This early war variant of the Messerschmitt was the finest fighter aircraft in
the world in 1939-40. Only the RAF Spitfire MkI was a match for it.\
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Though several Messerschmitt designs have the prefix, "ME," the 109 is usually
referred to as the Bf 109. Bf stands for the company that originally manufactured
the aircraft - the Bayrische Flugzeugwerke (Bavarian Flying Works).\
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History\
The Emil culminated a revolution in fighter aircraft design that began in the
mid 1930s with the introduction of all metal low wing monoplanes. Although
monoplanes had been employed in fighter design since the First World War,
conventional thinking held that turning circle was a fighter's principle virtue.
Thus for a decade and a half, following WWI, open cockpit biplanes were still
being developed as front line fighter aircraft.\
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Nothing could have been further from the conventional wisdom than Willy
Messerschmitt's 109. High wing loaded, heavily armed, and employing the fuel
injected, high displacement Daimler Benz 600 series engine, the 109 climbed
quickly, flew fast, and dove swiftly. It was the perfect tool for a new era of
fighter combat, where the ultimate aim was to deliver weapons, in the most rapid
manner possible, to a target in the sky, and to leave as suddenly as you
arrived. Air combat was no longer an exercise in militant aerobatics.\
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The Bf109 in Air Warrior\
The Emil is seldom flown online in Air Warrior except in historical missions. In those, and in offline campaigns, it is an extremely competitive, capable aircraft. The 109E versus Spitfire MkI is, perhaps, the best matchup in the game.\
