Buy real me 109

[Sternjaeger II]

Originally Posted by Stealthy

Does anybody know of a company that sells replicas of old warbirds? I think its very interesting, and I'm not implying I have the money, but I would sure love to look into it.

As mentioned above Flugwerk would be the ideal choice, they soon will start making replica Mustangs as well (they already produce main components for it, like spars and fuselages).

In 2005 I visited the guys who built the Me262 replicas in Everett, WA (close to Seattle), and I remember them mentioning that they bought a batch of fuselages and scraps from Russia, mainly of Bf109s, and were thinking about making a series of Bf109F once they finished with the 262, but I dunno what happened with that project.

Apart for the costs, the real issue in having a 109 is the engine: DB605 are rarer and rarer to get hold of, and their TBO is normally very low (around 50hr or so). Needless to say their spares are even rarer, and whilst you can easily mill a valve for it, the crankshaft is so complicated it would cost a lot of money to redo one.

Needless to say we're talking about a machine that can be a bit tricky to land and take off, so yes, it would be cool but a tad high in terms of economic and piloting demands.

Flugwerk also produces FW190s, I would rather go for this one, but would make sure to put my hands on a dependable BMW engine first, not the cheap russian/chinese crap engines which already cost us the French FW190, which was a thing of beauty.