Messerschmitt
This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2022) |
GmbH | |
Industry | Aerospace |
---|---|
Founded | 1938 |
Defunct | 1968 |
Fate | Merged |
Successor |
|
Headquarters | , |
Key people | |
Products |
Messerschmitt AG (German pronunciation: [ˈmɛsɐʃmɪt]) was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in particular the Bf 109 and Me 262. The company survived in the post-war era, undergoing a number of mergers and changing its name from Messerschmitt to Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm before being bought by Deutsche Aerospace (DASA, now part of Airbus) in 1989.
History
Background
In February 1916, the south German engineering company
Due to the need for immediate aircraft production for the ongoing war, there was no time for development work and BFW manufactured aircraft under licence from Albatros Flugzeugwerke. Within a month of being set up, the company was able to supply aircraft to the war ministries of Prussia and Bavaria. However, major quality problems were encountered at the start. The German air crews frequently complained about the serious defects that appeared in the first machines from BFW. The same thing had happened with the aircraft from the predecessor company run by Gustav Otto. It was only organizational changes and more intensive supervision of the assembly line that succeeded in resolving these problems by the end of 1916. BFW then started turning out over 200 aircraft a month, with their workforce growing to 3,000 and becoming one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in Bavaria.
The end of the war hit BFW hard, since military demand for aircraft collapsed. The company's management were forced to look for new products with which to maintain their position in the market. Since World War I aircraft were largely built from wood to keep their weight down, BFW was equipped with the very latest joinery plant. The company still held stocks of materials sufficient for about 200 aircraft, and worth 4.7 million reichsmarks. The machinery and the materials were then used for the production of furniture and fitted kitchens. In addition, from 1921 onwards, the company manufactured motorcycles of its own design under the names of Flink and Helios.
In the autumn of 1921, Austrian financier Camillo Castiglioni first announced his interest in purchasing BFW. While most of the shareholders accepted his offer, MAN AG initially held on to its shareholding in BFW, but Castiglioni wanted to acquire all the shares. He was supported in this by BMW's Managing Director Franz Josef Popp who, in a letter to the chairman of MAN, described BFW as a "dead factory, which possesses no plant worth mentioning, and consists very largely of dilapidated and unsuitable wooden sheds situated in a town that is extremely unfavorable for industrial activities and whose status continues to give little cause for enthusiasm". Apparently Popp was still in close contact with Castiglioni and was perhaps even privy to the latter's plans for merging BMW with BFW. It was probably in the spring of 1922 that Castiglioni and Popp persuaded MAN to give up its shares in BFW, so that now the company belonged exclusively to Castiglioni. Then, in May of the same year, when the Italian-born investor was able to acquire BMW's engine business from Knorr-Bremse AG, nothing more stood in the way of a merger between the aircraft company BFW and the engine builders BMW.
Reestablishment
Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW/Bavarian Aircraft Works) was reformed in 1926, in
Willy Messerschmitt joined the company in 1927 as chief designer and engineer and formed a design team.
One of the first designs, the
Messerschmitt promoted a concept he called "light weight construction" in which many typically separate load-bearing parts were merged into a single reinforced firewall, thereby saving weight and improving performance. The first true test of the concept was in the
From this point on Messerschmitt became a favorite of the
World War II
During the war Messerschmitt became a major design supplier, their
Messerschmitt had its share of poor designs as well; the
Post-war
For ten years after
The cars were actually made by Fend's own company in the Messerschmitt works at Regensburg, and Willy Messerschmitt had very little to do with the vehicles other than ruling that they carried his name. Production of the KR200 ceased in 1964.[citation needed]
The Messerschmitt factory also produced prefabricated houses, which were designed as "self-building-kits" mainly based on an alloy framework.[citation needed]
Return to aviation
