed at a very steep angle, and our fighters used to have difficulty in keeping their sights on the enemy even when at such a height that their rates of climb were comparible. This steep climb at low air speed was one of the standard evasion maneuvres used by the German pilots. Another was to push the stick forward abruptly and bunt into a dive with considerable negative 'g'. The importance of arranging that the engine whould not cut under these circumstances cannot be over-stressed. Speed is picked up quickly in a dive, and if being attacked by an airplane of slightly inferior level performance, this feature can be used with advantage to get out of range. There is no doubt that in the autumn of 1940 the Bf.109E in spite of its faults, was a doughty opponent to set against our own equipment."

- RAF Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough handling trials,Bf.109E Wn: 1304. M.B. Morgan and R. Smelt of the RAE, 1944.

Me 109 E/F/G:

"Yeah, the 109 could compete with the P51, no doubt. Maneuverability was excellent. But the P51 could do it longer! But in the battle itself, the 109 certainly could compete with the P-51, even the Spitfire. You couldn't follow the Spitfire in a tight turn upwards. You couldn't follow it. But we knew exactly the Spitfire also had shortcomings. In the beginning when they dived away, they had problems with the carburetor. cshhht shhht cht cht cht (shows engine cutting out) . Until they came up to speed. So every airplane has some problems in some areas, and if you know it, you can overcome it. "

- Major Gunther Rall. German fighter ace, NATO general, Commander of the German Air Force. 275 victories. Source: Lecture by general Rall.

Me 109 F:

"It was the 109 F. This was my beloved aircraft. It was the first aircraft with the round wing tips, no struts in the back, 601 engine. Excellent, and not too overloaded. You know, later on they put in this, and put in this, and put in this. The aircraft became heavier, but not this one. The F was my ideal aircraft. And it had a very good weapon set. We had a 20 millimeter gun through the propellor, and two 15 millimeters (actually 2 x 7,92 mms) on top of the engine. It was enough."

- Major Gunther Rall. German fighter ace, NATO general, Commander of the German Air Force. 275 victories. Source: Lecture by general Rall.

Me 109 G:

"It was very advanced and equipped with new, more sophisticated technology. Nicknamed Gustav, the 109G was well armed, but not as light as the early E and F versions. Its more powerful engine meant higher power settings whose initial climb rate sent it soaring to 18700 feet in six minutes, but at low speed the plane was difficult to handle."

- Major Gunther Rall in April 1943. German fighter ace, NATO general, Commander of the German Air Force. 275 victories. Source: Gunther Rall, a memoir.

Me 109 G-2/G-6:

- What was it like to sit in the Messerschmitt after Curtiss and Fokker?

"Dunno... Felt like an airplane. It was faster.

The Messerschmitt was exellent. You got always away when you pushed your nose down, and it then rose like an elevator. You soon had upper hand again."

- Mauno Fräntilä, Finnish fighter ace. 5 1/2 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association: Chief Warrant Officer Mauno Fräntilä.

Me 109 G:

"Comparing the Curtiss and the Messerschmitt (109 G), which one was the more pleasant to fly ?

Well, both were pleasant each in their own way. The Curtiss was as if in your control all the time. More speed would have been necessary. The Messerschmitt had speed, she climbed well and was well-armed. That was it. Both types were good aircraft in their age."

- Kyösti Karhila, Finnish fighter ace. 32 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G:

"Fast and maneuverable Me 109 (G) would be a tough opponent in the hands of a skillful pilot. Messerschmitt was during it´s time an efficient fighter and would not be in shame even nowadays. Eventhough the top speeds of the today´s fighters are high the differerencies would even up in a dogfight.

Mersu (Messerchmitt) had three meters long engine in the nose were with 1 500 horsepowers. The speed was at it´s best 750 kilometers per hour. It turned well too, if you just pulled the stick"

- Mauno Fräntilä, Finnish fighter ace. 5 1/2 victories. Source: Finnish Virtual Pilots Association: fighter ace Mauno Fräntilä was creating the glory of the war pilots.

Me 109 F/G:

"The F version was my favorite. It was not nearly as sluggish in the controls as the G version was. It was best suited as a dogfighter. The G6 however was better at higher altitudes and had a higher ceiling than the F's.

The 190 was over all a better a/c than the 109, but again the pilots liked the 109's climb and simply the fact that by the time they had flown 400 combat missions the 109 had become very very familiar to them. Fanz Stigler liked the 109G as well and also enjoyed flying the K-4. The K-4, he said was very much like the G yet could leave all other fighters behind in climb. In control feel he said the K felt identical to the G. He described on many occasions where they would just bank away from the fighters and climb away from them. He also flew a Spitfire once, saying that he liked the a/c."

- Franz Stigler, German fighter ace. 28 victories. Interview of Franz Stigler.



Me 109:

"The 109? That was a dream, the non plus ultra. Just like the F-14 of today. Of course, everyone wanted to fly it as soon as possible. I was very proud when I converted to it."

- Major Gunther Rall, German fighter ace, NATO general, Commander of the German Air Force. 275 victories.

Me 109 G (Spanish version):

"The Bf 109 is, without doubt, the most satisfying and challenging aircraft that I have ever flown."

- Mark Hannah of the Old Flying Machine Company



Me 109 G-6:

Me109 had good performance values for its time, the weapons (1 x 20 mm + 2 x 13 mm) were accurate and effective. The option for 3x20mm cannons was well suited against IL-2s. I didn't regard the swerving during take-offs as anything special. In my opinion, the accidents were caused by poor training.

- Martti Uottinen, Finnish war bomber pilot, post war fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"So how does the aeroplane compare with other contemporary fighters ? First, let me say that all my comments are based on operation below 10,000 feet and at power settings not exceeding +12 (54") and 2700 rpm. I like it as an aeroplane, and with familiarity I think it will give most of the allied fighters I have flown a hard time, particularly in a close, hard turning, slow speed dog-fight. It will definitely out-maneuver a P-51 in this type of flight, the roll rate and slow speed characteristics being much better. The Spitfire on the other hand is more of a problem for the '109 and I feel it is a superior close in fighter. Having said that the aircraft are sufficiently closely matched that pilot abilty would probably be the deciding factor. At higher speeds the P-51 is definitely superior, and provided the Mustang kept his energy up and refused to dogfight he would be relatively safe against the '109.

I like the aeroplane very much, and I think I can understand why many of the Luftwaffe aces had such a high regard and preference for it."

- Mark Hanna of the Old Flying Machine Company flying the OFMC Messerschmitt Bf 109 G (Spanish version).

Spitfire vs Me 109 in general:

"Military Channel's program "Spitfire vs Me 109" with Bob Doe, B of B RAF vet and Ekkehard Bob LW JG54 B of B vet comparing the aircraft:"

"Ease of flying went to the Spit. The consensus was it took a veteran pilot to master the 109, but that the Spit was more forgiving to a new pilot."

"Doe remarked on the cramped feeling and the poor visibilty. He was in Black 6 the 109G2 of the RAF Museum."

"Ekkehard Bob was in a Spitfire Vb cockpit . His comment was on how roomy it was and how wonderful the visibilty was. He then said he'd really like to fly the airplane."

"They then went on to talk about hitting power, which went to the 109 20mms vs the Spit 303's."

"The final result was they were both good airplanes and that it would fall to the pilot to make the difference."

"An interesting sidebar was the discussion of turning circle. They believed that with average pilots the Spit would out turn the 109, but that if flown to the limit, the 109 could match the Spit. "

- Bob Doe & Ekkehard Bob. Source: Military Channel program.

Me 109 G through the opposition's eyes

"BF109 was very good, very high scale fighter plane. If was superior to our Yaks in speed and vertical combat. It wasn`t 100% superiority, but still. Very dynamic plane. I`ll be honest with you, it was my dream during my war years, to have a plane like this. Fast and superior on vertical, but that didn`t happen.

Messer had one extremely positive thing, it was able to be successful fight Yak`s at 2000m and Aircobras at 6000m. This is truly unique ability and valuable. Of course, here Yak and P-39 were inferior. As far as combat on different altitudes, BF109 was universal, like La-5.

Me109 was exceptional in turning combat. If there is a fighter plane built for turning combat , it has to be Messer! Speedy, maneuverable,(especially in vertical) and extremely dynamic. I can`t tell about all other things, but taking under consideration what i said above, Messerschmitt was ideal for dogfight. But for some reason majority of german pilots didn`t like turn fight, till this day i don`t know why.

I don`t know what was stopping them, but it`s definitely not the plane. I know that for a fact. I remember battle of Kursk where german aces were starting "roller-coaster" rides where our heads were about to come off from rotation. No, seriously... Is it true it`s a common thing now that Messer wasn`t maneuverable?

Interviewer: Yes.

