Messerschmitt Bf 109

Updated: October 2026 – A narrow, pointed nose, an angular canopy and a landing gear that looks suspiciously wobbly when taxiing on grass: the Messerschmitt Bf 109 is the most-produced fighter in history and one of the best-known aircraft of the Second World War. Militarily it has been history for decades, but as a warbird it is a real highlight, because only a few examples still fly. Here you learn how the 109 came about, which versions exist, what the Spanish Buchón is all about and where you can get flying examples in front of your lens.

What is the Bf 109?

The Bf 109 is a single-seat, single-engine fighter of all-metal construction with an enclosed cabin and retractable landing gear. It was designed in the mid-1930s at the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) in Augsburg. The company’s chief designer was Willy Messerschmitt; the design work was led by a team around Robert Lusser. That is also where the abbreviation comes from: “Bf” stands for Bayerische Flugzeugwerke. Only after the company was renamed Messerschmitt AG in 1938 did new types get the abbreviation “Me”, such as the later Messerschmitt Me 262. “Me 109” is thus colloquial but widespread.

The first prototype, the Bf 109 V1, flew at the end of May 1935 in Augsburg-Haunstetten – on May 28 or 29 depending on the source. Curiously, because the intended German engines were not yet ready, it carried a British Rolls-Royce Kestrel. The basic idea of the design was to build the smallest, lightest possible fuselage around a powerful engine. Technically the 109 built on the touring aircraft Bf 108 Taifun, which had been created shortly before.

By the end of the war in 1945, German industry built, by common figures, around 33,000 to 34,000 Bf 109s, with licensed and postwar builds on top. No other fighter was built more often.

From “Anton” to “Kurfürst”: the versions

The 109 was continuously developed over ten years. Spotters and warbird fans mostly use the nicknames derived from the phonetic alphabet of the time.

The early versions A to D flew with the Junkers Jumo 210 and around 700 hp. They saw their first action in 1937 with the Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War. With the Bf 109 E “Emil” and the Daimler-Benz DB 601, the 109 became the Luftwaffe’s standard fighter at the start of the war. In this form it met the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane in the Battle of Britain in 1940 – and had to take on a role as bomber escort for which its range was actually too short.

The Bf 109 F “Friedrich” got an aerodynamically reworked airframe: rounder wingtips, a smoother cowling and a cantilever horizontal stabilizer without struts. In the literature it is often regarded as the best-balanced version. The Bf 109 G “Gustav” with the more powerful DB 605 became the most-produced version from 1942. Toward the end of the war the Bf 109 K “Kurfürst” followed as the last production version.

Version	Engine	Notable feature
Bf 109 A–D	Junkers Jumo 210	early series, used in Spain
Bf 109 E “Emil”	Daimler-Benz DB 601	angular wingtips, braced horizontal stabilizer
Bf 109 F “Friedrich”	DB 601 N / E	round wingtips, tail without struts
Bf 109 G “Gustav”	DB 605	most-produced version, typical “bulges” from the G-6
Bf 109 G-12	DB 605	two-seat trainer conversion
Bf 109 K “Kurfürst”	DB 605 D	last production version
Avia S-199	Junkers Jumo 211	Czechoslovak postwar build
Hispano HA-1112-M1L Buchón	Rolls-Royce Merlin	Spanish licensed build, in service until 1965

One detail you see on many “Gustavs” immediately: from the G-6, the aircraft carried two conspicuous bulges above the engine, because the larger 13 mm machine guns no longer fit under the old cowling. Crews simply called them “bulges” (“Beulen”). Later G versions also received the Erla canopy with far less framing.

After 1945: S-199 and Buchón

The 109’s story was not over with the end of the war. Several countries kept flying it: Finland retired its last Bf 109 Gs in March 1954, Romania around 1955. In Czechoslovakia, Avia built the S-99 from existing parts and – because the Daimler-Benz engines ran out – the S-199 with the heavier Jumo 211. Of all aircraft, this one was among the first fighters of the young Israeli air force in 1948.

The longest afterlife was written by Spain. In 1942 the country had acquired a license for the Bf 109 G-2, but Germany delivered only airframes without the matching engines. Hispano Aviación in Seville therefore initially fitted a Hispano-Suiza engine, resulting in the HA-1109 and the three-blade HA-1112-K1L. The final version, the HA-1112-M1L “Buchón”, flew on March 29, 1954 with a British Rolls-Royce Merlin 500-45 and a four-blade propeller. In total 239 Spanish 109 derivatives were built. The Spanish air force retired the type on December 27, 1965.

