If we can trace the lineage of the Hawker Hurricane to a renowned biplane fighter of the mid 30' and the Supermarine Spitfire to a seaplane racer, winner of the Schneider's Cup, we always realized with some difficulties that the dreaded "ONE-O-NINE" was the offspring of a touring aircraft that finished fifth in the race for which it was designed!
Even that fifth place was a surprise considering that it's pilot, Theo Osterkamp, had advocated for the pure and simple withdrawal of the 108 from competition altogether after the death of Baron von Dungern aboard D-IBUM, the first prototype, during training. Freiherr (Baron) Wolf von Dungern was, after all, a member of the BFW's team of which Osterkamp was the captain!
HARD TIMES
The history of the Bf 108 will always be intricately intertwined with the feud that existed between Willy Messerschmitt and Erhard Milch. In the mid 20's, Milch became director of the Deutsche Luft Hansa and progressively came to distrust constructors in general and Messerschmitt in particular. As director, he had to buy aircraft to extend aerial services throughout Europe but, at the same time, he had to reassure everyone that air transport was safe. On the other hand, constructors were still experimenting in their designs to get better performance. Messerschmitt was probably the worst of them all. He had already been injured in his M17 on its maiden flight as a passenger and his following endeavours were always attracting more attention due to the fact that they crashed more often than others rather than because of their flight performance.
But for political reasons - Bavarian industry having been neglected to the profit of Prussian and northern aircraft's constructors - Milch was forced to place an order for ten M20. The plane, capable of carrying 8 passengers, was of all-metal construction showing promise. During test flight though, the first prototype crashed, killing it's pilot, Hans Hackmack. Milch tried to recant on his order but was forced to take delivery of the aircraft ordered. It was during a scheduled flight that a second plane went down, the "Lechfeld" D-1930, killing its two crewmen and six passengers, one of which was a dear friend of Milch himself.
The grudge Milch held toward Messerschmitt followed him when he was chosen by Adolf Hitler and Herman Goering to be the deputy State Secretary of the Reich Air Ministry. As the head of RLM, he made quite clear to Messerschmitt that BFW services would only be required as sub-contractor for other companies' designs. Messerschmitt's design team was to be disbanded if no original work went their way. That's when Rakan Kokothaki, BFW's Finance Director, went to Romania and secured two contracts for original designs. The first one concern the M36 transport aircraft, a scaled down version of the M20 - which was still in service at that time for DLH incidentally. The second was for a trainer based on the M35 aerobatic airplane, the only relative success of BFW at that time.
Milch's followers, basically old members of the German Imperial Army Air Service, couldn't resist the opportunity to denounce this "unpatriotic" attitude. The affair got as far as being visited by the newly formed Gestapo officials at their offices to verify these allegations! But Willy Messerschmitt was even better as a politician than as an engineer. He had cultivated his relations in Nazi's circles. Rudolph Hess, the deputy head of the Nazi party was one of those. He also put Theo Croneiss, a World War I fighter pilot and associate of Hermann Goering, on the company's payroll. Being a prominent member of the "Brown Shirts" SA, he was to have the dubious honor of being the only one of its members to survive the "long knives" episode.
Messerschmitt pleaded openly that he had no other choice than to look for orders elsewhere as he was clearly ostracised by the RLM officials. Cornered by public scrutiny, especially Nazi's scrutiny, Milch's henchmen were forced to throw him a bone. BFW was appointed, along with Klemm and Fieseler, to build a touring airplane for the 4th "Challenge d'avions de tourisme international" of 1934. The RLM decision to send German entries in that renowned "Europe Rundflug" came less then a year before the competition, the RLM officials being preoccupied by the bad publicity that another Polish victory over German teams could have. After all, the two German victories in that competition were obtained with Messerschmitt's M23b and M23c aircrafts piloted on both occasions by Fritz Morzik.
THE CONSTRUCTION
With the help of Robert Lusser, former engineer at Klemm and Heinkel, and Walter Rethel, transfuge of Arado, Willy Messerschmitt decided to go all the way on that contract. Historians always state that he simply took the preliminary study done on the M37, based itself on the M35, to create the Bf 108. A simple glance at photos and schematics of the M35 is sufficient to discard that point of view.