Heh.. Why would people come up with something like this... It was maneuverable...by god it was."

- Major Kozhemyako, Soviet fighter ace. Source: translation from Russian language.

Me 109 G:

"The speed, rate of climb and armament were suberb compared to our other planes. The best feature was the excellent rate of climb. The reflector sight was good as well as the radio and the throat microphone, which eliminated the engine noise from transmissions.

Before starting the engine one you had to set the propeller pitch to small, as otherwise the plane would start to swerve left as soon as the tailwheel was raised from the ground. There was nothing special in landing the plane. It was heavy but the wing slats opened up when speed slowed down and helped flying in slow speed.

Comparing the flying characteristics against the FIAT G.50, the Me109G was just a weapons platform, albeit a great one. "

-Kullervo Joutseno, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"The worst thing about Me109 was its bad reputation which caused unnecessary nervousness on many (new) pilots. The tendency to swing was related to this. As a plane the Me was a typical wartime fighter equipped with a powerful engine. A cool pilot could easily control the plane's direction and change it when accelerating."

-Jorma Karhunen, Finnish fighter ace. 36 1/2 victories, fighter squadron commander. . Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G-2:

"Best things in the Me: speed, power and climb. Weaponry was good, as well as the control systems and radio. The turning ability was poor (when compared to other FiAF types, like Brewster, Curtiss Hawk and Fiat).

-Lasse Kilpinen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

"For the pilot the plane was definitely a good package. The climb rate was good as well as the cannon and machinegun weaponry. The cockpit arrangements were good, though close-fitting to a large man."

-Mikko Lallukka, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

"Me 109 had good and accurate weapons, but those were the only good points of it. To me, it's unacceptable that somebody had built a fighter plane that couldn't be dived without limits. Me109 had a dive limit of 880km/h - you weren't to exceed it or the plane would break up. Just this happened to Sgt Mäittälä. I (and Pokela) was forced to exceed this limit twice, I can't describe how it felt just to sit in the cockpit waiting, if the plane would break up. I have never gotten rid of that feeling, of being trapped."

-Heimo Lampi, Finnish fighter ace. 13 1/2 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"Good in the Me? Good flying characterics, powerful engine and good take-off and landing characterics."

- Onni Kuuluvainen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"I got about 150 hours and over 30 aerial combats on the Messerschmitt 109. It was a fine "pilot's airplane" and there was no big complaints about the technical side, as long as you operated it within envelope, inside the performance parameters. It is hard to find any negative things about the plane from pilot's perspective when taking the development of technology into account. But the heavy and visibility limiting hood of the G-2 should have been changed into the G-6 "Galland hood" earlier.

It can be said that Me109 was at it's best (compared against other planes) at high altitudes. Until the summer '44 Me109 gave the pilots a dangerous feeling of superiority, then the new magnificient soviet plane types forced us to adopt a more humble attitude."

-Hemmo Leino, Finnish fighter ace. 11 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"The Me had good speed and rate of climb. It was easy and steady to control in all conditions of flight. Worse was the poor controls in longitudinal stability, especially in higher speeds.

In the war skies the Messerscmitt was stiff and wasn't fit for turning combat against more agile opponents. "Strike and out" was a good rule. We didn't have time for acrobatics but we weren't forbidden from doing them, though. Snap roll was fast and easy, and the engine didn't cough as in older planes. Immelman turn was splendid when you tightened the stick a bit on the top. The automatic wing slats did their trick and you didn't need ailerons at all for straightening the plane."

-Otso Leskinen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"It was amazing feeling to take off in Messerschmitt after the Fiat (G.50). It was gung ho and no hesitation! The performance and handling of the plane were excellent and all systems were in their correct place. Of all different planes I have flown the easiest to fly were the Pyry (advanced trainer) and the Messerschmitt."

- Esko Nuuttila, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"Good in the Me? Speed and climb. It was responsive to controls and suited well to the "pendulum tactics". The weaponry was good when compared to the planes I'd flown earlier, Fokker D.XXI and Brewster.

Some planes had problems with material quality, as the plane was a war time product. G-2 radios caused sometimes worries. G-6 was much better in this regard."

- Atte Nyman, , Finnish fighter ace. 5 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

Aircraft was confidence inspiring, one felt like being the king of the skies when sitting in the cockpit. All controls were in logical order and in the reach of the pilot.

The plane responded to your piloting like a dream, from takeoff to landing. It is still the plane of my dreams.

- Kauko Risku, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G-2/G-6:

The Messerschmitt was good to fly and beautiful - I wish I could fly it one more time

- Aulis Rosenlöf, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

The best things in the plane were its speed compared to the contemporary planes, and its weapons.

- Reino Suhonen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G-6:

One thing that was absolutely good about it, was the wild performance of the aircraft. Other good points were the visibility during the flight, the sitting position, the cockpit wasn't unnecessary roomy, the impression of controlled flight and sturdy construction: no vibrations or shakings, the electrically heated flightsuit and gloves.

- Torsti Tallgren, Finnish post war fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

Me109 was almost a dream come true for a pilot. Good controllability, enough speed, excelent rate of climb. The feel of the controls were normal except when flying over 600km/h - some strength was needed then.

When Me109 came to the squadron it was without a doubt the best tool in use. The La-7 and Yak-9 that were introduced into service in summer '44 were equal or in some areas somewhat better than Me109.

- Erkki O. Pakarinen, Finnish fighter pilot, Finnish Air Force trainer. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Training to fly the Messerschmitt

The Germans' proglem with the 1475 HP Gustav was, that they raised the tail immediately after pushing the throttle fully forward. The strong engine created a tendency to swing the tail. When landing the Germans had way too much speed, so it was hard to control to plane when the wheels touched ground and the plane bounced back into air.

On 21st February (1943) I got my second flight with a Emil. I felt ready to move into the Gustav, but the weather turned bad and flights had to be suspended.

Finally the fog lifted, on 27.2., I flew my first flight with Gustav and all others finished their flights with Emils. However, on next day all flights were interrupted, when the German pupils wrecked for Messerschmitts. 1.3. I finally got my second flight with Gustav and I felt ready to continue to the Messerschmitt factory, to get our own planes.

(Snipped. Jumping over the visit at the factory, the parties and singing and return flight towards Finland, though Germany and Baltics.)

The last phase was flown in most perfect weather. We flew a honorary sweep over Helsinki, in tight formation, kind like showing that here we are now, ready to protect you from enemy bombings. The landing to Malmi airport were faultless. The Germans thought the Malmi airfield, with its only partially coated runways, as a hard place. They had lost here many planes, that were transferring towards north (to Luftloffe 5). The local German detachment was waiting for us in the field, with their fire-brigade in readiness, expecting the worst. He had been told that we had only had a few flights in the Messerschmitts. The fire-brigade chief was clearly very relieved after all planes had landed, without mishaps.

- Lauri Pekuri, Finnish fighter ace. 18 1/2 victories. Source: Lauri Pekuri, Hävittäjälentäjä. WSOY 2006, ISBN 951-0-31907-4.

Me 109 G-2:

" Lunch was served at 1100, and while we ate, an instructor sat next to each of us, showing the Messerschmitt manual about speeds and dimensions. While we were eating they told us that now we are in a hurry and you must be sent in the air as soon as possible. As we finished our lunch we went to the airfield at once, each of us was assigned a fighter and we studied the instruments and speeds. After a few random questions we were ordered to take off and we did."

- Did you have any problems (when in training) with the Me 109?

None whatsoever."

- Kyösti Karhila, Finnish fighter ace. 32 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G-2:

"It felt dangerous when we were flying the introductory flights in the Messerschmitt. It was winter and the runway in Suulajärvi was just a narrow strip ploughed in the snow. Then we set about it. It was an insecure feeling, can I stay on the strip. There was no interim types between Brewster and 109 G-2.

You just had to remember to keep her in contact with the ground long enough, you did not try to use too little speed. Then you could control her."

- Jouko "Jussi" Huotari, Finnish fighter ace. 17 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G-2:

"I was in the same situation, switching Morane to Messerschmitt without any interim type. There were three interim types in Utti that I should have flown. But all of them were being repaired, so Capt. Puhakka said, "no, let us leave them alone, have you done your homework about her ? (the Messerschmitt, tr.rem.) "Yes I have" I told. Go ahead, he said, "just remember that a Morane veers to the right and this one veers to the left, be prepared for that". I said, all right, and taxied off. At my first takeoff (with a MT) it was about ten degrees that I veered to the left. I had planned to fly over the hangar no. 1 but ended up flying between the hangars no. 3 and 1. That much difference there was."

- Antti Tani, Finnish fighter ace. 21,5 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G-2:

"On 29.3.1043 after captain Luukkanen and Oberleutnant Götz had briefed me about the technical and flying characteristics of the plane, I flew a 35 minute familiarization flight at 700 meters and made one landing. I had no problems whatsoever, the plane was easy to fly and I had no trouble in landing."

