MESSERSCHMITT Me209 V-1 - 1937

Description

In the 1930’s, in the time of the rearmament, Germany tried to showcase their military power also by breaking aviation records. This effort, backed by the state, brought many new records including the most prestigious one, the world speed record. Of interest might be the fact that two German aviation companies rivaled to achieve the record, namely Heinkel and Messerschmitt. When Messerschmitt Bf 109V-13 with pilot Dr.Hermann Wurster at the controls achieved the top speed record on 11 November 1937, the Heinkel team had already been working on a new record aircraft, the He 100. The speed record of the Bf 109 V-13 was at first broken by famous WW1 pilot Ernst Udet in the cockpit of the He 100 V2, later on 30 March 1939 also by Hans Dieterle who in fact achieved not only land plane top speed record, but also the absolute top speed record, which until that tiem had been held by Italian Macchi MC.72 racing floatplane. (Scale : 1/72e)