While the M35 was made of tubular steel, fabric and plywood, the M37 was an all-metal construction of duraluminum skeleton covered by duraluminum flush riveted sheets: the so-called "stressed skin". The M35 was a two-place tandem aircraft with an open cockpit. The M37 was a four-place aircraft; two in the front seated in "bucket seat" type side-by-side and two in the back on a seat bank also side-by-side in a closed cabin. The M35 had a fixed landing gear. The M37 was equipped with an astute mechanism to retract the two front wheels in the wings through with manual power. The M35 had no "hyper sustentation" devices while the M37 was equipped with automatic and manual leading-edge slats, extending flaps and "interceptors", a cross between an aileron and a spoiler.
To power their aircraft, BFW, Fieseler and Klemm had the choice between two motors; the Hirth HM 8U and the Argus As 17. Generally speaking, the Hirth engine was favored, the Argus being installed on some aircraft for comparison purpose. A VDM three-bladed manually adjustable pitch propeller was used on all of the aircraft. In June 1934, the first completed M37 took the air and, after successful preliminary trials, was given the civil registration D-IBUM and was send to Rechlin.
RECHLIN
The mandatory tests performed at Rechlin served a dual purpose. They were necessary for flight certification of new models and they gave an opportunity for RLM technical branch (T-Amt) to have a look at novelties. In that second regard, they had an eyeful with the M37, renamed Bf 108a in accordance with RLM's specifications.
Test pilots, mostly from the recently created Luftwaffe, were impressed by the vastness and comfort of the cabin. There was enough room to seat comfortably four adults in leather upholstered furniture. The floor was carpeted and simile-wood was applied on the interior sides. Both front seats were equipped with primary controls; stick and rudder pedals. Starboard controls could be dismantle, leaving only those on the port side. All passengers had an impressive panoramic view of the outside through a large steel framed acrylic glass canopy that opened right and left along hinges connected to the windshield frame like a ladybug's wings. The large panel was equipped with the most modern gauges available, the most important ones being placed on the port side. A compressed air starter gave the pilot the advantage of being able to start the engine from his seat with the simple push of a button. The compressed air reservoir was automatically filled by an air compressor powered by the engine. If the reservoir was emptied after a couple of attempts at starting, a hand-pump was to be used to fill the reservoir up again.
Elevator trim could be adjusted through a wheel on port side, adjusting in fact the entire horizontal stabilizer angle. Between that wheel and the wall there was another wheel that controlled the flaps. Flaps and trim positions could be assessed on two gauges installed on the port side wall over the wheels. Air powered brakes, barely sufficient for the aircraft, were activated through a trigger on the stick.
But it was in the air that the Bf 108 was the most impressive. Not a STOL aircraft, it was capable of very short take-off and even shorter landings. It could fly as slow as 61KPH and as fast as 300KPH! Some fighters still in service at that time would not have kept pace with it!
It slow-speed performance was obtained by the use of slots covering almost all of the leading edge and divided in two sections around the middle of the wing. The inner wing section was operated by the flap wheel and, therefore, was extended only when the pilot was using it. The outer wing section was "automatic", a pressure-sensitive coil behind the slot reacted to frontal air pressure. The wing trailing edge was almost entirely occupied, from wing root to wingtip, by a slotted Fowler flap which, when lowered by the pilot, would not only go down but would also go to the rear, increasing wing area by about 8%! That "wide span" flap was only possible because the trailing edge had no ailerons. Instead, BFW engineers had installed "interceptors", sort of semi-ailerons installed on the wing's extrados. If the pilot wanted, for example, to turn right, he would steer the stick to the right - like he would do with ailerons - forcing the right interceptor to go up. The right wing would then tip down and induce a right roll and the pilot, pulling on the stick and compensating with rudder's pedals, would turn right.
The high-speed performance could be attributed to an excellent, and attractive, aerodynamic design of the fuselage and wings and to the use of monocoque sheet overlapping technique. To diminish drag even more, large fillets were installed along the wings roots. But the main factor in drag reduction was undoubtedly the retractable main gear. A lever placed between the two front seats had to be push-and-pull 43 times to retract, or lower, the gears. The lever itself acted as a ratchet turning a steel rod one way or the other depending on the direction given to the lever's handle. The upper part of both gear legs was formed into a section of a cogwheel inserted in the rod's thread at each end, forming what is called a "worm drive". For those who could not remember how many yanks of the lever were still necessary, a simple analog gauge was installed on the floor just to the right of the lever. A needle connected to the rod by another, but smaller, thread, was giving a visual indication of the state of retraction/extension. A fixed tail skid completed the gear system.