- Joel Savonen, Finnish fighter ace. 8 victories. Source: Memoirs of a reserve military aviator 1934-1945.



Me 109 G-2:

"In 1943 Mauno Fräntilä went to Austria together with 17 other pilots to fly the first Messerschmitts to Finland.

We didn´t know the language. We sat in the cockpit and just looked around. The Germans were standing by our side. The plane was quite new for them as well. After a few introductory flights the Finnish pilots already prepared to fly home. The Germans said hold on and explained that you have not flown enough.

Well, we reminded that there is a war going on in Finland and that we are in a hurry. The planes are needed immediately and so we left."

- Mauno Fräntilä, Finnish fighter ace. 5 1/2 victories. Source: Finnish Virtual Pilots Association: fighter ace Mauno Fräntilä was creating the glory of the war pilots.



At night fighter training in Germany 1944, Me 109 G-6:

"-How was the quality of the training? You previously told that the quality of instrument flying training was really good?

First the Germans put us in a Gotha, which is pretty close to our Tuisku. They probably wanted to see if we could fly at all. Of course we could, as all of us came from combat units. Then we flew Arado a lot. I got about 27 flying hours in a Messerschmitt at the end (with some more in two seater 109 G-12).. When we got to Ludwigslust and got the type training to Messerchmitt, we also did some daytime flying, IFR flying in clouds and gunnery etc. The night flights begun with takeoff and landing rehearsals.

- Did any of the Finns have previous Messerschmitt training before going there?

No, I didn't have any experience. We were taken from these, how should I put it, weaker squadrons. After a quick check it seems that there's only one guy who might have had type training for Messerschmitt. Overall we flew about 80 hours, about half of them in Messerschmitt. But a lot of it was day flying. Cloud flying during daytime."

- In your opinion was the training good enough for night operations?

Yes it was. At least compared to any Finnish training it was good, competent training. Even then, summer of '44. Especially in the way they pressed instrument flying through. You might not think about it, but if you are flying in Finland at night, you can almost always see at least a trace of the horizon. But in Central Europe you can't see it. It's that much darker and there is much more haze in the air, so there's no visual aid from the horizon. It's total instrument flying, from the beginning to the end."

- Olli Sarantola, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Interview of Olli Sarantola by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G:

" After the war I was the head trainer (in Utti) for the MT's (Messerchmitt 109s). I made up the training program, I could choose my assistants and I took Salmela and Onni Karhunen. That was our club of three, they did all the work and I got all the honor. Since there were no limits, I chose two of the best mechanics. They (trainees) flew appx. 28 hours each.

- About the MT training, how badly did it pull to the side? Was it really difficult to take off?

It was a big problem.

The reason was that the new pilots had flown Pyry before, which was sensitive as hell to fly. Old pilots had Fiat experience, and that one has stiff stick. The usual reason for turning (when taking off) was that they forgot to lock the heel.

If you forgot to lock the heel, the plane began to turn when speeding up. When the plane was taxiing to starting place, the heel was locked from the cockpit and you began to speed up. By pulling the stick you kept the tail in the ground until you felt in the pedals that the plane is responding to the fin. Then you let the tail rise and kept the plane level, until you took off. It wasn't difficult to take off, but if you left the heel to turn freely, the plane began to turn when speeding up, and the results were often destructive.

It was a difficult plane. You had to learn it all over from the beginning, to climb into tree's top from the ground.



- The case of one trainee...

When the training began I said, you take that other plane and we'll fly to Kymi. He started first and I watched him go. Began to turn, hit a ditch and caught fire. I came there, so did the fire squad. But I couldn't go close because he had full armament and the rounds were going off at the nose. I took his burned wallet to his parents later.

When I could look in the cockpit, I saw he had forgotten to lock the heel. I had told this fellow too, many times over. "Always when you increase the throttle, push both brakes to feel if it turns." When the tail wheel brake is open (not locked), it can turn anywhere. And the propeller was so big that it took the plane with it.

This is why I expressed it so much, always remember to lock the tail wheel. It was the main reason why we lost MT's and pilots in take-offs.

- By the way, how was it in start? Heel still down?

The heel was still in the ground... or there was bad visibility to front. All you had to do was to keep the heel down and let go, and when you felt the rudders move, then you let the tail rise."

- Väinö Pokela, Finnish fighter ace and Me 109 trainer. 5 victories. Source: Interview of Väinö Pokela by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.

Me 109 G:

"My own experiences with the Me are quite modest, but I didn't have any trouble moving from Pyry trainers to the Mersu. Before my first flight in Me captain Tuormaa made a flight to check if it was ok. Then I climbed at runway 36 into the plane, with its engine running. I took off, made the landing pattern and landed. The landing came from a bit high altitude but there was nothing special on the whole thing."

-Kauko Juvonen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"The worst thing about Me109 was its bad reputation which caused unnecessary nervousness on many (new) pilots. The tendency to swing was related to this. As a plane the Me was a typical wartime fighter equipped with a powerful engine. If you pushed the throttle to full suddenly you might lose control, if the pilot's legs were stiffened because nervousness. But if one was calm, he could control the plane. A cool pilot could easily control the plane's direction and change it when accelerating.

To get rid of this dangerous phenomenan I flew the first flights as the squadron commander in winter 1944, when the squadron was equipped with Messerschmitts. The idea was that "if that old man can do it, then I can do it as well". I did the same at Pori at LentoRykmentti 1 (Flying Regiment 1) in the 1950s, when they were equipped with Messerschmitts. There was no "Messerschmitt scare" and the training proceeded surprisingly well. But when the pilot applied the correct procedures there wasn't any real danger. I didn't notice any special hardships in landings."

-Jorma Karhunen, Finnish fighter ace. 36 1/2 victories, fighter squadron commander. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"In my opinion the Messerchmitt's tendendy to swing in takeoff was the result of incorrect training and pilot attitude. Perhaps too hasty takeoffs were sometimes responsible. If you pushed the throttle fully open immediately, the plane tried suddenly to turn right and lean towards the left wing, especially if you had not locked the tailwheel. If the pilot now strongly pushed the left rudder to correct the rightways swing, the plane now started a powerful swing leftwards towards the "Messerschmitt corner". The plane was now hard to control if you didn't use the right brake. But I think the accidents in takeoff were mostly because lack of knowledge and lack of piloting skills."

-Mikko Lallukka, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

"Väinö Pokela was tasked with the mission of teaching us Brewster pilots into Messerschmitts. I made it in just two familiarization flights directly into the Me squadron, but not all did it. Some had to return to Brewsters.

After the war I had to teach wing-commander Holm to fly the Messerschmitt. I felt that forcing an old man into this was suicide. But order was order. But I knew how to give orders as well. I told him: "You don't force this plane up from the runway, but you let it fly off by itself!" The flight succeeded excellently. It was amazing performance from an old man."

-Heimo Lampi, Finnish fighter ace. 13 1/2 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"The performance and handling of the plane were excellent and all systems were in their correct place. Of all different planes I have flown the easiest to fly were the Pyry (advanced trainer) and the Messerschmitt."

- Esko Nuuttila, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"Takeoff and landing are known as troublesome, but in my opinion there is much more rumours around than what actually happened. There sure was some tendency to swing and it surely swerved if you didn't take into account. But I got the correct training for Messerchmitt and it helped me during my whole career. It was: "lock tailwheel, open up the throttle smoothly. When the speed increases correct any tendency to swing with your feet. Use the stick normally. Lift the tailwheel and pull plane into the sky.

Training to Me? It depended on the teacher. I got good training. First you had to know all the knobs and meters in the cockpit. Then you got the advice for takeoff and landing. Landing was easy in my opinion. In cold weather it was useful to have some RPMs during the finals and kill throttle just before flaring."

- Atte Nyman, , Finnish fighter ace. 5 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

My introduction to Messerschmitts was normal. My squadron commander said to me "what are you doing here, you're in wrong squadron. You're to report tomorrow at Utti, to major Luukkanen." I looked at him and "but the Messerschmitt squadron is at Utti " Ahonius replied "what, isn't that enough to you?" And that night I could barely sleep Next day I arrived to Utti and major Luukkanen told me that it will take 3-4 days until I can fly my first sortie on Messerscmitt. Lietnant Pokela taught me the little tricks of the Messerschmitt and he was an excellent teacher, telling about the strange plane to me. We had a Morane Saulnier 406 and I made to takeoffs with it, it was said that its takeoff was similar to Messerschmitt's. Finally I got my own MT, MT-206, I climbed to 1000 meters and made to landings. I don't know why but everything felt like I had flown the plane earlier. That's how I learned how to fly with my new tool.