That closes a circle: the 109 began with a Rolls-Royce engine and ended with one. The page on Rolls-Royce introduces the manufacturer behind the Kestrel and Merlin. The name “Buchón”, by the way, means roughly “pouter pigeon” and alludes to the bulbous nose with the chin air intake.

The three features that are enough to identify it

Final certainty comes from the registration. Airworthy 109s carry a civil registration, for example from the German D-, the British G- or the US N register, but the aircraft usually flaunts historic markings such as “Red 7” or “Yellow 3”. How German registrations are built and what the letter after the D- tells you about weight is explained in German aircraft registrations.

Bf 109, Mustang, Spitfire or Taifun?

At vintage fly-ins the fighters of the era often stand close together. The finder helps narrow it down.

The North American P-51 Mustang is the 109’s most common opponent at air shows – and easy to rule out thanks to the belly radiator. The Supermarine Spitfire sounds like a Buchón but has the rounded wing. For more practice with old types, see Recognizing vintage aircraft in the sky, and if you want to tell the DB 605 and Merlin apart by ear, you will find tips in Recognizing aircraft types by sound.

Airworthy Bf 109s today

According to common overviews, around 35 Bf 109s survive worldwide. Only a small share is airworthy: an overview as of early 2024 counts a low double-digit number, spread across German originals, Hispano airframes converted to Daimler-Benz engines and Buchóns with Merlins. A few replicas come on top. There is no authoritative, current list – aircraft change owners, go into restoration or drop out after damage.

Germany: Manching. The best-known German home of airworthy Messerschmitts is the Flugmuseum Messerschmitt on the Airbus site in Manching near Ingolstadt. It is run jointly by the Messerschmitt Foundation and Airbus. In scene reports the flying collection often appears as the “Heritage Flight”, formerly under the name of EADS. According to the museum, the collection includes among others two Bf 108s, a Bf 109 G-4 “Red 7”, a G-10 “Yellow 3” and a two-seat G-12 conversion with the registration D-FMGZ, plus a static G-2. The explicit goal is to keep as many aircraft airworthy as possible.

Important for your planning: the museum is accessible by prior appointment only, and the aircraft’s flying hours are limited. You are most likely to experience the Manching Messerschmitts flying at selected air shows – for example at the Hahnweide vintage aircraft fly-in, at airfield festivals in Germany or at warbird shows abroad.

Britain. The European warbird scene is concentrated at IWM Duxford. At the air shows in Duxford, Buchóns in Luftwaffe paint are a regular part of the program, often dueling with Spitfires and Hurricanes. The spot IWM Duxford describes the location.

Elsewhere in Europe and the USA. Individual airworthy 109s and Buchóns are also at home in other European countries and in several US collections. Air shows in Europe gives an overview of dates at which warbirds appear.

Bf 109 in museums

Static examples are safer to plan around. According to reference works, these houses, among others, display a Bf 109 or a Spanish derivative:

• the Deutsches Museum in Munich with a Bf 109 E
• the Technik Museum Sinsheim and the Technik Museum Speyer
• the Luftfahrtmuseum Hannover-Laatzen
• the Aviaticum in Wiener Neustadt with a restored G-6
• the Flieger-Flab-Museum Dübendorf with a Bf 109 E of the Swiss air force (spot info)
• the Museo del Aire in Madrid-Cuatro Vientos for the Spanish postwar line (spot info)

How rare your sighting really is, you can gauge with Estimating the rarity of a sighting. And if you want to help out yourself, you will find ways to get started in Volunteering at aviation museums.

Photo tips specifically for the Bf 109

The 109 is small and slim – in the viewfinder it quickly looks smaller than you expect. A few points make the difference.

General tips for the day at the display line are collected in Photographing air shows.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

The North American T-6 Texan sometimes wears a similar camouflage scheme at air shows – the radial engine gives it away immediately, though. At some events you also see the 109 next to the Junkers Ju 52, the best-known German vintage airliner.

Conclusion

The Bf 109 stands for a chapter of aviation history inseparably tied to the Second World War. Technically it was a milestone, in numbers it remains unmatched to this day, and through the Spanish Buchóns it lived on into the 1960s. Flying, it is a real rarity today – if you catch a 109 in the air, you have one of the rarest warbird sightings in Europe in the bag.