German bf-109 in WWII?

Question

I'm making a slide show kind of movie with flight simulator about a spitfire that tangles with a bf-109 and I want to make it realistic, so would a bf-109 travel alone into British territory? If it would, for what reason?
Oh and just out of curiosity, what do you prefer to call it, a bf-109 or me-109?

Answer 1

What would a single Me-109 (I prefer the Me) do over England? All of them combined didn't do much!

Seriously, the scenario is quite possible. There might be stragglers, there might be a few who didnt take their navigation lessons seriously and so on. While reading about BoB, there are many descriptions of RAF pilots finding the the lone Me-109 and pouncing on it.

More sinister, the Luftwaffe might be running one as bait while his comrades prowled in the clouds above!

Answer 2

My father flew Spitfires against the Me 109 and many other aircraft types during the war years, and I have a little understanding of how things were for both sides.

It is quite possible for a single German fighter to have found himself alone over British territory, either he could have got separated from his squadron or wing by action or accident, he could have encountered some mechanical problem and pulled out of his formation, there are several scenarios. However, it would have been very, very unlikely that he would have ventured alone intentionally. The minimum usual formation would have been two aircraft, leader and wingman. This is a simple principle, the leader seeks the target(s) and the wingman covers his rear, it's difficult to focus on attacking and defending at the same time !

My father did have just such a situation over France, where his entire formation of over 100 aircraft just 'vanished' as he was considering launching an attack on a formation of Me 109s, from aspiring hunter he soon turned into the prey, with 10 or more 109s on his tail.

On that occasion he did get shot up very badly, but made it back to the northern coast of Kent, and crash-landed in a minefield, but that's another story.

So your that's your best bet, came in formation and got separated for whatever reason.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Well it would depend on the timeframe. During the "Battle of Britain" in 1940, it would be possible that a two-ship might be over British territory. Fighters NEVER flew, individually either then or now.
The only possible exception would be low-level recon, but the Bf-109 wasn't used for that mission-legs were too short.
BTW, "Bf-109" is the correct designation, as it comes from "Bayerische Flugzeugwerk". However, when Messerschmitt took over the company, the designations changed. So ME110/163/262.

Answer 4

It would not be real common however there were several versions that were used for reconnaissance duties. The Bf109F-5 & Bf109G-8 were configured for recon service and had a 66 gal drop tank for range. It's quite possible that a Bf 109 might have been in British airspace on a reconnaissance mission by itself or as other have suggested, by accident.. The recon versions were not as heavily armed as the escort fighters. Most of the German fighter aircraft over Great Britain were there as escorts for the bomber flights.
The aircraft was officially known as a Messerschmitt Bf 109 and was manufactured in many updated versions up through Bf109K. It was designed by Willy Messerschmitt (that's where that came from) but was built by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke A.G. (a mouthful).The Bf comes from the initials of the company that built them. That is the correct way to identify the aircraft.

Answer 5

It wouldn't unless the planes it was flying with got shot down and the pilot got lost in the confusion and flew the opposite direction from France or Germany. It's name if the Messerschmitt BF-109 (BF-109) For short. If you call it a ME-109 no one will know what your talking about.

Answer 6

Study up on the Battle of Britain - lots of 109's were shot down by spits and especially Hurricanes over England. They would go in alone or in groups and as bomber escorts. The 109 was built by Messerschmidt so ME 109 would be my choice for a name.

Answer 7

Since the first part of your question has been answered, I'll answer the second part.
I prefer Bf-109; partly because it sounds better, but mostly because it's the proper designation for the aircraft type. I know it was often referred to as a me-109, but that was just a shortening of the word 'Messerschmitt'. German combat aircraft of WWII were given a two-letter alphabetical designation indicating the manufacturer-Ju for Junkers, He for Heinkel etc. followed by a numerical designation. There were exceptions though, such as the Me-410 after Willy Messerschmitt himself, and the Ta-154 after Focke-Wulf's designer Kurt Tank.

Answer 8

Not unless the guy was trying to get himself killed, or if he got separated from his friends.

Most people wouldn't immediately understand that a bf-109 is the same thing. Most people call it an me-109.

Answer 9

All 109's are called ME-109's. The bf mark is German for long range fighter which would be the BF-110. As to Germans flying into English territory alone that is probably nonsense doctrine of the time dictated a leader and wing man as the minimum formation though if someone wanted to rack up some kills doing say instrument checks well that sort of stupidity could happen. thou I doubt it was too often.

Answer 10

109's are fighter escorts and used as escorts on bombing raids as fighter cover. when the radar or asdic as it was known then picked up the incoming bombers the nearest squadrons would be scrambled. the 109s would then try and shoot down the spitfires etc.. before they could attack the bombers. there were many more Hurricanes than Spitfires, but the Spifire is most famous. both look the similar. if you want some good WW2 music to go with your slide show try the 'aces high' on iTunes