Of all the entries into the challenge, only the Bf 108 was equipped with retractable gear. In fact, most pilots at Rechlin had never piloted such a plane! Retracting gears were such a novelty that BFW engineers had installed an alarm, visual and audible, to warn the pilot who would lower his flaps while at idle that the gears were not totally extended!
There's still many questions about the reasoning behind such an "extravaganza" of technological prowess. Why put so much energy, and money, in a plane intended to be constructed in only half a dozen examples? I think that the answer lies in that period at Rechlin. The M37-Bf 108 was the best possible way for BFW to get publicity where it counted the most: among Luftwaffe pilots, RLM technicians and officials of both organizations.
THE CRASH OF D-IBUM AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
Once Rechlin's trials successfully terminated, D-IBUM returned to Augsburg factory plant to await the other five Bf 108, the "A" series. They were; D-ILIT, D-IZAN, D-IMUT, D-IGAK and D-IJES.
Then disaster struck. While performing a test flight to verify interceptor's effectiveness, Freiherr von Dungern crashed aboard D-IBUM and was killed. Theo Osterkamp, a member of the "old guard" pro-Milch, took the opportunity to loudly voice that BFW BF 108 should be banned from the competition. It would not have been a first for Willy Messerschmitt and BFW as their M29, constructed for the 1932 Challenge, had been removed from the competition after two fatal crashes. Osterkamp's opinion was not to be taken lightly. After all, he was an ace of The Great War with 32 victories and a "Blue Max" around his neck to prove it.
Some of the pilots took his side, such as Hans Seidemann, but, with some surprise, most didn't. Major Fritz Loeb of RLM's T-Amt bureau saw no reason to throw in the towel so soon. There was no evidence that the interceptor was the cause of the crash but, to reassure everyone, they made a modification to the remaining Bf 108A. Inspired by the "belt n' suspender" principle, they added a conventional aileron at the tip of the wings and connected them to the interceptor's control rods. The term "conventional" must be taken lightly though. That aileron was only 30 cm wide (approximately a foot) and a little longer than the trailing edge, certainly to keep as much place as possible for the flaps.
Theo Osterkamp almost lost his job of Chief of the German team over this incident but Erhard Milch, surprise, gave him the benefit of the doubt despite Loeb's report. Four BF 108A entered officially the competition: D-IMUT piloted by Osterkamp himself, D-IJES by Werner Junck, D-IGAK by Carl Francke, equipped with the Argus engine, and one of the two remaining (D-ILIT or D-IZAN?) by an unknown fourth pilot.
THE CHALLENGE OF 1934
Held between August 28 and September 16, the fourth edition of the "Challenge d'avions de tourisme international" started at Katowice airfield near Warsaw where the first part of the challenge took place. The 34 entries were first verified to see if they met the basics requirements. Aircraft had to weigh a maximum of 560 Kg empty and to carry at least two persons, pilot included.
But the organizer, trying to stop a tendency in the past challenges to create racers rather than touring airplanes, were giving "bonus" points for aircraft capable of seating more than two people comfortably (100 points for 3th and 16 points for 4th person) side-by-side (35 points). The Bf 108 made the maximum obtainable points in those categories. The comfort aspect was also rewarded and the BFW's entry, like the two other German firm's aircraft, got the highest marks. It is interesting to note that this part of the judging was done by the other competitors!
It is in the active part of the trial's tests that the German entries lost the competition. Those tests took many forms, some very spectacular. There was a "stall speed test" in which aircraft were awarded 1 point for every ¼ KPH below 75. Take-off and landing tests were done from a strip of grass field 820 m long. Aircraft had to take-off or land within that distance to score points while passing a rope extended between two masts at 8 meters from the ground. Every 5 meters less than the 820 meters was rewarded by 4 points for t/o and 6 points for landing. The Polish aircrafts had been designed to excel in that part of the competition, especially the RWD-9S. With its 16m² wing area and its Skoda GR-740 nine cylinders radial engine generating 286HP through a reduction gear, it was capable of taking-off in only 55m, maintaining a low speed of 54km/h and landing in 54m! Even taking into account the 8m obstacle, they were going, and they did, racked a lot of points.
