The wing was small, but fitted with slats and slotted flaps, and the landing gears retracted outwards.  A Luftwaffe general exclaimed 'It will never make a fighter!'.  Designer Willy Messerschmitt was to prove him very wrong.

When WWII began, the standard version was the Bf 109E, with a 1,175hp DB 601 inverted-V engine cooled by shallow radiators integrated with the flaps under the wings.  Usual armament was two 20 mm cannon in the wings and two machine guns above the engine.  It was formidable, but a well-flown Spitfire could turn tighter.

Over 14,000 Bf 109Gs were made in 1944 alone, bringing the total of this version to an unknown figure in excess of 30,000.  Undoubtedly the most famous Bf109 in the world is 'Black 6', a Bf 109G-2 Gustav captured in North Africa in 1942.  It has been beautifully restored in Benson, England.