- Pekka Tanner, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Taking off

Me 109 G-2/G-6:

"You had to be careful in take-off and landing, though. The rudder was small, you shouldn't lift the tail right away, but accelerate gradually and keep the direction with brake. When you felt the rudder had effect, you had no trouble any more. And you shouldn't let it bank at all when landing. Remember that you had a three meter long engine in front of you, a big propellor and narrow landing gear, if it started to roll you had to let loose. "

- Mauno Fräntilä, Finnish fighter ace. 5 1/2 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association: Chief Warrant Officer Mauno Fräntilä.

Me 109 G-6/R6 (with wing cannon pods):

"The forward view for taxying was terrible but at least the aircraft was easily steerable owing to its positive toe pedal-operated wheel brakes, and using 15 deg of flap and 1,3 ata boost the take-off was commendably short and certainly superior to that of the Spitfire IX in distance of run. The strong swing to port could easily be held on rudder, but it was advisable to raise the tail as quickly as possible owing to the poor forward view. This could be done fairly coarsely without fear of the airscrew hitting the ground as the high thrust line of the inverted engine gave ample clearance. The Gustav had to be flown off as any attempt to pull it off the ground early resulted in aileron snatching as the wing slats opened unevenly."

- Eric Brown

- Take notice. That is the first quote on Eric Brown's 109 G fligt test report, where he speaks about the slats and the aileron snatch. So what? If you try to take off with too little airspeed something strange and surprising is sure to happen! The plane will rock and no wonder if slats open unevenly. Yet, Brown does not describe anything catastropic here, just normal aircraft behaviour. Also, the plane is equipped with cannon pods and its engine is limited to 1,3 ata boost, making it inferior to a normal Me 109 G-6.



Me 109 G:

"-About the tendency of the Messerschmitt to veer at start and takeoff. This is a mythical subject. Some say it was very difficult, others say that as long as you knew what you were doing it was an easy to control plane.

It was not difficult if you had a good instructor who told you what she would do. And you can control her if you only hold the tailwheel on the ground and let her up not until there is enough speed for you to feel the vertical rudder having effect.

- In Tampere in a meeting of Ilmasilta I met two younger Messerschmitt pilots who had been trained in 1946: one of them had the opinion that there were two styles of takeoff: one veering and one not veering. Some applied full power at once, treading on the right pedal. Others applied power slowly and allowed the thousand hp.s pull the plane up at leisure. "She took off by that method too".

"You moved the power lever slowly and as you felt that the vertical rudder responds, the tail could be allowed to rise and then she took off on her own."

- Kyösti Karhila, Finnish fighter ace. 32 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G:

"Antti Tani: The first starts were often risky for many pilots. Many of them went in the forest, there was a "Messerschmitt corner " at Utti.

Jussi Huotari: If they allowed the plane to lose ground contact at underspeed, she was gone.

Antti Tani: Yes, you could no more control her.

- So you had to keep the tailwheel on the ground long enough ?

Jussi Huotari: The wheels had to be kept in contact with the ground.

Antti Tani: Even if you did that she tried to (veer off). First you kept the tail on the ground, then picked up some speed and after the tail lifted you kept her straight with pedal.

Jussi Huotari: And you had to keep the ground contact until the rudder responded, you had to take enough speed to be able to control her. She kept veering to the left. There is the Messerschmitt corner in Utti.

Antti Tani: Yes, I wonder how many planes crashed there? Must have been five or six at least."

- Antti Tani, Finnish fighter ace. 21,5 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.

- Jouko "Jussi" Huotari, Finnish fighter ace. 17 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G:

"- The Messerschmitt was very sensitive if you forgot to lock the tailwheel, wasn't she ?

That is true, she would turn very quickly."

- Jouko "Jussi" Huotari, Finnish fighter ace. 17 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G-6:

"Only on takeoff, if you raised the tailwheel before you had enough speed to control the yaw with the rudder, you would be in serious trouble. The torque of the prop would take over and the plane would veer to the side. Without enough speed to control it with the rudder, this usually lead to a broken plane. Therefore it was important to keep the tailwheel down until you had enough speed for rudder control. Flying and landing was easy. Like it is well known, many young pilots wrecked MT's on takeoff, usually because they lifted the tailwheel too soon."

- Olli Sarantola, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Blitz '01 - Meeting With The Veterans by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G-2:

"To my understanding the right tire had slightly less pressure than the left. So if you increased the throttle too slowly at take-off, the plane tried to swerve to right - you had to correct it before the real tendency of swerving to left came into effect. The type G6 was much better than G2 regarding this behavior. Anyway: experience made this problem small or outright eliminated it."

-Lasse Kilpinen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G-2/G-6:

The plane had the tendency for swerving to the left during the take-off, but if this led to an accident, it was purely the fault of the pilot.

- Aulis Rosenlöf, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G-6:

There was only one way to keep the swerving in control during take-offs: Fully open up the throttle with firm and swift movement, because you needed good airflow for the control surfaces from the very start. Keeping the tailwheel on the ground eliminated the initial swerving to the right, compensating that with left rudder would have been very dangerous. Swerving to left started as soon as the tail was raised and this had to be compensated with full right rudder, pushing the rudder to the very bottom. The plane would leave the ground in level flight without pulling the stick.

- Torsti Tallgren, Finnish post war fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G-6:

I didn't regard the swerving during take-offs as anything special. In my opinion, the accidents were caused by poor training.

- Martti Uottinen, Finnish war bomber pilot, post war fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G-6:

The cooling system was a little too tricky, you had to do taxiing with high rpm to ensure the cooling to work.

The take-off was executed in following way: Hand was placed lightly to the stick, stick to center position. Slowly open up the throttle, revs would increase gradually. Small directional corrections were done with brakes. As the speed increased, the tail would come up on its own, and the nose was held horizontal with light stick movement. Plane would take off from this position without any further control at the take-off speed. If the take-off was performed like this, the plane went like on rails, without the smallest swerve.

The takeoff and landing accidents were largely result from lack of experience in training. People didn't know what to do and how to do it. As a result the plane was respected too much, and pilots were too careful. The plane carried the man, and the man didn't control his plane.

- Erkki O. Pakarinen, Finnish fighter pilot, Finnish Air Force trainer. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"109 needs a lot of power to get moving so you need to allow the engine to warm a little before you pile the power onto it. Power up to 1800 RPM and suddenly we're rolling... power back... to turn, stick forward against the instrument panel to lighten the tail. A blast of throttle and a jab of brakes. Do this in a Spitfire and you are on your nose ! The '109 however is very tail heavy and is reluctant to turn - you can very easily lock up a wheel. If you do not use the above technique you will charge off across the airfield in a straight line ! Forward view can only be described as apalling, and due to the tail/brake arrangement this makes weaving more difficult than on other similar types. I prefer to taxy with the hood open to help this a little.

Pretake off checks... Elevator trim set to +1 degrees, no rudder trim, throttle friction light. This is vital as I'm going to need to use my left hand for various services immediately after take-off. Mixture is automatic, pitch fully fine... fuel - I know we're full (85 gallons); the gauge is unserviceable again, so I'm limited to a maximum of 1 hour 15 minutes cruise or 1 hour if any high power work is involved. Fuel/Oil **** is ON, both boost pumps are ON, pressure is good, primer is done up. Flaps - crank down to 20 degrees for take off. Rad flaps checked at full open; if we take off with them closed we will certainly boil the engine and guaranteeed to crack the head. Gyro's set to Duxford's runway. Instruments; temps and pressures all in the green for take off. Radiator is now 102 degrees. Oxygen we don't have, hood rechecked down and locked, harness tight and secure, hydraulics select down in the gear and pressurise the system check 750 psi. Controls full and free, tail wheel locked. Got to go - 105 degrees. There's no time to hang around and worry about the take off. Here we go... Power gently up and keep it coming smoothly up to +8 (46")... it's VERY noisy ! Keep the tail down initially, keep it straight by feel rather than any positive technique... tail coming up now... once the rudders effective. Unconcious corrections to the rudder are happening all the time. It's incredcibly entertaining to watch the '109 take off or land. The rudder literally flashes around ! The alternative technique (rather tongue in cheek) is Walter Eichorn's, of using full right rudder throughout the take-off roll and varying the swing with the throttle!

The little fighter is now bucketing along, accelerating rapidly. As the tail lifts there is a positive tendancy to swing left - this can be checked easily however, although if you are really agressive lifting the tail it is difficult to stop and happens very quickly. Now the tail's up and you can see vagualy where you are going. It's a rough, wild, buckety ride on grass and with noise, smoke from the stakcs and the aeroplane bouncing around it's exciting !

