LIMITED-EDITION RUN: ONLY 11 PLANES MADE WORLDWIDE

The Messerschmitt Bf 109, commonly called the Me 109 (most often byAllied aircrew and even amongst the German aces themselves, even though this was not the official German designation), is a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid-1930s. The "Bf 109" designation was issued by the German ministry of aviation and represents the developing companyBayerische Flugzeugwerke (at which the engineer Messerschmitt led the development of the plane) and a rather arbitrary figure. It was one of the first truly modern fighters of the era, including such features as all-metalmonocoque construction, a closed canopy, and retractable landing gear. It was powered by a liquid-cooled, inverted-V12 aero engine.

The Bf 109 first saw operational service during the Spanish Civil War and was still in service at the dawn of the jet age at the end of World War II, during which time it was the backbone of the Luftwaffe's fighter force. From the end of 1941, the Bf 109 was steadily being supplemented by the superiorFocke-Wulf Fw 190.

Originally conceived as an interceptor, later models were developed to fulfill multiple tasks, serving as bomber escort, fighter-bomber, day-, night-, all-weather fighter, ground-attack aircraft, and as reconnaissance aircraft. It was supplied to and operated by several states during World War II, and served with several countries for many years after the war. The Bf 109 was the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with a total of 33,984 airframes produced from 1936 up to April 1945.

Our Messerschmitt BF 109E is one flown by Eduard Neumann an ace with 13 kills (2 during the Spanish Civil War) during the course of his career. Neumann was born in 1911 in Austro Hungary, his family moved to Germany after WW1 and this was where he learned to fly as a glider pilot and then in the fledgling Luftwaffe as a fighter pilot, which was still under secret construction. Neumann's first kill of WW2 was an RAF Blenheim before his unit was posted to Yugoslavia and then to North Africa where his scores steadily mounted. He remained in the Southern European theatre for the rest of the war, where he ended his career as the commander of fighter forces for Italy. We have depicted Neumann's aircraft as it appeared during the opening stages of the war in 1939 in a very attractive two tone green camouflage whilst he was serving with JG 26 Schlageter. The unit emblem was of the hapless cartoon character 'Adamson' drawn by Swede Oscar Jakobsson, interestingly 'Adamson' has often been described as the inspiration for Homer from the Simpson cartoon series!

Info: BF 109 flown by Eduard Neumann Display Model - No figurines are included with this aircraft!