CORRECTION: the experiment produced mixed results, but proved Messerschmitt right. On one hand, the DB 605 ran effectively throughout the tests using radiators significantly smaller than were found on the Bf 109G. On the other, the type of high pressure radiator used on the Spitfire was not something that could be replicated, owing to numerous material and industrial limitations. In the end, it was Daimler Benz’s requirements that the DB 605 run cooler, and the inability of German radiator manufacturers to produce high temperature, high pressure models, that kept the Bf 109 from achieving greater performance.


Few aspects of the Second World War have been so misunderstood, misrepresented, and pushed into near mythology as the Luftwaffe’s test programs. Their discussion in less academic circles is dominated by rampant speculation from those who indulge in sensationalist historical stories. With respect to that, one might be surprised to find the bizarre photographs of a Spitfire Mk. VB with a Daimler Benz engine to be one of the few remaining genuine artifacts from an obscure Luftwaffe test program. With so little information publicly available, naturally, the odd plane’s origins, purpose, and performance have been drowned in a sea of speculation. However, while it is often erroneously claimed that the so-called ‘Messerspit’ was some bizarre attempt to combine the best aspects of the two planes, in reality, the aircraft was converted to settle a technical argument which had been raging in Luftwaffe research and development circles since 1942.

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Sources:
Bf 109G-2 Flugzeug Handbuch (Stand Juni 1942).Der Reichsminister der Luftfahrt und Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe, Berlin. November 1942.
Bf 109G-4 Flugzeug Handbuch (Stand August 1943). Der Reichsminister der Luftfahrt und Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe, Berlin. September 1943.
Bf 109G-2 Flugzeug Handbuch (Stand August 1943). Der Reichsminister der Luftfahrt und Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe, Berlin. October 1943.
Daimler-Benz DB 605 Inverted V-12 Engine. National Air and Space Museum Collection. Inventory number: A19670086000.
Flugzeug Flugleistungen Me 109G-Baureihen. Messerschmitt AG Augsburg. August 1943.
Flugleistungen Normaljager Fw 190A-8. Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau G.m.b.H. Abt. Flugmechanik.L. October 1944.
Horizontalgeschwindigkeit über der Flughöhe: Normaljäger Fw 190A-8. Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau G.m.b.H. November 1943.
Leistungen Me 109G mit DB 605 AS. Messerschmitt AG. Augsburg. 22, January 1944.
P-51B-15-NA 43-24777 (Packard Merlin V-1650-7) Performance Tests on P-38J, P-47D and P-51B Airplanes Tested with 44-1 Fuel. (GRADE 104/150). 15 May, 1944.
Spitfire V Steigleitungen. Daimler Benz. Versuch Nr. 1018105428. Baumuster DB.605A. May 1944.
Spitfire Mk. VB W.3134 (Merlin 45) Brief Performance Trials. Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment Boscombe Down. June 1941.
Spitfire Mk. VC AA.878 (Merlin 45) Climb, speed, and cooling tests at combat rating. Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment Boscombe Down. 25 November, 1942.
Spitfire L.F. IX. RAF Aircraft Data Card, 2nd Issue. 28, October 1943. The performance of Spitfire IX aircraft fitted with high and low altitude versions of the intercooled Merlin engine. Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment Boscombe Down. March 1943.
USAAF 8th Airforce Bombing Raid Records.

Secondary:
Scheidhauer, Bernard W.M. Traces of War.
Douglas, Calum E. Secret Horsepower Race: Second World War Fighter Aircraft Engine Development on the Western Front. TEMPEST, 2020.
Price, Alfred. The Spitfire Story. Silverdale Books. 2nd Edition, 2002.
Radinger, W. & Otto W. Messerschmitt Bf 109F-K Development Testing Production. Schiffer Publishing. 1999.
Spitfire EN 830. Lostaircraft.com
Galland, Adolf. The First and the Last. Bantam. 1979.

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Based on an article by Henry H
Script by Henry H
Narrated by Butane
Audio edited by Gabethetanker
Edited by Thundershark

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