The » Messerschmitt Bf 110 NUMBER 23 TWO SHILLINGS‘The Messerschmitt ——.. A Messerschmitt Bf 110C-5 (5 F wing roots, The Messerschmitt Bf 110 provides for aero historians the classic example of an aircraft of indifferent quality which was for political and bureaucratic ends hailed with unrealistic enthusiasm by the authorities respon- sible for its adoption. Consequently, the inevitable failure of the type when exposed to combat was doubly unexpected and humiliating, and many fine airmen were sacrificed on the altar of national pride and political expediency before the counsels of com- mon sense triumphed to any extent. The strategic fighter, or zerstérer as it was melo- dramatically christened in Germany, was to be an aircraft capable of cutting a path for bomber forma- tions through enemy airspace, eliminating fighter opposition and accompanying the bombers to and from the target, and it is important to bear the essentials of this concept in mind if the full measure of the Bf 110’s failure is to be appreciated. Such an aeroplane represents an obvious conflict between the demands of range and manceuvrability; nevertheless, this conception was realised in at least one effective aircraft during World War II—the Lockheed P-38 Lightning which, although not strictly a product of this line of thought, demonstrated a successful solu- tion to comparable problems of range, weight, speed and control response. It was inauspicious that the design team to which the zerstérer contract was allotted was in all proba- bility never intended t9 succeed in producing a worth- while aeroplane. Willy Messerschmitt’s office at the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke in Augsburg had been out of favour with the Secretary of State for Air, General Erhard Milch, for more than five years before the development contract was placed late in 1934. It seems more than likely that originally Milch and his sup- porters saw the zerstérer theory, which they had accepted with less than unbounded enthusiasm any- way, aS a convenient means of destroying Dipl.Ing. Messerschmitt’s reputation for good. Similarly, when less prejudiced elements came to power in the Techni- cal Department of the R.L.M., their determination to give the designer a fair hearing may have caused them to turn an indulgent eye on some of the more glaring inadequacies of the aeroplane which eventually emerged from this jungle of petty politics and jealousy. by, Martin C..Windrow + C M) of the 4th Staffel, Close Reconnaissance Gruppe 14. Note patched bullet-holes in tail ane (Photo: Imperial War Museum) During the summer of 1935 construction of the Bf 110V1 was begun. It was a slim, low-wing, canti- lever monoplane with an attractive, shark-like silhouette, and when two pre-production DB 600 engines of 900 h.p. were earmarked for the prototype by the Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft, the designers were relieved of their main problem. Previously, the 610 h.p. Junkers Jumo 210B had been the most potent German powerplant available. Maiden flight of the Bf 110V1 took place on 12th May 1936; the pilot was Rudolph Opitz, who later played such a part in the development of the Me 163 rocket fighter. The prototype achieved 316 m.p.h. in level flight early in the trials programme, a speed comparable to that of contemporary single-engined fighter projects. The second and third prototypes flew in October and December of 1936, but when the Luftwaffe took over the Bf 110V2 for a series of evaluation flights at Rechlin the following January, it quickly became apparent that this satisfactory speed was off-set by extremely poor acceleration and manceuvrability. Disregarding the reports of the experienced service pilots at Rechlin, the R.L.M. authorised the con- struction of four more airframes under the designation Bf 110A-0, to be (inadequately) powered by Jumo 210B engines due to a delay in DB 600 production. Two further machines were initially engined with slightly improved Jumo 210Gs as Bf 110B-0s. These airframes, completed in the spring of 1938, were re-engined with DB 600As a year later. In the autumn The aircraft of IIl/ZG 76 were emblazoned with “‘shark’s teeth” Jrom the earliest months of the war. This Bf 110C (M 8 + E P) of the 6th Staffel displays its individual letter “E*’ on the upper wing surfaces, a practice discontinued in the winter of 1940/41. (Photo: Real Photos Ltd.)fh Opi 3: aoe Wat Muses ‘of 1938 BE 110B-I production commenced. The DB 600A engine was now available, and the B-l, with a nose armament of (wo 20 mm.'MG FF cannon and four MG 1 calibre machine guns, was undeni- bly a formidable unic of fying artillery its gum ould be brought to be champion of the romantic-counding zerstdrer theory) had already instituted—prematurely—the formation of Zerstdrergeschwader. Like the machine destined to be its weapon and its death-warrant, the organisation was born in bitterness. OF the limited manpower available to the siill-young