Quick glance at the ASI - 100 mph, slight check back on the stick and we're flying. Hand off the throttle, rotate the gear selector and activate the hydraulic button. The mechanical indicators motor up very quickly and you feel a clonk, clonk as the gear comes home. Relect Neutral on the undercarriage selector. Quick look out at the wings and you see the slats fully out, starting to creep in as the airspeed increases and the angle of attack reduces.

Start to frantically crank the flap up - now up the speeds, increasing through 150, power back to +6 (42") and 2650 for the climb. Plenty of airflow through the narrow radiators now, so close them and remember to keep a careful eye on the coolant gauge for the next few minutes until the temperature has settled down. With the rad flaps closed the aircraft accelerates postively. I'm aware as we climb that I'm holding in a little right rudder to keep the tail in the middle, but the foot loads are light, and it's no problems. Level off and power back to +4(38") and 2000 RPM. The speed's picked up to the '109 cruise of about 235-240 mph and now the tail is right in the middle and no rudder input is necessary."

- Mark Hanna of the Old Flying Machine Company flying the OFMC Messerschmitt Bf 109 G (Spanish version).



Me 109 G:

"There was only one correct procedure. Open up the throttle calmly and quickly fully open, because you needed prop wash and airspeed to control the plane. The temptation to wash left was negated by keeping the tail wheel down at the runway for a moment. It would have been extremerely dangerous to correct the twist by pushing left rudder. Push the stick to raise tail, now the plane tried to twist left. Push right rudder fully down, to the last centimeter - now the plane rolled steadily straight ahead. The right pedal was relatively heavy first, but the force lessened as speed increased, so you could slowly ease up on the rudder. No aileron control was needed to correct the twist. Raise the wheels and start climbing normally."

- Torsti Tallgren, Finnish post war fighter pilot. Source: Interview of Torsti Tallgren by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.

Me 109 G:

- How badly did it pull to the side? Was it really difficult to take off?

It was a big problem.

The usual reason for turning (when taking off) was that they forgot to lock the tail wheel.

If you forgot to lock the heel, the plane began to turn when speeding up. When the plane was taxiing to starting place, the heel was locked from the cockpit and you began to speed up. By pulling the stick you kept the tail in the ground until you felt in the pedals that the plane is responding to the fin. Then you let the tail rise and kept the plane level, until you took off. It wasn't difficult to take off, but if you left the heel to turn freely, the plane began to turn when speeding up, and the results were often destructive.

This is why I expressed it so much, always remember to lock the tail wheel. It was the main reason why we lost MT's and pilots in take-offs.

All you had to do was to keep the heel down and let go, and when you felt the rudders move, then you let the tail rise."

- Väinö Pokela, Finnish fighter ace and Me 109 trainer. 5 victories. Source: Interview of Väinö Pokela by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.

Me 109 G:

"Before starting the engine one you had to set the propeller pitch to small, as otherwise the plane would start to swerve left as soon as the tailwheel was raised from the ground. There was nothing special in landing the plane. It was heavy but the wing slats opened up when speed slowed down and helped flying in slow speed."

-Kullervo Joutseno, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"I didn't notice the tendency of swerving towards left on take-offs, or I never saw it either - but I had heard of such a thing. "

-Kauko Juvonen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"As a plane the Me was a typical wartime fighter equipped with a powerful engine. If you pushed the throttle to full suddenly you might lose control, if the pilot's legs were stiffened because nervousness. But if one was calm, he could control the plane. A cool pilot could easily control the plane's direction and change it when accelerating. When the pilot applied the correct procedures there wasn't any real danger."

-Jorma Karhunen, Finnish fighter ace. 36 1/2 victories, fighter squadron commander. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"In my opinion the Messerchmitt's tendendy to swing in takeoff was the result of incorrect training and pilot attitude. Perhaps too hasty takeoffs were sometimes responsible. If you pushed the throttle fully open immediately, the plane tried suddenly to turn right and lean towards the left wing, especially if you had not locked the tailwheel. If the pilot now strongly pushed the left rudder to correct the rightways swing, the plane now started a powerful swing leftwards towards the "Messerschmitt corner". The plane was now hard to control if you didn't use the right brake. But I think the accidents in takeoff were mostly because lack of knowledge and lack of piloting skills. We certainly didn't think about swinging, when we left to our last patrol mission, 17.10.1953, taking off in a close formation of four Messerschmitts.

At Utti air base were had a "seven point rule", that we had to follow before takeoff. We had to check the cockpit hood, trim position, flap position, tailwheel lock, make sure the propeller was on automatic and the overheat circuit breakers activated."

-Mikko Lallukka, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

"Good in the Me? Good flying characterics, powerful engine and good take-off and landing characterics.

Takeoff: if you pushed full throttle immediately and your tailwheel was still at ground, the plane carries away to the right. When speed increases the electrical propeller pitch control system increased the pitch and the plane started to swing strongly leftwards. So if the pilot wasn't careful here, the plane might get loose. But because I had been warned about this I never had any problems when taking off or landing in the Me."

- Onni Kuuluvainen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"I never suffered any tendency to swing in takeoff, because I had patience to keep the tailwheel on ground until the small sized rudder could keep the plane in wanted heading. All high powered single engine propeller planes, especially with large blades, have swing effect when you increase power suddenly. This tendency had to be eliminated following the instructions given by the manufacturer."

-Hemmo Leino, Finnish fighter ace. 11 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"Takeoff: the swerve (to left) was easy to control if one remembered to lock the tail wheel, open the throttle slowly (movement range of the throttle was really short) and didn't raise the tail up too early."

-Otso Leskinen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"I didn't feel the tendency to swing in takeoff was troublesome. I think they were exaggerated by a large margin. MT could "sit down" on field easily, without any problems. Of all different planes I have flown the easiest to fly were the Pyry (advanced trainer) and the Messerschmitt."

- Esko Nuuttila, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"Takeoff and landing are known as troublesome, but in my opinion there is much more rumours around than what actually happened. There sure was some tendency to swing and it surely swerved if you didn't take into account. But I got the correct training for Messerchmitt and it helped me during my whole career. It was: "lock tailwheel, open up the throttle smoothly. When the speed increases correct any tendency to swing with your feet. Use the stick normally. Lift the tailwheel and pull plane into the sky."

- Atte Nyman, , Finnish fighter ace. 5 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

I noticed that people always kept warning about the swing at takeoff. I never let it do so, maybe I resisted it automatically. Visibility forwards was minimal during landing approach.

- Kauko Risku, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

The best things in the plane were its speed compared to the contemporary planes, and its weapons. The worst was perhaps the tendency to turn during take-offs, which was because the plane's horizontal and vertical stabilizers were of small size. One a young ensign made a takeoff: he was supposed to take off from Luonetjärvi's runway 31, but when he got up he had swerwed 90 degrees left from his original direction.

The best way to takeoff was to increase throttle slowly and push the stick at the same time, so the tail had enough airstream.

There wasn't any special problems with landing.

- Reino Suhonen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

Takeoff with Messerchmitt: after stepping into cockpit check following: belt locked, hood locked, tail wheel locked, start engine, propeller to manual at 12 o'clock, open radiator flaps on manual, radio open, check fuses, check altitude meter (at 0 meters). If you have to roll to starting position swerve to see ahead. Before takeoff set full brakes, calmly increase throttle to normal RPM and decrease it. Continue: release brakes, maximum RPM, propeller to automatic, increase speed to 100-120 km/h, raise tail, when speed is 180-200 km/h the plane lifts off by itself, raise gear, flaps in. Throttle to cruise speed, check meters, make sure radiator flaps are on automatic. If all ok, continue mission.

- Pekka Tanner, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Landing the 109

Me 109 G:

"Once the tailwheel was firmly on the ground the brakes could be applied quite harshly, thus giving a short landing run, but care had to be taken to prevent any swing as the combination of narrow-track undercarriage and minimal forward view could easily result in directional problems."

- Eric Brown

- That is the only mention about the narrow undercarriage. Take notice that even this is just an objective note and Brown doesn't say anything else about it.



Landing battle damaged Me 109 G-2:

"I did my best landing ever. Wind blew from the right and the plane tends to veer to that direction. I hit the left brake but it was all slack. No response, but giving brief bursts of power with the engine I managed to create enough slipstream to keep the plane in straight course. Then I saw I cannot use any more power or I shall hit the tree stumps at the far end of the runway. I cut the ignition and said to myself, here we go.

By the by the plane began to veer to the right, at an ever faster rate and then the tail went up, the soil off the runway was soft. The tail went up, then the plane began to tilt to the left, the left wingtip, a 50cm piece hit the ground with a crunch and was bent. The plane was just about to nose over, but not even the prop did contact the ground, and the plane stopped there in the normal position."

- Kyösti Karhila, Finnish fighter ace. 32 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G-2/G-6:

- Pokela has told me that he took special care to teach the proper take-off and landing on the Me. How about the Germans, I've heard they didn't believe you could fit the planes in our small fields?