German team's tactic would have been to stay as close as possible to the leader. Bf 108's hyper-sustentation rigging was there just for that. But the lack of preparation was to be their Achilles heel. The tardiness of German authorities to decide to participate in the Challenge and the ensuing delivery of the aircraft just before the beginning of the competition gave little time, if any, for the pilots to practice. Even if information on the 1934 Challenge is rather sketchy, we know that the RWD-9S took the lead at that point to keep it for the rest of the competition.
The second part of the competition was the round trip over Europe and North Africa from September the 7th to September the 14th. The points given during the 9,537Km rallye were awarded on the basis of regularity rather than speed, unfortunately for the Bf 108. On the last day, September the 16th, there was a speed trials along the Warsaw - Nowosolna - Glowaczow - Warsaw circuit but it was not enough to catch-up to the Poles. Finals results were:
But Messerschmitt had succeeded in his publicity stunt. The Bf 108 was the "talk of the town" during and after the competition.
HOW IT GOT ITS NAME
Following the challenge, BFW designers started modifying the Bf 108 to make it more affordable and less "experimental". Those aircrafts would be known as Bf 108B0. It is difficult to describe them as every plane was different from the next in a "work in progress" kind of situation, going from the A design towards the B1. Let us just say that they retained the Hirth HM 8U engine but were gradually looking more and more like B1.
It is in one of them that the darling aviatrix Elly Beinhorn made her 2 continents exploit on August 13 1935. The plane was most probably D-IJES, the 6th place finisher of the 1934 Challenge. We don't know the extent of modifications made to it but, from photographic evidence, it was pretty much unchanged. She bought it with the money that came with the Hindenburg Pokal cup in 1932 in recognition of her solo round-the-world trip made from January 4th 1931 to June 26th 1932 aboard a Klemm L26aV coded D-2160.
But the money of that prize alone would not have been enough to buy a Bf 108, even a "used" one. I suspect that Messerschmitt, seeing the publicity it would gave to BFW, was very accommodating.
Equipped with two over sized auxiliary tanks placed in the back seat, she left Gleiwitz (now Gliwice in Poland) around 4:30 a.m. and reached Istanbul around 9:20 a.m. where, after a short flight over the Bosphorus to get over the Asiatic continent, she landed at Scutari's airport (now Üsküdar) to refuel and restore herself. An hour later she took-off for Europe, this time landing at Berlin's Tempelhof airport around 6 p.m. under the applause of the crowd.
The already household name of Elly Beinhorn was now associated to the name she had given to her plane; "Taifun" (german for Typhoon). BFW took very little time to start branding its production with that name.
FROM A TO B
The three Bf 108B0 were only a transitional phase of the production. Despite similarities, Bf 108B1 is almost an entirely different plane altogether!
Engine first; the B version was to receive the Hirth HM 502B, an ameliorated version of the HM 8 U, an inverted V8 capable of 360 HP on take-off and 240 HP at cruise speed. But the development of that engine was stopped, so BFW opted for the Argus As 10C.
This engine was to be as popular as the DB601 in is niche. It was most notably used for the Fieseler Fi 156 "Storch" and the Arado Ar 96 trainer. It was not used for the 1934 Challenge because it would have made the Bf 108 too heavy but, that constraint applying no more, it was a perfect match. It is noteworthy to signal that Argus was not only furnishing the motor but also the cowling structure, so that it was responsible of about ¼ of the aerodynamic fuselage profile! If you don't believe me, do as I did and compare the nose of a Bf 108B1 to those of Fi 156 and Ar 96A.
Noteworthy too is the fact that the 240 HP take-off power stated in most publication is not correct. It was in fact 240 PS (German: Pferdestärke = horse strength), also known as pk in the Netherlands, MK in Poland and CV in France. The "metric horsepower" is in fact a little less "energetic" and should give about 237 HP.
The propeller; the VDM 3-bladed prop had to go as it was simply too expensive and rare (even Americans constructors had problem getting some!), most B1 were to receive 2-bladed fixed-pitch propellers, Schwartz and Heine being the most popular. It is an error to say that most B1 had variable pitch propellers. Not only was the Me P7 manually variable-pitch propeller costly to buy and cumbersome to operate, but it was not ready for the market in time. The gain in vertical speed and fuel savings was marginal. Many private buyers went for the fixed-pitch prop instead, the Me P7 being used mainly by those intending to use the Bf 108 for racing and, of course, by the Luftwaffe.