Luftwaffe, the majority were fighter pilots, and the Fighter “Arm strongly Fesented seeing its best personnel drained off 10 equip ‘one new unit after another. In the case of the Zerstdrer- ACW ti0e aeargrmapegs this resentment was aggravated when the ir si War Museu) stolen cream” of the Fighter Arm, once integrated into the Reichsmarshal’s new toy, were in fact ‘equipped with BE 109Cs and Bf 109Ds while continued attempts were made to perfect the BI 110. Thus the BE 1108-1 never saw true Luftwaffe service, the few examples built being employed almost exclusively on trials programmes of one type or another. Two results of these trials were the re-positioning of the eschwad radiator baths outboard of the engine nacelles and the re ing of the rear fuselage, to reduce turbu- lence round then nd tail vibration respectively The Bf 110C-0, the next sub-type produced, was the 1 variant re-engined with the new DB 601 power- 1¢ had been adopted in preference ise it offer jer Supercharging 3 direct fue! injection. It is at this point in the life of the BI 110 that its career in the true operational con- AF 110C% of 10/26 26 in Sicily. (Photo: Collection R. Ward) figuration began. The BY 110-1, essentially a streng- thened C-0, is described below leading edge slots. Slotted, metal-skis edge flaps. ned trailing STRUCTURE OF THE BF 110 Light alloy cantilever unit. Twin fins and rudders, Fuselage: Light alloy monocoque st oval sec- adjustable tailplane. Metal stressed-skin fixed sur tion; comprising two halves. joini udinally faces; fabric-covered movable surfaces, along the upper lower centre-lines. Undercarriage: Backwards-retracting, the main wheels lage betwe wing. attachmen nclosed within the engine-nacelles by hinged doors. tubular st section lower boom, Fixed tail-wheel Hat-scction transverse frames, Z-section stringers, a = ZERSTORER DEVELOPMENT Alush-rivet " dd stressedd-skin covering All-metal single-spar structure wit The fur velopment of the BE 110 in stressed-skin fh i. The fighter, reconnaissance and ground-aitack configura: containing the si g petrol tanks, hi tions may be traced through the followi but closely-sp section HI0C-2. Revised electrical syst The outer wing ha chordwise stiffe Funke Gerate (FuG) 10 radi Fibs at 18-inch intervals, Z-section Bf 110C-3 and C-d, These versions were si s, Slotted, fabric-covered aileror C1 and € rn-type Mass cannon.a wrecked Jue 87B°Trop Beek se aa Aga ‘The Helle of Berlin, a dam D-2 abandoned in Libse by the Laftwafe and re The aircraft rains ETC 300 bamb rack SRG 310 which was based at 7 Bf }10C-4/B. Racks for two $80 Ib, bombs under fuselage. Powered by 1.200 h.p. DB 601N engines. Bf 110€-5. Reconnaissance variant. Cannon omitted. Bf 1100-6 tional 30 mm, Bf 110C-7. Str Bomber-intereeptor version with addi MK 101 c ventral fairing, ied undercarriage to allow for hh carrying of two 1,100 Ib. bombs. (Several late production BY 110C variants were re-engined with the DB 601N powerplants as they became: availabl 8 110D-0, in the BF 110D series was on improved range. The pre-production D-0 model dispensed with the MG FF cannon and featured a ed fuel tank under the forward fuselage, jettisonable supplementary capacity up to 907 Im for two drop-tanks of varying size. The considerable aerodynamic per belly fairing of the pre-product ¢ abandonment of the project ons reveried to the cannon mament while retaining drop-tank capability HOD-2, Racks for twa 1,100 Ib, bombs under fuselage, Rear armament increased to two MG 17s. HOD-3, tanks could be carried simultaneously Bf 1/0E-Oand E-1, These variants were fitted with racks for two 110 Ib, bombs under each wing, outboard of the radiators, in addition to the Fuselage racks his non: the total f being m By 110D. ver Bombs and dr SISLG 5 stands Bf OE} 3 U + D Th of Bf 110E-2. The incr engines, which bee raised the bomb load capacity to 4,410 Ib. 10E-3. A reconnaissance variant similar to the Bf 110C-5. Two 19% Imp. gal, drop-tanks could be carried Bj 110F-0. DB 601F engines rated at 1,300h.p. Apart from this change, the F-0, F-J and F-3 variants were similar respectively to the E-0, E-i and E-3. Bf 110F-2. Bomber-interceptor with provision For two 21.cm,WG 21 “Dodel” rocket tubes under each wing Bf 1106-0. The introduction of the 1,475 h.p. DB SB engines allowed an increase in weights and thus in war load. The G-0 and G-I variants could carry two 1,100 Ib, and four 110 Ib. bombs and any of a wide’ variety of combinations of 550 Ib., 1,100 Ib, 2,205 1b., and 110 Ib. general-purpose, high penetration or fragmentation bombs and incendiary containers. Bf 110G-2, This variant saw the introduction of @ number of improvements. The MG FF cannon were replaced by two faster-firing MG. 151s, and a further two MG 151s could be carried in a ventral ice of the bomb racks. The rear armament 7:9 mm. MG 81s, Other DB GOIN 6 version, pe standard wit BY ignition “Bf 110G-2/R] stems, engine bearers and oil tankage. MG Sis and fuselage bomb