E
very great story has to
start somewhere, and for
the Messerschmitt Bf.
109A it starts in 1935 with the
prototype’s irst light, quickly
followed up with lights by other
test machines. At the same time,
in another part of Europe events
were happening that would shape
the 109 into a lethal war machine.
The Spanish Civil War started in
1936; Germany provided aircrafts
and pilots to General Franco and
the Condor Legion was born. Using
“volunteers” to ly the aircraft,
German pilots gained invaluable
combat experience. The V3 was
the irst 109 to arrive in December
1936, followed up by the rest of
the V series and eventually the
Bf. 109AA, B, C, D, and Emil.
The Bf. 109AA had a relatively
short production run of
approximately 20-22 machines,
but it nonetheless contributedto the efort in Spain. Sixteen
Antons were used in Spain, coded
6-3 through 6-18. These aircraft
featured long-span wing slats,
a ixed-pitch Schwarz propeller
and two cowl- mounted machine
guns. The Jumo engine was
underpowered but robust.
The Bf. 109AA has been covered
before in 1/48 scale by the Classic
Airframes kits, but these are hard
to ind and costly when they do
become available. Last year Arsenal
Model Group (AMG)
released a series
of early Jumo-
powered
109s, but these
were hard to obtain worldwide.
Enter a new company, Dora
Wings. Using the molds from AMG
they’ve improved distribution to
make the kit available worldwide.BF. 109A/B
The First of the Line
Dora Wings 1/48 Messerschmitt Bf. 109A/B by Floyd S. Werner
6 • DECEMBER 2018 • SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
BY SACCO DE VRIES
BF. 109A / B
BY FLOYD S. WERNER
1/