The cockpit; the interior stayed essentially the same. It should be noted that there was no VSI gauge installed in the "basic" version, an omission corrected by owners, especially racers, on an individual basis. The canopy was reduced by replacing the rear section over the back seat by a portion of fuselage with two smaller windows on both sides, making the two doors more manageable. The starboard set of controls became permanent.
The tail; probably the most noticeable modification. Elevators and rudder were equipped with internal mass-horn, most probably to correct a tendency to flutter. The two upper bracing struts were removed and the two lower struts enlarged and profiled to compensate.
The wings; they were elongated a bit and the chord at the root narrowed. The fillets were also reduced. The inboard manually operated slats were gone but the external automatic ones stayed. The interceptor's concept was abandoned in favor of a classical aileron with trim tab and mass balance to counteract flutter. The flaps were narrowed to give place to the ailerons and were no longer of the Fowler type. Photographic evidence shows normally hinged flaps instead. The folding mechanism was kept as many private owner had to store their plane in hangar made for cars.
The gear; wheel covers were covering more of the wheel and their axle given a slight, but noticeable, slant inward. This was probably due to the inherent weakness of the struts. This way, the point of contact with the ground was placed directly under the strut itself where lateral forces are minimal. Add to that the facts that the track of the front gear was narrowed and the brakes quite weak and you will understand why the Taifun was not recognized for its ground handling qualities. A tail wheel replacing the tail skid did little to change that.
TOUGH SELL
Even with all those "cost-reducing" modifications, the Taifun was not very affordable. When the U.S. military attache was given the go to buy one, the contract was for $14,378 USD, and it was for the purchase of the "basic" version. It was - and still is - a lot of money.
Most aero-club and private pilot had to look somewhere else for a mount. The Taifun was mainly sold to rich private owner and companies who wanted to "make a statement", the same ones who would buy Rolls-Royce and Ferrari today. The other "niche" was state owned enterprise such as Swiss Air Force and Luftwaffe or subsidized club such as those in Yugoslavia and Hungary.
Luftwaffe interest was at the source of the continuation of the construction program, private sales would only have permitted BFW to survive, barely. But when Luftwaffe's pilots and RLM's engineers started a "mouth to ear" campaign to force the authority - read Milch's hand - into letting BFW participate in the trials for a monoplane single engine light fighter to re-equip the Luftwaffe. The Taifun had proven to all that BFW had mastered the technology to make one. History was to prove them right.
SUB-VERSIONS
Apart from punctual modifications, the Bf 108B1 was to know only two noteworthy variations. The first was the "deluxe" model, equipped with the Me P7 propeller system, a German copy of the VDM system. The Taifun D-IOIO, often depicted, is a good example of that. Note on the trailing edge near the wing root: a profiled step! It is not known though if it was part of the equipment installed in the "deluxe" version. The three colours paint scheme seems to have been reserved for them, "basic" model receiving one colour overall.
The second variation was even given a real number: Bf 108B1s (s for schlechtwetter - bad weather). It had an IFR equipped panel with the addition of a vertical speed indicator, a gyro compass and an artificial horizon. To spot one from an outside view, look for one or two Venturi air ducts under the fuselage, they acted as a vacuum pump for the gyroscopic motors of the added instrumentation.
CIVILIANS COLOURS
Any interpretation of inter-war German colours is bound to be controversial. Most photographic evidence is in black and white and coloured ones are fading or even changing colour over time.
Bf 108A were white (some say cream) with black markings. The BFW logo was visible on both side of the fuselage at the same longitudinal distance as the beginning of the canopy. In front of it, on both sides of the cowling, a black number in a white square bordered by a thick black line was identifying the plane for the Challenge. On both side of the fuselage, just behind the end of the canopy, was the Challenge logo: a medium blue circle with a monoplane silhouette in white and an inscription over it in a light colour, probably yellow. Rudder-vertical fin surfaces were decorated differently on each sides. Port side had the black Hakenkreuze (Swastika) in a white circle on a red band. Starboard side had the three equal stripes national colours placed horizontally and as large as the red band on the other side, the colours; black, white and red from top to bottom. That fin pattern was to prevail until June 1936 when the Swastika pattern was made mandatory on both sides.
Three examples of Bf 108B0 are known: D-IJES, D_IONO and D-IAJO. An example of the B0 of the early period would be Beinhorn's D-IJES. The only picture of the fore part of that aircraft, in black and white, suggest a white or off-white overall color with a black BFW logo on the side at the same place it was found on the A version. In front of that logo was the name "TAIFUN" written in upper-case in a dark color, blue or red, perhaps green. Last two Bf 108B0, D-IONO and D-IAJO, were painted in the blue scheme.
