|
The Bf 110 was an agile fighter used with success as a fighter-bomber, a scout plane and especially a night fighter. Conceived in 1934 following a demand of the Luftwaffe wanting to get a strategic fighter with a long range of action, engineers created the Bf 110, a streamlined twin-engined, entirely metallic plane, with three men seated in a long cabin of glass and having its offensive armament entirely forward concentrated. Rudders were split in order to give a better field of shooting to the rear defense machine gun. The first prototype flew May 12, 1936 but in spite of a sufficient speed, its maneuverability proved to be very bad. In 1939 the first copies of the C version appeared, which had distinctly improved from the prototype. The engine was replaced by a more powerful version: the Daimler Benz 601 A-1 of 1050 hp. against 900 hp. previously. Before the end of the year, 315 units had already left the assembly line. The following version, the D, had a jettisonable Fuel Tank placed under the fuselage and two supplementary tanks under wings. After the heavy casualties at the time of the Battle of Britain, The E and F versions appeared. But the Bf 110 found its specialty in the NachtJagd (Night-Fighter) with the G version even though a few Bf 110D were already used to this very specific task. The G set was equipped with Daimler Benz DB 605 of 1475 hp engine and numerous Radar antennas installed in the nose. It filled its new role in a very efficient manner.
|