Bf-109 in a box...

[Warbirdnerd]

Airplane Crosses the Atlantic in a Box
Posted by Eric Haun
Monday, November 02, 2015

Container shipper Hapag-Lloyd has transported some unusual cargo from Rotterdam to Norfolk. Securely packed in a 40-foot cube container, the vintage fighter airplane, a Messerschmitt Bf 109, made the two-and-a-half-week journey across the North Atlantic.

The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is one of the roughly 33,000 units built between 1936 and 1945, making it the most manufactured fighter aircraft in military history. The single-seater is 8.95 meters long, has a wingspan of 9.91 meters and is equipped with a 12-cylinder, 1,475-horsepower Daimler-Benz engine, that offers an unthinkable cylinder capacity of 35.7 liters. At a high speed of 620 kilometers per hour, the airplane has a maximum range of 720 kilometers. According to one pilot’s calculations, the plane would have to make 10 refueling stops if it were to fly the 6,700-kilometer journey to Norfolk. But since these refueling options don’t exist on the North Atlantic the freight forwarding company STC Cargo organized the seaborne transport. .

To complete the authentic replica that was shipped to the U.S., Meier Motors, a restorer of historical airplanes based in the southwestern German town of Eschbach, had to use original blueprints and track down a number of old components. For the trip across the ocean, the shipyard removed the plane’s wings and partially disassembled its fuselage. “After that, it was relatively easy to push the plane backwards into the container and to lash it,” explained Ronald Selke, the managing director of the freight forwarding company. Only the front landing gears had to be fastened closer together with a strap because their track width of 245 centimeters was slightly too big. “But that wasn’t rocket science,” the logistic expert noted. The wings were placed in a wooden frame that Meier Motors had built specifically for this container shipment.

Handling the fighter and getting it cleared by customs also didn’t give rise to any larger problems. “Since this involved a replica, and especially an unarmed one, the airplane didn’t fall under Germany’s War Weapons Control Act,” Selke said. What’s more, the Badisches Landesmuseum, an important museum in the state of Baden-Württemberg that strictly monitors exports of German cultural artifacts, issued a clearance certificate for the replica.

In the U.S., the Messerschmitt will reportedly not only be used as a museum exhibition piece, but also go into action at flight shows. The vintage airplane already proved its airworthiness during test flights conducted in Germany.

Found it here:
http://www.marinelink.com/news/airplane ... 00292.aspx

Last edited by Warbirdnerd on Tue Nov 03, 2015 7:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[pjpahs]

109 is in fighter factory hanger

[Sopwith]

The bit where he said that they used a strap to narrow the undercarriage to get it in the container is a bit worrying, be different if the gear retracted inwards.

[wendovertom]

So getting all "paint isn't correct" technical like - would this really be called a "Buchon"? I thought, in my limited knowledge, the Buchon referred specifically to the non-Benz powered version of the plane. this looks like it has the inverted engine . . . just wondering!

Tom P.

[VaBeachEd]

She's heeeeere...........................

https://www.facebook.com/FighterFactory

[Warbirdnerd]

So getting all "paint isn't correct" technical like - would this really be called a "Buchon"? I thought, in my limited knowledge, the Buchon referred specifically to the non-Benz powered version of the plane. this looks like it has the inverted engine . . . just wondering!

Tom P.

Honestly I cant remember if this is a Bf or a CASA machine or a frankencombo of both. I guess all the replica talk in the article made me lean CASA. If someone can tell me I will edit the post subject to Bf in a box...

[sandiego89]

bf/me/buchon/franken/wrong RLM paint/correct RLM paint/wheel well color besides, me thinks I have another reason to go to Wings over the Beach next May. I keep saying I'll take a year off, but I never do. The Lancaster got me there, then the Mossie, then the guest Dauntless....

Keep it up Jerry/MAM/FF/crew -we love it!

(Stuka pretty please )

[lmritger]

This ship is the Buchon that formerly resided in the USAFM (with proper G-6 cowling sheet metal), painted as Gerd Barkhorn's Gruppenkommandeur ship from III./JG 52. I don't recall how Jerry wound up with her, but it went to Meier a few years back for a total rebuild, and if I understand the story correctly, the DB 605 in the aircraft is actually one of the two DB 605Bs from the infamous Bf 110G-4 flown by Oblt. Wilhelm Johnen that landed at Dübendorf, Switzerland by error in early 1944 which touched off a brief firestorm of political intrigue. Johnen was eventually repatriated, the Swiss burned the Bf 110G on May 18 or 19, 1944 (apparently after salvaging some of the parts off of it!), and in return the Germans sent them twelve Bf 109G-6s to bolster their own air defenses.

I grew up in Va Beach, I graduated from Kempsville High School in 1985, and I've been obsessed with 109s for as long as I can remember. If someone had told me back in 1985 that we'd eventually have an airworthy Bf 109G flying in our city within 30 years, I would have laughed right in their face. To say this is a dream come true for me, just to have this near me, is a massive understatement.

Lynn

[Warbirdnerd]

Subject updated accordingly...

[Warbirdnerd]

From MAM's Facebook page-

She's been to Eschbach, Germany for restoration. She's traveled by rocky seas for a glorious two week voyage to the USA. And now, she's officially home. We'd like your help in welcoming our newest edition to the Military Aviation Museum, our Messerschmitt Bf-109G-5!
Following its time at the Fighter Factory for reassembly, she will become the only late-model Messerschmitt Bf-109 flying anywhere in North America. The aircraft was based upon the airframe of a Spanish-built Hispano Buchon C.4K-64 variant and was modified to represent a Bf-109G-5 with a Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine and cowlings. To learn more, visit

https://www.facebook.com/Military-Aviat ... 673361796/