The Messerschmitt Bf 110 was designed in 1934. It made its first flight on the 12th May 1936. The Bf 110 originated from a Reichsluftfahrtministerium requirement of 1934 for a long-range escort fighter or the so-called Zerstorer ""Destroyer"". The aircraft was designed by Prof. Willy Messerschmitt, a legendary German aircraft designer and manufacturer born in Frankfurt am Main. The Bf 110 is one of his best designed aircrafts that won the RLMs multi-purpose fighter contest. This long-range multi-seat escort fighter is possibly the most difficult of all combat aircrafts to design. This is the why no successful machine in this category emerged during the World War II. Messerschmitt possessed no past experience with twin-engined military aircrafts when he commenced his work on the Bf 110. His best warplane, the single-seat Bf 109, was conceived the summer before that. At that moment, the most powerful aero engine of national design available was the Junkers Jumo 210A of 610 hp. It was apparent from the beginning that a couple of such engines would be insufficient to provide the power needed for the comparatively big and heavy fighter envisaged. However, the Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft was actively engaged in developing a new twelve-cylinder liquid-cooled inverted-vee engine: the DB 600. And on the assumption that such engines would be available for his prototypes, Messerschmitt began the design of the Bf 110. During early 1944 nearly 60% of the whole German night-fighter force was composed of variants of the Messerschmitt Bf 110. A total of about 6,000 of these aircrafts were built before the manufacturing ended. |
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