Messerschmitt Bf 109

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 was the only modern single engined fighter in Luftwaffe service at the start of the Second World War. In the first year of the war it swept aside all opposition, and it was only when the Bf 109 came up against the Spitfire that it met a true equal. The Bf 109 probably reached its peak in 1941, with the Bf 109F, but lack of a suitable replacement meant that the aircraft had to fight on against ever increasing odds to the end of the war.