Messerschmitt Bf 109Z-9

[comrade harps]

Messerschmitt Bf 109Z-9
a/c Black 13, Stab/Versuchskommando Herrmann, Luftwaffe, Deelen, German-occupied Netherlands, July 1943
Personal mount of Hauptmann Matthias Ginter



In 1940, Fieseler began tooling up to assemble Messerschmitt Bf 109Es. After delivering 155, production switched to making Focke Wulf Fw 190As. From its experience making both of Germany's single-seat, single-engined fighters, the company's design team came upon an idea. Aware that the Bf 110 was obsolete and that its intended successor (the Me 210) was in development Hell, Fieseler submitted a proposal to the RLM: An Airframe Agnostic Study of The Twin Fighter Concept. Analysing the options of a design mating two Bf 109 or two Fw 190 fuselages to a shared central wing, Fieseler saw such a fighter as a competitive alternative to the Messerschmitt Zerstörers for heavy day fighter, fighter-bomber and night fighter roles. The RLM agreed and issued a contract for 2 Bf 109F-1 based prototypes. Although Willy Messerschmitt saw the Bf 1099 twin fighter as a threat to his own Zerstörers, he insisted that they be designated as Messerschmitt products and that Fieseler been treated as a subcontractor. Despite this, Z series prototypes used a V number sequence not associated with Messerschmitt's Bf 109 prototypes.




Designated Bf 109Z  (primary sources differ as to whether the Z was for Zerstörer or Zwilling, the latter meaning twin), the V1 and V2 prototypes demonstrated the concept as sound (much to Messerschmitt's frustration). These were followed by the V3 to V8, which used twinned Bf 109F-2 airframes to explore single and two seat variations and armament options. Suitability impressed and concerned about the future of Messerschmitt's Zerstörers, the RLM ordered thousands of Bf 109Zs. Zs were built in fighter, fighter-bomber and reconnaissance models from late 1941. After pre-production Bf 109Z-0s came several production versions, based on F-2, F-4 and G-4 airframes. The G-7 based Z-6 (single-seat) and Z-8 (two-seat) were the most extensively built variants.They saw extensive action as they replaced Bf 110s and Ju 88s in heavy and night fighter units and, as a consequence, restricted Me 210 and Me 410 production to bomber versions. Plans for production versions based on Bf 109G-10 and K-4 airframes were scrapped as Fieseler converted to Me 262A-1 production from October 1944.




Most models of the Bf 109Z were successful and built in quantity, but only 14 Bf 109Z-9s were made. The Z-9 was an attempt to extract maximum performance from twinned G-6 airframes through weight savings. Chief among the weight reduction measures was the omission of the inner pair of undercarriage legs. Internal fuel and armor were reduced to achieve a maximum take off weight that the remaining (strengthened) undercarriage could sustain. It was fast (756kph/470mph), but short on range and considered light on armament (the most heavily armed version, the Bf 109Z-9/R2 had four 13mm MG 131 and two 20mm MG 151/20 cannon). Its Achilles heel, though, was its undercarriage, which was prone to collapse. Seen more as a proof of concept type than as a serious combat model, the Z-9 pioneered three features seen in later versions of the Bf 109: the taller tail, the wider main wheels and their associated wing fairings used on 109s from late mid-1944. Six unarmed Z-9s were built. with four retained by Fieseler and Messerschmitt for research and development and two sent to Rechlin as chase planes. Six were issued to JG 50 for intercepting Mosquito reconnaissance aircraft; designated Z-9/R1s, these were armed with four MG 17s and two MG 151/20s. Two Z-9/R2s were sent to Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 (NGJ 1) to defend their base at Venlo from Mosquito night intruders. The latter featured in a propaganda campaign that briefly convinced the RAF that NGJ 1 Z-9s were equipped with radar and had shot down several Mosquito intruders. In reality, no Bf 109Z-9 pilot recorded a confirmed victory over the wooden wonder. All 14 Z-9s were built between April and July 1943, but only the Rechlin airframes survived into 1944.