On 6 June 1968, Messerschmitt AG merged with the small civil engineering and civil aviation firm Bölkow, becoming Messerschmitt-Bölkow. The following May, the firm acquired Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB). The company then changed its name to Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). In 1989 MBB was taken over by DASA. DASA later operated as "EADS Germany", which is now Airbus.[3]
Aircraft
Model | Name | First flight | Remarks |
---|---|---|---|
M17
|
January 1925 | sports aircraft | |
M18 | 1926 | passenger transport | |
M19 | 1927 | sports aircraft | |
M20
|
1928 | passenger transport | |
M21 | 1928 | prototype biplane trainer | |
M22 | 1928 | prototype biplane medium bomber | |
M23 | early 1928 | sports aircraft | |
M24 | 1929 | passenger transport | |
M25 | not built | sports aircraft | |
M26 | 1930 | prototype light aircraft | |
M27 | 1930 | sports aircraft | |
M28 | January 1931 | prototype mail-plane | |
M29 | 1932 | sports/racing aircraft | |
M31 | 1932 | sports aircraft | |
M33 | not built | ultra-light parasol-wing single-seat monoplane | |
M35 | 1933 | sports aircraft developed from M23 | |
M36
|
1934 | passenger transport | |
Bf 108
|
Taifun (Typhoon) | 1934 | trainer & transport |
Bf 109 | September 1935 | fighter, bomber interceptor; later versions sometimes mistakenly marked as "Me 109" on subcontractor's dataplates | |
Bf 110 | 12 May 1936 | twin-engine heavy fighter, night fighter | |
Me 155
|
not built | high-altitude fighter, developed from Bf 109; not built, project transferred to Bv 155
| |
Bf 161 | 1938 | reconnaissance aircraft; prototype | |
Bf 162 | Jaguar | 1937 | schnellbomber (fast bomber) based on Bf 110 |
Bf 163 | 19 February 1938 | STOL reconnaissance aircraft; prototype built by Weserflug AG, lost military contract to Fieseler Fi 156 Storch
| |
Me 163 | Komet (Comet) | early 1941 | rocket-powered interceptor |
Bf 165 | 1937 | long-range bomber project | |
Me 208
|
improved and enlarged version of Bf 108 | ||
Me 209 | 1 August 1938 | designed to break world air speed record; attempted fighter conversion failed | |
Me 209-II | 1943 | fighter; update to Bf 109, never produced | |
Me 210 | September 1939 | twin-engine heavy fighter; also used for reconnaissance | |
Me 261 | Adolfine | 1941 | designed as long-range record-setter; three built and used for reconnaissance |
Me 262 | Schwalbe (Swallow) | 18 July 1942 | twin-engine fighter & attack aircraft; first operational jet-powered fighter |
Me 263 | never flown | rocket-powered interceptor; advanced development of Me 163 | |
Me 264 | Amerika (America) | 23 October 1942 | strategic bomber, developed under He 277
|
Me 265 | not built | attack aircraft, proposed | |
Me 309 | July 1942 | fighter; advanced but underperforming design meant to replace Bf 109 | |
Me 310 | 1 built, pressurized Me 210 development, proposed | ||
Me 321
|
7 March 1941 | large transport glider | |
Me 323
|
Gigant (Giant) | Fall 1941 | large transport aircraft; powered development of Me 321 |
Me 328 | Fall 1943 | pulsejet-powered selbstopfer or parasite fighter
| |
Me 329 | not built | heavy fighter-bomber; unpowered glider only | |
Me 334 | tailless fighter, similar to Me 163 (development abandoned) | ||
Me 362 | 3-turbojet passenger aircraft (development abandoned) | ||
Me 409
|
High-altitude fighter project; evolved into Bv 155 | ||
Me 410
|
Hornisse (Hornet) | 1943 | twin-engine heavy fighter and fast bomber; development of Me 210 |
Me 509 | not built | fighter, based on Me 309, with engine located behind cockpit as in P-39 Airacobra
| |
Me 510 | twin-engine fighter-bomber (not built) | ||
Me 609 | heavy fighter; combined two Me 309 fuselages into one airframe, as with Bf 109Z and Me 409 (development abandoned) | ||
P.08-01 | not flown | 1941 flying wing strategic bomber project | |
P.1079 | not flown | 1939 long-range pusher bomber design | |
P.1092 | not flown | prototype | |
P.1095 | not flown | prototype multi-role aircraft | |
P.1099 | not flown | prototype multi-role aircraft, intended improvement of Me 262 | |
P.1100 | not flown | tactical bomber design | |
P.1101 | not flown | prototype swing-wing jet interceptor; later inspired Bell X-5
| |
P.1102
|
not flown | swing wing bomber/heavy fighter | |
P.1103 | not flown | rocket-powered interceptor | |
P.1104
|
not flown | rocket-powered interceptor | |
P.1106 | not flown | intended improvement of P.1101 | |
P.1107 | not flown | jet bomber design | |
P.1109 | not flown | oblique wing fighter design | |
P.1110 | not flown | high altitude interceptor prototype | |
P.1111 | not flown | fighter/interceptor prototype | |
P.1112 | not flown | prototype tailless jet fighter; later inspired Vought F7U Cutlass |
Other types of aircraft
- Messerschmitt Me 109TL
Missiles
Microcars
- KR175
- KR200
See also
References
This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2015) |
- ^ "Flight (Oct 5, 1939)".
- ^ BMW Historical Archives www.BMWgroup.com
- ^ Answers.com (n.d.). [1]. Retrieved 22 March 2007.