German fighter Messerschmitt BF 109 E-3 COBI 5727 - World War II

You know that:

• The designers Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser had been working on the development of the aircraft since 1934.
• The first flight of the Bf 109 took place on 28 May 1935 at the factory airfield in Augsburg. At that time, the aircraft was still equipped with a British Rolls-Royce engine.
• The designers were the first in the world to apply many new technologies to the aircraft, such as all-metal construction, a single-span wing, retractable landing gear and an enclosed cockpit.
• The official designation of the aircraft was the Bf 109, but German pilots and allies called it by no other name than the Me 109.
• At those time, the Messerschmitt BF-109 was the fastest aircraft in the world with a confirmed measured speed of 610.95 km/h.
• The Bf 109 series fighters are the most successful aircraft of World War II in terms of kills.
• 33,984 were produced in various versions.
• The biggest ace in the BF 109 was pilot Erich "Bubi" Hartmann with 352 kills, who had to make fourteen emergency landings due to damage to his aircraft during combat.
• The aircraft of German Sergeant Horst Perez, whose figure is included in the package, is still on display at the Imperial War Museum Duxford in the UK. H. Perez's plane was damaged in a dogfight near Easbourne, England, on 30 September 1940 and the pilot had to make an emergency landing on his "belly".  The machine is displayed in the museum in the condition in which it was found by the British Home Guard, with a damaged undercarriage and a bent propeller.

Technical parameters:

• dimensions: span 9.87 m, length 8.64 m, height 2.6 m
• empty weight 1 865 kg
• take-off weight 2 608 kg
• power unit 12-cylinder Daimler-Benz DB 601 Aa engine with an output of 864 kW
• maximum speed 570 km/h
• tank capacity 400 L
• climb rate 17,83 m/s
• range 10 300 m
• range 660 km
• armament 2 x MG 17 machine gun of 7.92 mm calibre and 2 x MG FF cannon of 20 mm calibre
• crew 1 person