"They spoke of how the final approach speed should be 220 km/h. That would overshoot the field, we said. We landed at 180. "

- Mauno Fräntilä, Finnish fighter ace. 5 1/2 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association: Chief Warrant Officer Mauno Fräntilä.

Me 109 G-6:

In landing the Me was stable. The leading edge slats were quick and reliable, and they prevented the plane from lurching in slow speeds and made it possible to make "stall landings" to short fields. The problem in landings was the long nose, so the plane was partly controlled by touch in the final seconds of landing.

- Torsti Tallgren, Finnish post war fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"-Was the Messerschmitt difficult to land?

She was not difficult to land but after touchdown you must not let her curve. In Malmi there was a 10 by 10 m spot where German night fighter pilots broke at least six of their Messerschmitts. After touchdown they had veered to the right and the plane tilted to the left until the wingtip and prop contacted the ground. Yet they had logged thousands of hours with the Messerschmitt. In the night they flew like angels and landed without any veering, but in daytime they couldn't do anything."

- Kyösti Karhila, Finnish fighter ace. 32 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G-6:

"The Me was stable on landings. The quickly reacing automatic wing slats negated any swaying on slow speeds and made it possible to make "stall landings" to small fields. The problem in stall landings was the long nose, which hindered visibility forward. Because this controlling at the last stages of landing was done partly by sense of touch on the controls."

- Torsti Tallgren, Finnish post war fighter pilot. Source: Interview of Torsti Tallgren by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.

Me 109 G-6:

Landing was slightly problematic if the approach was straight, with slight overspeed at about 180 km/h. Landing was extremely easy and pleasing when done with shallow descending turn, as then you could see easily the landing point. You had a little throttle, speed 150-160 km/h, 145 km/h at final. You controlled the descent speed with the engine and there was no problems, the feeling was the same as with Stieglitz. If I recall correctly the Me "sits down" at 140-142 km/h.

The takeoff and landing accidents were largely result from lack of experience in training. People didn't know what to do and how to do it. As a result the plane was respected too much, and pilots were too careful. The plane carried the man, and the man didn't control his plane.

- Erkki O. Pakarinen, Finnish fighter pilot, Finnish Air Force trainer. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"Speed at 150 knots or less, gear select to DOWN and activate the button and feel the gear come down asymmetrically. Check the mechanical indicators (ignore the electric position indicators), pitch fully fine... fuel - both boost pumps ON. If you have less than 1/4 fuel and the rear pump is not on the engine may stop in the three-point attitude. Rad flaps to full open and wings flaps to 10 degrees to 15 degrees. As the wing passes the threshold downwind - take all the power off and roll into the finals turn, cranking the flap like mad as you go. The important things is to set up a highish rate of descent, curved approach. The aircraft is reluctant to lose speed around finals so ideally you should initiate the turn quite slow at about 100-105. Slats normally deploy half way round finals but you the pilot are not aware they have come out. The ideal is to keep turning with the speed slowly bleeding, and roll out at about 10 feet at the right speed and just starting to transition to the three point attitude, the last speed I usually see is just about 90; I'm normally too busy to look after that!

The '109 is one of the most controllable aircraft that I have flown at slow speed around finals, and provided you don't get too slow is one of the easiest to three point. It just feels right ! The only problem is getting it too slow. If this happens you end up with a very high sink rate, very quickly and absolutely no ability to check or flare to round out. It literally falls out of your hands !

Once down on three points the aircraft tends to stay down - but this is when you have to be careful. The forward view has gone to hell and you cannot afford to let any sort of swing develop. The problem is that the initial detection is more difficult. The aeroplane is completely unpredictable and can diverge in either direction. There never seems to be any pattern to this. Sometimes the most immaculate three pointer will turn into a potential disaster half way through the landing roll. Other times a ropey landing will roll thraight as an arrow!"

- Mark Hanna of the Old Flying Machine Company flying the OFMC Messerschmitt Bf 109 G (Spanish version).

Me 109 G:

"I didn't notice any special hardships in landings."

-Jorma Karhunen, Finnish fighter ace. 36 1/2 victories, fighter squadron commander. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G-2:

"Landing was normal."

-Lasse Kilpinen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

"It was beneficial to keep the throttle a little open when landing. This made the landings softer and almost all three-point landings were successful with this technique. During landings the leading edge slats were fully open. But there was no troubles in landing even with throttle at idle."

-Mikko Lallukka, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

"Good in the Me? Good flying characterics, powerful engine and good take-off and landing characterics."

- Onni Kuuluvainen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"Landing: landing glide using engine power and the following light wheel touchdown was easy and non-problematic. I didn't have any trouble in landings even when a tire exploded in my first Messerschmitt flight."

-Otso Leskinen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"MT could "sit down" on field easily, without any problems. Of all different planes I have flown the easiest to fly were the Pyry (advanced trainer) and the Messerschmitt."

- Esko Nuuttila, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"Takeoff and landing are known as troublesome, but in my opinion there is much more rumours around than what actually happened. There sure was some tendency to swing and it surely swerved if you didn't take into account. But I got the correct training for Messerchmitt and it helped me during my whole career. It was: "lock tailwheel, open up the throttle smoothly. When the speed increases correct any tendency to swing with your feet. Use the stick normally. Lift the tailwheel and pull plane into the sky.

Training to Me? It depended on the teacher. I got good training. First you had to know all the knobs and meters in the cockpit. Then you got the advice for takeoff and landing. Landing was easy in my opinion. In cold weather it was useful to have some RPMs during the finals and kill throttle just before flaring."

- Atte Nyman, , Finnish fighter ace. 5 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

There wasn't any special problems with landing.

- Reino Suhonen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

Landing: approach field with about 250 km/h speed. When turning to landing direction slow down to 200-210 and always try to land as close to the beginning of runway as possible, so you won't have problems in small fields. Gear is out, flaps out, radiator open - those operations were done at 220-240 km/h speed. Bring plane to landing direction's center and sit down on three points at 180 km/h.

- Pekka Tanner, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

109 undercarriage

ME 109 E/F/G:

"The 109 had not for us, maybe not for the long time pilots of the 109, but the new comers had problems starting with the gear. You know it was a high, narrow gear. And we had many ground loops. And then the gear breaks. That is not a norm, this is a exception, but it anyway happens. "

- Major Gunther Rall. German fighter ace, NATO general, Commander of the German Air Force. 275 victories. Source: Lecture by general Rall.

Me 109 G-6:

The locking mechanism of the landing gear was unreliable. The gear locking mechanism's indicator was mechanical, so it was best to kick the plane sideways to both directions before landing to be sure that the gear was surely locked.

- Martti Uottinen, Finnish war bomber pilot, post war fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Stalling the 109

Me 109 E-4:

"I was amazed at how docile the aircraft was and how difficult it was to depart, particularly from manoeuvre - in a level turn there was lots of warning from a wide buffet margin and the aircraft would not depart unless it was out of balance. Once departted the aircraft was recovered easily by centralizing the controls."

- Charlie Brown, RAF Flying Instructor, test flight of restored Me 109 E-4 WN 3579. Source: Warbirds Journal issue 50.

Me 109 G:

"- How the Messerschmitt reacted to hard pull? Did she stall?

There is the general opinion that you could not make her stall by pulling but she could 'slip'."

- Kyösti Karhila, Finnish fighter ace. 32 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.

Flying Messerschmitt 109:

Me 109 G:

- How difficult was it to control the 109 in high velocities, 600 kmh and above?

The Messerschmitt became stiff to steer not until the speed exceeded 700kmh. The control column was as stiff as it had been fastened with tape, you could not use the ailerons. Yet you could control the plane."

- Kyösti Karhila, Finnish fighter ace. 32 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G:

"-Someone asked of the top speed of the Me. Mr Väinö Pokela told earlier it's 720 km/h, when I interviewed him.

Normally we flew the Me at 500 km/h, but at a tough spot we could go some 600 km/h. But the absolute speed limit is found in dive. I had to do some over 900 km/h dives. The speedometer scale ends at 900, and at that you feel the flutter effect in the wings. Guess it was very near the top speed, when the plane felt like falling apart."

- Edvald Estama, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Recollections by Eino and Edvald Estama by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G:

"Sarantola recalled that the MT was a very stable plane, but not the most maneuverable. The stick forces were quite large and elevator trim was used quite frequently while maneuvering.

MT was easy to fly and overall a safe plane. Flying and landing was easy."

- Olli Sarantola, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Blitz '01 - Meeting With The Veterans by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Bf 109 D:

"I have my own little formula to be followed in flying a new ship, and I stick to it religiously. Leaving the landing gear extended, I climbed up to about a thousand feet, set the propeller blades at the required high pitch, checked the engine instruments, and then slowed the engine down. The air speed indicator, of course, was calibrated in kilometres. I slowed the ship down to about 130 kilometres, pulled the nose up, and let it fall away.