Monochrome Taifuns Bf 108B1 were painted, in the beginning, in a light grey semi-gloss colour. "Retroactive thinking" had expert talking of RLM 02 or RLM 63 but that grey colour was applied before any standardized colours had been devised by RLM. If you use RLM 02 or 63, or any variants in-between, nobody can tell you wrong!
The dark blue glossy colour that succeeded to the grey is as controversial as it was never "officialized" by authorities. Some would say that it is close to RLM 24 but do admit that it is not the same. Taking into account all that was said plus the fact that no two PC treats colours the same way, I would describe that blue as being a very close match to the American Navy blue applied on F4U Corsair by the USMC (±FS 15109).
Finally, to say that the blue colour succeeded to the grey is somewhat inaccurate as both Bf 108B0 D-IONO and D-IAJO wore that color (or something very close to it)!
Three colours (or two colours) Bf 108B1 were probably of the "deluxe" version. This is due to the fact that D-IOIO, the only known, was equipped with variable pitch prop. I'm saying that this was a three colours scheme because, on the best pictures available, the outer contour line seems to be darker than the bright blue of the inner artwork, probably black, but you are free to prove me wrong.
Most foreign users put their own colours on their Taifuns. Some of the most colorful were the Hungarian Air Force's own. On the opposite side, the colorless (bare metal) Taifun of the Mandchuka Airline was very noticeable.
XC-44, the "American Taifun", is one tough nut to crack. Most sources describe an all-yellow a/c with pre Pearl Harbor roundel but no sources are given to justify that choice. Yellow was used on trainer and on some USN a/c but was not a colour offered by BFW. Grey was a logical choice since a photo was showing a Taifun with American markings in B&W tending to suggest that colour. The problem is that the picture is showing a post-war captured Taifun, not the pre-war a/c. Since the plane was bought in March of 1939, the dark blue colour should have been applied. But it might have been repainted to diminish the risks of being shot down by one side or the other during this turbulent period. It is said that the plane was given the serial number 39-718 and I think that it should be applied on both sides of the fuselage and under the wings. Being the Military Attache a/c, it was to be identified as a US a/c in accordance with diplomatic practices and not as a German plane as some sources are implying.
TAIFUN GOES TO WAR
At the dawn of Second World War the Luftwaffe adopted the Taifun as its high-ranking officers liaison a/c, the Bücker Bü 181 "Bestmann" playing the same role for lower-ranking personnel. The specifications of the Luftwaffe demanded the creation of a new version: the BF 108B2. Externally identical to the B1, the B2 was to be be equipped with the Me P7 manually variable pitch propeller and was to let go of the wings folding system.
In practice, the line between the two version is much more "fuzzy" than it looks. Due to a slowing down of the production, Germans civilian a/c were "enlisted" in the Luftwaffe and are often described as being B2 simply because they are wearing their military "uniform". Production lines, in Germany at Regensburg or in France at Les Mureaux, were not only building new a/c, they also had to repair damaged or worned-down Taifun and, in doing so, they used parts and pieces available at the time, "cannibalizing" other aircraft if necessary. To add to the confusion, the practice of cannibalism was not limited to repair. As fighters and bombers program had the priority in procurement, the workers had to "improvise" to get any a/c off the line.
The only noticeable change to come during this period was the modification of the mass balance on the rudder, replacing the internal aerodynamic horn by a more crude external mass. This change was probably decided to simplify production more than anything else and was not implemented on all a/c for the same reasons just given above. This may explain why so many Bf 108D1 are still showing the horn.
The other changes were made to create a "troppen" version but they were so minute that only a close inspection by a trained eye would notice them. They included sand filters for air intakes and leather "pouches" around gear moving parts. Some documentation tells of an additional air intake on the starboard side for the cabin ventilation but I have never seen it on an actual contemporary photo.
The last important change in external appearance was the Argus automatic variable pitch propeller, also known as the "orange juicer", installed on the Bf-108D1. The difference between air pressure on the nose blades and propeller blades was probably at the base of its functioning but any good information on that subject is welcome. That system was also used on other planes such as the Arado Ar 96 trainer.