Stab/Versuchskommando Herrmann was established on 26 June 1943 to test the Wild Sau method of night interception. Using fighters without radar, the unit's tactics centred around close cooperation between lone fighter pilots, flak and search light units and ground control intercept operators. Although high performance wasn't essential when intercepting the RAF's four-engined bombers, unit commander Major Hajo Herrmann was concerned about the growing threat of radar-equipped Mosquito night fighters that were engaging the Luftwaffe's night fighters. This was a major factor in his secondment of the Bf 109Z-9s of NGJ 1 into his experimental force. Single-engined Bf 109Gs and Fw 190As, to be flown by ex-bomber pilots and experienced instructors, were also requisitioned for night shifts from JG1 and JG11.




This Bf 109Z-9 was flown by Hauptmann Matthias Ginter during its time with Stab/Versuchskommando Herrmann. A former Ju 88C pilot with I/NGJ 2, he had flown intruder missions over England in between November 1942 and March 1943. His intruder sorties made him I/NJG 2's highest scoring pilot, shooting down 8 RAF bombers as they returned from bombing raids. A rising star of the Luftwaffe's night fighters community, Ginter was assigned to NSJ 1 in May 1943 to fly its newly received Bf 109Z-9s, effectively pioneering some Wild Sau mission tactics before Herrmann's experimental unit was established. However, these missions were all in the vicinity of Venlo and Ginter resulted in no successful engagements. Flying with Stab/Versuchskommando Herrmann (renamed Stab/JG Herrmann on 18 July), he was directed into bomber streams and credited with the unit's debut kill (a Halifax) on the night of 3-4 July, when Bomber Command attacked Cologne. The port undercarriage collapsed on landing, but the aircraft was repaired with parts cannibalised from the unit's other, already damaged Z-9. On the night of 8-9 July he claimed a Lancaster and the next night he engaged a Mosquito in an inconclusive combat. On 25-26 July he claimed another Lancaster (which was credited to him, but the plane survived and landed at an emergency strip in England and returned to service) and on 30-31 July he destroyed a Halifax. His aircraft is depicted here as photographed the next day, complete with 12 kill markings.




On the night of 2-3 August 1943, Mathias Ginter took off from Deelen on an air defence mission. Radio communications placed him on a course to intercept an enemy bomber stream as it approached Hamburg from the North Sea. However, flying into a severe storm before reaching land, the bombers dispersed, some turning for home and others heading for alternate targets. Few reached their primary. In the chaos, German controllers lost contact with Ginter. He was never seen again, believed to have gone down over the North Sea in the storm.



On 20 August 1943, Stab JG Herrmann was redesignated JG 300.

[Sport21ing]

Your back and alive    - and with a bang

[Wardukw]

Fecking awesome Harpy mate 👌   

[comrade harps]

Your back and alive    - and with a bang

Something else coming soon.

[Sport21ing]

  

[zenrat]

 

[Sport21ing]

Did Jumo-engined variants existed, like OTL proposals?

http://www.luft46.com/mess/me109z.html#variants

[NARSES2]

Very smart looking 

[Old Wombat]

Nice!

[TomZ]

Looking Good!

TomZ

[PR19_Kit]

Did Jumo-engined variants existed, like OTL proposals?

http://www.luft46.com/mess/me109z.html#variants

It doesn't matter if they did or not, this IS WhiffWorld so they can exist. 

[su27rules]

 

[Vulcan7]

Great build           

[comrade harps]

The kit is the recent RetroWings release. It combines two AZ kits with new parts to make the Zwilling. The centre main wing components are probably too long in width between the two fuselages. The lower centre wing lacks underwing radiators, which l cut out from the AZ wings and attached. As per the Z-9 backstory, the centre wing also lacks any arrangements for the inner pair of undercarriage. So, if you want all four wheels as usually associated with the Z series, you'll have to do plenty of surgery and reconstruction work. What you see on the box art is what you get. The optional cockpit fairing isn't a neat fit, nor does it have additional streamlining, as featured in the Amodel 109 Z kits.

The Z-2 night fighter kit that l used includes a sprue of radar antennas. I chose not to use them, favouring to weave in the Wild Sau origin story instead.

What the AZ 109 kits give you, and which l exploited here, are options like the later model tail and rudder, the wider wheels and their associated wing fairings.

Has anyone built the Amodel Bf 109Z kit? I take it that it's a bit more sophisticated than the RetroWings outing.

[Sport21ing]

Did Jumo-engined variants existed, like OTL proposals?

http://www.luft46.com/mess/me109z.html#variants

It doesn't matter if they did or not, this IS WhiffWorld so they can exist.