The past few years have seen several Spanish-built Hispano HA-1112 Buchons rebuilt as Messerschmitt Bf 109s, and the first example to have flown with a Daimler-Benz engine in place of its Rolls-Royce Merlin way back in 1982 was airborne again from Heringsdorf, on the north German island of Usedom, on 15 May, a full 14 years after it was grounded for maintenance. Owned by the Messerschmitt Foundation in Munich, the Bf 109G-6 has been restored to flight by the Hangar 10 organisation at Heringsdorf, in conjunction with Rinner Performance Engines of Austria which rebuilt the DB605, the Freising, Bavaria-based metalwork specialists Hartmair Leichtbau, and Rare Bird Aviation, which has its headquarters near Vienna, Austria. Restoration began in December 2018, and had been completed by March 2020, but the first flight was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the controls was Klaus Plasa, who by mid-June had made 20 flights and put 13 hours 40 minutes on the airframe. The Messerschmitt will now be operated by the Heringsdorf-based Air Fighter Academy on behalf of the Messerschmitt Foundation.
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