109 E
Bf 109 E-4/trop over
the Mediterranian.
Equipped with the DB
601 engine, the E variants were very
successful in the early
stages of WW2. Well armed and with
superb performance, these
nimble fighters had no real match
in the sky until the
Battle of Britain, where the German and
British figter pilots,
the latter flying the Hawker Hurricane
and Supermarine Spitfire
fighters, furiously fought to gain
command of the British
skies. The Bf 109's team-mate, the
twin-engined Bf 110,
proved totally inadequate as an escort
fighter for the German
bomber fleets, resulting in Bf 109's
having to fly escort
for escort fighters! Another shortcoming
during the Battle of
Britain was the 109's low fuel capacity.
The lack of long-range
tanks crippled the Emil's action radius
severely, forcing many
a pilot to ditch in the English Channel
when running out of fuel
on their way back to their bases.
The subsequent variant,
E-7, had provision for a 300 liter
drop tank, giving it
an considerable improvement in range.
It came too late, however,
for the fights over England in 1940.
