Messerschmitt Bf 110 facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Messerschmitt Bf 110 |
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| Role | Fighter aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Messerschmitt |
| First flight | 12 May 1936 |
| Introduction | 1937. |
| Retired | 1945 (Luftwaffe) |
| Primary user | Luftwaffe |
| Number built | Estimated 6,170 |
The Messerschmitt Bf 110 is a twin-engine fighter aircraft. It used two Daimler-Benz DB 600 engines. It was designed as a long-range 3-seat escort fighter in 1935. The first prototype flew on May 12, 1936.
The plane was used by the German Luftwaffe in the World War II. In Germany it was called Zerstörer (the destroyer). Early in the war Germany had great success with the plane until they attacked Great Britain.
In the Battle of Britain the Bf 110C had the best claims-to-loss ratio of the four main fighters, the other three being the Supermarine Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane and the Bf 109 fighters.
They were slow in turns which was a major flaw in the design. The Hurricane's could out-turn them and the Spitfires could out-run them.
The withdrawal of Messerschmitt Bf 110's from the channel coast started in October 1940, when a similar withdrawal took place with Bf 109 units also. The Luftwaffe had turned to its night bombing phase, so the fighter units were of a less priority for the Luftwaffe. Only two Bf 109 units remained in France: elements of JG 2 and JG 26.
Major Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer, Germany's top night fighter ace, claimed 121 victories flying a Bf 110.
Images for kids
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Bf 110s in France in 1942
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Bf 110s in flight above Budapest. 1944
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Bf 110D-0 with an early "dachshund's belly" fuel tank
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FuG 220 and FuG 202 (centre) "Lichtenstein" SN-2 VHF band, and B/C UHF band night fighter radar antennas on the nose of a Bf 110 G-4 being serviced by Luftwaffe ground crew on Grove airfield, Denmark postwar in August 1945, before the aircraft was sent to the UK for research.
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An early-model Bf 110G of 9./NJG 3 with Matratze UHF radar antennas for FuG 202/212 use.
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Bf 110 with twin 900 litre drop tanks with vertical fins, from 9.Staffel/ZG 26, on a Regia Aeronautica photo
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A captured Bf 110C-5 in the service of No. 1426 Flight RAF
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Bf 110 E-1, Ergänzungs-Schlachtgruppe, Dęblin-Irena (Poland 1942).
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Bf 110 G-4
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A Bf 110 G-4 night fighter at the RAF Museum in London.
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Bf-110 G-4 cockpit; RAF Museum London.
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Bf 110 Werk Nr. 5052, Deutsches Technikmuseum Berlin. The noseart emblem on this aircraft is the dachshund of 10.(Z)/JG 5.
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Using spare parts found all over the world the group called "Gillelejegruppen" managed to assemble an intact example of the Bf 110 night-fighter (G4).
See also
In Spanish: Messerschmitt Bf 110 para niños