Repeating the motion again by pulling the nose of the ship up this time beyond the stalling angle, I watched it sink evenly and steadily, with no hint of crankiness.

Flying along at about 20 miles above stalling speed, the ailerons had excellent control along with a fully effective rudder and elevator. This was all I could ask. A few turns to the right and to the left at reduced speed, a couple of side slips, and I was ready to come in for my first landing. It has always been my practice, irrespective of the new type of ship I'm flying, to take off, go through such procedures to become adjusted to its flight characteristics, and then go around for the first landing within two minutes after the take-off.

I was amazed when I brought the Messerschmitt around, tipped it over on one side, and slid toward the ground. Leveling out we got away with a three-point landing with the air-speed indicator reading about 105 kilometres per hour. The Me109 was an easy ship to fly, and with one landing behind me, we went to work - or rather to play.

I said this Messerschmitt was fast. The Germans had said so, too, to the tune of 350 to 360 mph, and their claims were demonstrated to be accurate. It is also interesting to note, in 1940, that the British concede the Messerschmitts to be good for 354 mph.

The most delightful features of the Messerschmitt were, first, in spite of its remarkably sensitive reaction to the controls, the ship showed no disposition to wander or "yaw" as we call it; neither was there any tendency to "hunt". It was a ship where the touch of a pianist would be right in keeping with the fineness of the response. And, likewise, I am sure that any ham-handed pilot who handled the controls in brutal fashion would soon be made to feel ashamed of himself.

Seldom do we find a single-seater that does not stiffen up on the controls as the ship is pushed to and beyond its top speed.

I checked the control reaction in three stages - one as I have already mentioned, slightly above the stalling speed, and the controls worked beautifully.

In the second stage, about cruising speed, a movement of the control stick brought just exactly the reaction to be expected. And at high speed, wide open, the control sensitivity checked most satisfactorily.

Then I wanted one more check and that was at the bottom of the dive where the speed would be in excess of that ship's straightaway performance. So down we went about 2,000 feet with the air speed indicator amusing itself by adding a lot of big numbers - to a little over 400 mph. A gentle draw back on the control effected recovery from the dive; then up the other side of the hill.

It was at that point that I subjected the ailerons to a critical test. I had pulled out of the dive around 400 mph and had started in a left-hand climbing turn. The ship was banked to about 40 degrees with the left wing low.

I touched the right rudder, pressed forward on it slowly but steadily, moving the control stick to the right, and that Messerschmitt actually snapped out of the left-hand climbing turn into a righthanded climbing turn. That satisfied me. From there on, I tried every acrobatic maneuver I had ever executed in any other single-seater fighter with the exception of the outside loop and the inverted loop."

- US Marine Corps major Al Williams. Source: Bf 109D test flight, 1938.



Bf 109 D:

"I got in the cockpit while one of the officers described the instruments and controls. The greatest complication lay in the necessity of adjusting the propeller pitch for take-off, cruising, and diving. Then there were the controls for the flaps, the retracting gear, for flying above 2,000 metres, for locking and unlocking the tail wheel, and for the other usual devices on a modern pursuit plane. After studying the cockpit I got out and put on a parachute, while a mechanic started the engine. Then, after taxying slowly down to the starting point, I took off.

The plane handled beautifully. I spent a quarter of an hour familiarising myself with the instruments and controls, then spent 15 minutes more doing manoeuvres of various types - rolls, dives, Immelmanns, etc. After half an hour I landed, took off again, circled the field, and landed a second time. Then I taxied back to the line. The 109 takes off and lands as easily as it flies."

- Charles Lindbergh, October 1938. US Marine Corps major Al Williams, Bf 109D test flight 1938.



109 G:

"The roll rate is very good and very positive below about 250 mph. Above 250 mph however the roll starts to heavy up and up to 300 or so is very similar to a P-51. After that it's all getting pretty solid and you need two hands on the stick for any meaningfull roll rates. Pitch is also delighful at 250 mph and below. It feels very positve and the amount of effort on the control column needed to produce the relevant nose movement seems exactly right to me. The aircraft is perfectly happy carrying out low-level looping maneuvers from 300 mph and below. Above 300 mph one peculiarity is a slight nose down trim change as you accelerate. The rudder is effective and if medium feel up to 300. It becomes heavier above this speed but regardless the lack of rudder trim is not a problem for the type of operations we carry out with the aeroplane."

- Mark Hanna of the Old Flying Machine Company flying the OFMC Messerschmitt Bf 109 G (Spanish version).

Me 109 G:

"I got about 150 hours and over 30 aerial combats on the Messerschmitt 109. It was a fine "pilot's airplane" and there was no big complaints about the technical side, as long as you operated it within envelope, inside the performance parameters. It is hard to find any negative things about the plane from pilot's perspective when taking the development of technology into account."

-Hemmo Leino, Finnish fighter ace. 11 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"The speed, rate of climb and armament were suberb compared to our other planes. The best feature was the excellent rate of climb.

Comparing the flying characteristics against the FIAT G.50, the Me109G was just a weapons platform, albeit a great one. "

-Kullervo Joutseno, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G-2:

"Best things in the Me: speed, power and climb. Weaponry was good, as well as the control systems and radio. The turning ability was poor (when compared to other FiAF types, like Brewster, Curtiss Hawk and Fiat)."

-Lasse Kilpinen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

"For the pilot the plane was definitely a good package. The climb rate was good as well as the cannon and machinegun weaponry."

-Mikko Lallukka, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy"

Me 109 G:

"Good in the Me? Good flying characterics, powerful engine and good take-off and landing characterics."

- Onni Kuuluvainen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"I got about 150 hours and over 30 aerial combats on the Messerschmitt 109. It was a fine "pilot's airplane" and there was no big complaints about the technical side, as long as you operated it within envelope, inside the performance parameters. It is hard to find any negative things about the plane from pilot's perspective."

-Hemmo Leino, Finnish fighter ace. 11 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"The Me had good speed and rate of climb. It was easy and steady to control in all conditions of flight. Worse was the poor controls in longitudinal stability, especially in higher speeds.

In the war skies the Messerscmitt was stiff and wasn't fit for turning combat against more agile opponents. "Strike and out" was a good rule. We didn't have time for acrobatics but we weren't forbidden from doing them, though. Snap roll was fast and easy, and the engine didn't cough as in older planes. Immelman turn was splendid when you tightened the stick a bit on the top. The automatic wing slats did their trick and you didn't need ailerons at all for straightening the plane."

-Otso Leskinen, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"It was amazing feeling to take off in Messerschmitt after the Fiat (G.50). It was gung ho and no hesitation! The performance and handling of the plane were excellent and all systems were in their correct place. Of all different planes I have flown the easiest to fly were the Pyry (advanced trainer) and the Messerschmitt."

- Esko Nuuttila, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

"It was responsive to controls and suited well to the "pendulum tactics".

- Atte Nyman, , Finnish fighter ace. 5 victories. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Me 109 G:

In flight the plane felt slightly rigid to manouver and it performed best between 5000 and 8000 m. Once I was fighting at 10000m and there the Me 109 felt like flying a "barndoor".

- Pekka Tanner, Finnish fighter pilot. Source: Hannu Valtonen, "Me 109 ja Saksan sotatalous" (Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the German war economy), ISBN 951-95688-7-5.

Climbing in combat

Me 109 E:

"When put into a full throttle climb at low air speeds, the airplane climbed at a very steep angle, and our fighters used to have difficulty in keeping their sights on the enemy even when at such a height that their rates of climb were comparible. This steep climb at low air speed was one of the standard evasion maneuvres used by the German pilots."

- RAF Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough handling trials,Bf.109E Wn: 1304. M.B. Morgan and R. Smelt of the RAE, 1944.



Me 109 E-4:

"I took a performance climb at 1,15 ATA and 2300 RPM (30 minute limit). A climb speed of 250 kph gave an average rate of climb of 2145 ft/min. Bearing in mind the maximum boost limit of 1,35 ATA the "all out" climb must be impressive."

- Charlie Brown, RAF Flying Instructor, test flight of restored Me 109 E-4 WN 3579. Source: Warbirds Journal issue 50.

Me 109 F/G:

"The G6 however was better at higher altitudes and had a higher ceiling than the F's.

The K-4, he said was very much like the 10 G yet could leave all other fighters behind in climb. "

- Franz Stigler, German fighter ace. 28 victories. Interview of Franz Stigler.



Me 109 G:

"- Was the Me109G equal to the enemy aircraft in summer 1944?

The Me could be a little better in climb, which could be some kind of last resort, you knew that if you start climbing the enemy is left behind in the end. But I used that trick seldom only."

