Bf, Me, is there a difference?????

Thanks for that … good question and answers. I was vaguely under the impression Messerschmitt made Bf’s and never stopped to wonder why.

On a broadly similar theme, types like the Magister and Master were for a number of years actually built by Phillips & Powis, although I believe there was a clause stipulating that they would always be known as Miles aircraft and the Miles brothers later bought out P&P and changed the name of the company.

I’d quite like to see a Harrier in those colours.

Moggy

The 50s, 60s or 70s scheme? I’m sure one of the Photoshop wizards on the forum can indulge your every fantasy:D

William

And the BEA Harrier

I’d quite like to see a Harrier in those colours.

Moggy

“We see the same confusion today with references to the Boeing F15 and British Aerospace Vulcan!!”

And with the Lockheed/Martin F-16 (designed & produced by General Dynamics before GD was taken over by Lock-Mart).

And the BEA Harrier (Hawker)/Boeing AV-8B (McDonnell-Douglas).

http://109lair.hobbyvista.com/index800.htm

learning every day as always

Thanks for that … good question and answers. I was vaguely under the impression Messerschmitt made Bf’s and never stopped to wonder why.

If you saw the copies of RAF teletypes posted in the thread about Douglas Bader’s legs being delivered…the RAF referred to 109s as “Me”-109s.

I have seen the German WW2 aircraft refered to as Messerschmitt either Me109/110 or Bf109/110.

Why the difference? Are they manufactured by different companies (a ‘customer’ aircraft?), different engines, or in different countries?

The 109 was initially produced by BFW, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (Bavarian Aircraft Works). In Nazi Germany, the Reich Air Ministry (RLM) system assigned a type designator and code to each design from the various factories, so the machines from BFW became the Bf108, Bf109 and so on.

In 1938 BFW was restructured and became known as Messerschmitt AG hence the RLM designation changing from Bf to Me. Although existing types, such as the Bf 109 and 110, are properly still known by the original designator, both old and new were used by various parts of the German war machine and there’s no real right or wrong, though I suppose you could argue that a subtype designed/built before 1938 should be a “Bf” and after an “Me” -so the 109B should be a Bf and the 109K an Me.

We see the same confusion today with references to the Boeing F15 and British Aerospace Vulcan!!

Why the difference? Are they manufactured by different companies (a ‘customer’ aircraft?), different engines, or in different countries?

Virtualpilots – 109 myths and facts

“It’s not Me 109, it is Bf 109, you dork!
Both are correct for the Messerschmitt 109 fighter. Both the factory and the Luftwaffe used both designations throughout the life of the 109. Both Bf 109 and Me 109 appear in “official” documents from a variety of ‘official sources, from the production facilities themselves to internal RLM docs. It is wrong to say that ‘Me 109’ is incorrect or that Bf was terminated during construction of the 108-109-series fighter. These alternative designations didn’t stop at the Gustav; many Augsburg documents from the last months of the war still used the Bf prefix. For simplicity, this article usually refers to the plane as Me 109.”

Rule of Thumb: Aircraft designed before 11th July 1938 by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke / Messerchmitt AG are Bf, the others are Me.

Martti