Messerschmitt Bf 109 Gustav in foreign service.
Type: German single-seat fighter.
Foreign service and manufacture of the Bf 109 Gustav series was fairly widespread.
Bulgaria
145 Gustavs were delivered to Bulgaria in 1943-1944 and served with the Sixth Fighter Regiment of the Bulgarian Air Force in defence of Sofia in April 1944.
Croatia
About a dozen G-10s were flown by Croat pilots in the 15 (Croat) Staffel of JG52, led by Obstl. Fanjo Dzal, which fought at the Battle of Kursk.
Bf 109 G-10 of the Croatian squadron surrendered to US Forces at Falconara in Italy, April 1945.
Slovakia
Slovakia received 15 Gustavs (G-6) in 1944 and license-production was planned of the G-14 at the Prague-Cakowicze Avia factory. But this happend not before the war ended and then for the Czechoslovak air force. In March 1948 several were sold to Israel.
Finland
Finland received 30 Bf 109 G-2s, 132 G-6s and a few G-14s, and the first unit thus equipped was HLeLv 34 based at Utti in 1943. They were flown by such outstanding Finnish aces as Juutulainen (94 victories) and Hasse Wind (78 victories).
Finnish Bf 109 G-6 of 3/HLeLv 34.
Hungary
The Royal Hungarian Air Force received 59 German-made Gustavs (G-2, G-6) in addition to about 700 aircraft built at factories at Gyor and Budapest. The Duna works were switching from the Me 210 to the Bf 109 G in March 1944. The first units to receive these fighters were the 5/1. and 5/2. Squadrons of the 5/I.Fighter Group, fighting on the Russian Front. Later on the 5/1. Squadron was withdrawn and the 5/2. Squadron expanded to form the 102. Independent Fighter Squadron. In 1944 the 101st. Fighter Group, known as the Puma Group under Obstl. Alador Heppes, was established to defend Hungary itself against advancing Russian forces.
A Hungarian Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6. This aircraft was also build in Hungary.
Rumania
Rumania received seventy Gustavs (principally G-6s) from Germany in addition to 16 built at the IAR factory at Brasnov before it was destroyed by bombing.
Bf 109 G-6 of the Rumanian Air Force.
Italy
Bf 109 G-6s were in use with the Italian air force not later than from 1943 onwards. The Fascist air force of the Italian Socialist Republic in Northern Italy received G-6s in 1944.
Neutrals:
Spain
Spain has used the Bf 109 and its derivatives longer than any other country, since the debut of the Bf 109 B during the Civil War in 1937. During WW2 the country received a total of 95 airframes of the Bf 109 and these entered service with Spanish engines and under Spanish designations. They included 45 Bf 109 B, 15 Bf 109 E, 10 Bf 109 F, 25 Bf 109 G.
Switzerland
Switzerland procurement of 12 G-6s from Germany is a macabre story, for these fighters were supplied in return for the destruction of a new radar-equipped Messerschmitt Bf 110 G-4/R7 night fighter which made a force-landing at Dubendorf on 28 April 1944. The G-6s, plus a further two which were sequestrated after straying into Swiss air space, were delivered to Fliegerkompanie 7.
|
Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6 |
| Type |
fighter |
| Power plant |
1 x 1475 PS
DB 605AM |
| Accommodation |
1 |
| Wing span |
32 6.7 ft |
| Length overall |
29 0.3 ft |
| Height overall |
10 6.0 ft |
| Wing area |
174.38 sq ft |
| Weight empty |
5,897 lb |
| Weight loaded |
6,944 lb |
| Max wing loading |
39.82 lb/sq ft |
| Max power loading |
4.70 lb/hp |
| Max level speed |
386 mph |
at height |
22,640 ft |
| Cruising speed |
311 mph |
at height |
19,685 ft |
| Initial climb |
approx. 3,500 ft/min. |
| Time to height |
16,405 ft |
in approx |
5.0 min |
| Service ceiling |
37,895 ft |
| Range |
621 miles |
| Armament |
30mm MK 108 through propeller hub [650 rpm, velocity 1705 ft.sec] |
| two 13mm MG 131 above engine [930 rpm, velocity 2461 ft.sec] |
| optional two 20mm MG 151 under wings [720 rpm, velocity 1920 ft.sec] |
| bomb load of 500 kg (1,102 lb) for G-6/R1 |
| Production |
end of 1942 |
| Service delivery |
February 1943 |
| Production in Hungary (Duna works) |
not later than March 1944 |
| Final delivery |
summer 1944 |
| Price per unit |
100,000 RM =
45,000 $ =
11,250 £ |
| Total production figure (all) |
35,000+
(of these 30,480 during WW2) |
| Accepted by Luftwaffe 1/39-12/44 |
29,350 |
| Production 1939 |
449 |
| Production 1940 |
1,693 |
| Production 1941 |
2,764 |
| Production 1942 |
2,665 |
| Production 1943 |
6,154 |
| Production 1944 |
13,786 |
| Production 1945 |
2,969 |
| Bf 109's in First Line Units 1.9.39 |
1,085 |
| Bf 109's in First Line Units 20.9.42 |
1,074 |
| Bf 109's in First Line Units 31.12.42 |
700 (of these 610 Bf 109 G) |
| Bf 109's in First Line Units 10.1.45 |
1,305 |
3d model Messerschmitt Bf 109 G-6/Trop.
Italian Bf 109 G-6 of the 3rd Gruppo Autonomo on a Sicilian airfield.
Bulgarian Bf 109 G-2.
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