MILITARY COLOURS
The first Taifun to see combat were the five, numbered 441 to 445, to serve in Spain for the "Legion Condor". Overall RLM 02 Grau with lower parts RLM 65 Hellblau. The rudder was white with a black "X" and the numerals on both sides of the fuselage with the black roundel. Black roundel with white crosses over and under each wing.
Many Taifun went to war in civilian colors, grey or dark blue, even tricolors. Later, the "splinter" pattern RLM 70/71/65 was applied to most Taifun with many variations based on paint availability and the relative skills of the painters. The "LW+" identification marks was applied on planes painted in the splinter pattern totally or partially and even on some civilian Taifun that kept their original paint. Later in the war, RLM 81/82/83 were used. Tropical versions ("Tropen") used RLM 78/79/80 patterns, the Bf 108B2 KG+EM of Blaich's Sonderkommando - probably one of the most known Bf 108 due to its portrayal by Eduard - being a good example of this.
Once all that is said, we must remember that many variations existed. For example, a Bf 108B2 with the registration CL+CE that flew to neutral Switzerland was covered in a brownish coat of paint with dark "sprayed" spots of dark green, his nose yellow and a band of the same color on the rear fuselage. Another picture, although in black & white, suggest a winter camouflage in a white spotted with grey pattern like some panzerdivisionen in winter on the eastern front.
CURIOSITY
Bf 108C1= This version was supposed to receive the 400 hp Hirth HM 512 engine but was never built. Many publications are giving D-IELE the status of C1 with its radial 160 hp Siemens Sh 14 A-4 but the experience was so unconvincing that, as soon as the 1936 Olympics were terminated, the plane was given back "his" Argus As 10C.
Bf 208= Two tricycle gear Taifun were built at Les Mureaux by SNCAN but one was destroyed during the only bombing raid directed at the factory in the whole war, which underlined how low a priority the production of Taifun was for the Allies! BTW= It should be Me 208 rather than Bf 208 as the a/c was considered to be a new model.
Bf 108B1 "altitude record"= In July 1939 Hermann Illg, chief pilot for Hirth, went at an altitude of 9,125 m (29,938 feet) for a record. The a/c was equipped with a 270 hp supercharged Hirth HM 508 C engine and a pressurized cabin.
EPILOGUE
I hope that this little history of the Bf 108 Taifun will help some "skinners" and "modellers" in their attempts to recreate this superb aircraft. For the others, it will make, I hope, for an interesting reading. I decided to include that HISTORY file in my release so that all the research would not be lost. I also wanted to correct some misinterpretation often seen on the WEB concerning the BF 108, namely:
- THE Bf 108 WAS A TWO SEATER= FALSE!
It was a four seater from the onset. A simple look at pictures shows that the canopy extend way behind the two front seats. It is confirmed by a lecture of NACA Technical Memorandum 760, a translation of a German paper made by a German engineer who was making a "first hand" report on the 1934 Challenge.
- THE Bf 108 LOST BECAUSE IT WAS HEAVIER THAN ITS COMPETITION= FALSE!
From the same document, we learn that the winner of the competition, the RWD 9, had the same empty weight (560 kg) and t/o weight (1050 kg) as the Bf 108. Most entries were about the same weight anyway as the organizer had made it a mandatory specification not to be exceeded.
- THE Bf 108 WAS EQUIPPED WITH AN ADJUSTABLE PITCH PROPELLER= ONLY PARTIALLY TRUE!
The bulk of the production was equipped with wooden fixed pitch prop. The Me P7 propeller was an "option", as some publicity pictures I have found on the WEB tend to suggest. Most photos taken before or during WWII are showing fixed pitch prop. Those with Me P7 are of the "deluxe" D-IOIO Taifun or of Bf 108B2 of the Luftwaffe. Those with the Argus automatic pitch prop are exclusively of the Luftwaffe.
- JAMES GARDNER AND DONALD PLEASANCE ARE STEALING A TAIFUN TO GET TO SWITZERLAND= FALSE!
Its a Bücker Bü 181 Bestmann. IF you want to see the Taifun in a film, look at "The Longest Day" where two of them strafe the Juno Beach or at "Von Ryan's Express" as Ryan (Frank Sinatra) is the target of 2 or 3 of them shooting... rockets!
If you want to add to my observations, do so by making a post at "http://www.sim-outhouse.com" where my nickname is "Hubbabubba". I'm not in possession of the ultimate truth and you may even teach me a thing or two on the Taifun, who knows?