- Kyösti Karhila, Finnish fighter ace. 32 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.

Me 109 G-2/G-6:

"Now we had better climb rates than the Russians and we could split better. And of course gain surprise. With speed, you could hit and run. And not spend much time in their sights.

The Messerschmitt was exellent. You got always away when you pushed your nose down, and it then rose like an elevator. You soon had upper hand again. "

- Was the Me so good a climber that you could run by pulling up?

"You should never lose your speed. Always get back up. The one who is higher has the advantage. You could shake the other with a climbing turn, he had to turn harder. Tighten the turn when the other tries to get into shooting position. The Messerschmitt climbed better, so it got away. Handy."

- Mauno Fräntilä, Finnish fighter ace. 5 1/2 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association: Chief Warrant Officer Mauno Fräntilä.

Diving - structural rigidity of 109 in dives

- Versuchs-Bericht Nr 109 05 E 43 - Date 15.4.43

This original German test document refers to dive tests of 109s with the tall tail. Result of this test was that the new tail reduced highspeed diving ozillations (which sometimes appeard with the old tail). More interesting is the fact, that in this tests, which had not the aim to estimate the highest mach number or to test the structure, they reached

max. Mach 0,805@7.0km

max. TAS 906km/h@5.8km

max. IAS 737km/h@4.5km

Even more interesting is the fact that they tried different positions of the trimming. With the wrong trimset - the one for cruising at high altitude it was not possible to pull out of the dive just by using the stick. They needed to use the trimwheel to recover the plane from the dive. This happened in such violent manner that the testpilot had to push the stick foreward to be not blacked out...

If the trim was set to +1.15° it was possible to recover without using the trimwheel - both flightpaths, with and without the trimwheel, are very similar. So even with the concrete stick the limitating factor seems to be the pilot.

Also interesting in the dive the canopy iced, also the mechanism of the trim, so it was not possible to set it smooth, but in \"jumps\", but it was still adjustable...

- Source: Hochgeschwindigkeitsversusche mit Me 109, Messerschmitt AG, Augsburg.

- 109 didn't "compress" but the elevators became heavy. When adjusting trim the entire horizontal tail plane moved and reduced the force needed to pull out.



Bf 109 D:

"So down we went about 2,000 feet with the air speed indicator amusing itself by adding a lot of big numbers - to a little over 400 mph. A gentle draw back on the control effected recovery from the dive; then up the other side of the hill.

- US Marine Corps major Al Williams. Source: Bf 109D test flight, 1938.

Me 109 E:

"Steep climb at low air speed was one of the standard evasion maneuvres used by the German pilots. Another was to push the stick forward abruptly and bunt into a dive with considerable negative 'g'. The importance of arranging that the engine whould not cut under these circumstances cannot be over-stressed. Speed is picked up quickly in a dive, and if being attacked by an airplane of slightly inferior level performance, this feature can be used with advantage to get out of range. There is no doubt that in the autumn of 1940 the Bf 109E in spite of its faults, was a doughty opponent to set against our own equipment'."

- RAF Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) Farnborough handling trials,Bf.109E Wn: 1304. M.B. Morgan and R. Smelt of the RAE, 1944.



Me 109 E-4:

"During the VNE dive I achieved an IAS of 660 kmh. The original limit was 750 kmh. I was only limited by the height avalable, not by any feature of the aircraft which was extremerely smooth and stable at 660 kmh."

- Charlie Brown, RAF Flying Instructor, test flight of restored Me 109 E-4 WN 3579. Source: Warbirds Journal issue 50.

Me 109 G:

"The maximum speed not to be exceeded was 750kmh. Once I was flying above Helsinki as I received a report of Russkies in the South. There was a big Cumulus cloud on my way there but I decided to fly right through. I centered the controls and then something extraordinary happened. I must have involuntarily entered into half-roll and dive. The planes had individual handling characteristics; even though I held the turning indicator in the middle, the plane kept going faster and faster, I pulled the stick, yet the plane went into an ever steeper dive.

In the same time she started rotating, and I came out of the cloud with less than one kilometer of altitude. I started pulling the stick, nothing happened, I checked the speed, it was about 850kmh. I tried to recover the plane but the stick was as if locked and nothing happened. I broke into a sweat of agony: now I am going into the sea and cannot help it. I pulled with both hands, groaning and by and by she started recovering, she recovered more, I pulled and pulled, but the surface of the sea approached, I thought I was going to crash. I kept pulling until I saw that I had survived. The distance between me and the sea may have been five meters. I pulled up and found myself on the coast of Estonia.

If I in that situation had used the vertical trim the wings would have been broken off. A minimal trim movement has a strong effect on wings when the speed limit has been exceded. I had 100kmh overspeed! It was out of all limits.

The Messerschmitt's wings were fastened with two bolts. When I saw the construction I had thought that they are strong enough but in this case I was thinking, when are they going to break

- What about the phenomenon called "buffeting" or vibration, was there any?

No, I did not encounter it even in the 850kmh speed."

- Kyösti Karhila, Finnish fighter ace. 32 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G:

"- The vertical dive was how to disengage.

Jussi Huotari: That was the remedy.

Antti Tani: That is how I survived when attacking two of them and losing the first round. They had more speed because I was coming from a lower altitude.

It was nothing special, the (Yak-9) planes were climbing and began to turn back. I had planned to get to shoot at them as they have lost their speed in the turn. But I was not in the right position. I turned at them and pulled the nose up - and I lost my speed, I had to turn below them. I had to push the stick to get behind them, and as they dived at me I dived right down. I turned with ailerons a couple of times, and had full power on.

Then I started recovery from the dive, of course in the direction of home, then checked the dials, the reading was eight hundred plus kmh. Then I started pulling the stick, pulled harder as hard as ever: never in my life did I pull so hard. I pulled with right hand and tried to trim the horizontal rudder with my left hand. But it did not budge, as if it had been set in concrete. But by the by the nose began to rise, but terribly slowly. As my angle was about 45 I heard over the radio as Onni Paronen said, "hey lads, look, a Messerschmitt is going in the sea!" I wanted to answer back but I could not afford to do anything put pull with two hands. As soon as I had returned to level flight and had been able to breath normally for a while, I in a way regained consciousness. I pushed the transmitter key and said "not quite". It was a close shave.

- It was so hard that you almost blacked out?

Antti Tani: I felt I was on the edge, pulling as hard as I ever could."

- Antti Tani, Finnish fighter ace. 21,5 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.

- Jouko "Jussi" Huotari, Finnish fighter ace. 17 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G-6:

After landing Me 109 with damaged rudder trim tab, which shook the rudder heavily in flight:

"Antti Tani: It had to be strong, both the rudder and the pedals, they withstood the damn shaking without any further damage.

Jussi Huotari: The Messerschmitt was a very tough aircraft. You could do vertical dives and the tailplane hang along..."

Antti Tani: But Mäittälä, what happened to him, he lost the tailplane? Mäittälä dived like that, and being a strong man he was able to pull harder than I did. And so the tailplane was ripped off

- The day before a similar dive and recovery had happened to the same plane. Two steep dives in succession and a strong pilot pulling the stick each time, so...

Antti Tani: It certainly was a risky job. It must be that I remember him because I did a dive like that and remembered his tailplane had been ripped off. I, too pulled as hard as I could, because I thought that I am going to die if I don't."

- Antti Tani, Finnish fighter ace. 21,5 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.

- Jouko "Jussi" Huotari, Finnish fighter ace. 17 victories. Source: Interview by Finnish Virtual Pilots Association.



Me 109 G-6:

"The story of Valte Estama's 109 G-6 getting shot down by a Yak-6 was also an interesting one. Their flight of nine planes was doing high-altitude CAP at 7,000 meters (23,000').

(snip) So it happened that the devil fired at him. One cannon round hit his engine, spilling out oil that caught fire. Estama noticed that it wasn't fuel that leaked or burned, just oil.

He pushed the nose of the plane and throttled up. His feet felt hot, but the fire was extinguished and there was no more smoke. The speedometer went over the top as the speed exceeded 950 km/h. The wings began to shake and Estama feared the fighter would come apart. He pulled the throttle back, but the stick was stiff and couldn't pull the plane out of the dive. Letting the flaps out little by little gradually lifted the nose. The plane leveled at 1,000 meters (3,300').

Clarification of the escape dive: "It didn't stay (vertical) otherwise, it had to be kept with the stabilizer. I trimmed it so the plane was certainly nose down. Once I felt it didn't burn anymore and there was no black smoke in the mirror, then I began to straighten it up, and it wouldn't obey. The stick was so stiff it was useless. So a nudge at a time, (then straightening off with trims).

Then the wings came alive with the flutter effect, I was afraid it's coming apart and shut the throttle. Only then I began to leve