Augsburg Eagle: setting the standard

摘要

Willy Messerschmitt's Bf 109 was one of the smallest monoplane fighters of the war, making its maiden flight in May 1935. Lessons learnt from the designer's record-setting Bf 108 light aircraft were incorporated to produce a sophisticated all-metal semi-monocoque airframe for the company's first fighter. Early Bf 109 variants were lightly armed with two fuselage-mounted machine-guns; at the same time the RAF was putting eight machine-guns into the Hurricane and Spitfire.