The
Messerschmitt Bf
109(or Me 109) was a WW2 single engined fighter designed by Willy Messerschmitt and built mainly by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke. It was widely considered the Luftwaffe equivalent to the RAF Spitfire. Although widely derided nowadays as being difficult to fly, poor performing, and aerodynamically unrefined; the Me 109 was still the preferred mount of most of Germany's aces, including
Erich Hartmann -the highest scoring ace of all time, with
352 kills. The 109 was first used in the Spanish civil war and served throughout all of WW2, with derivatives being built postwar in Spain and Czechoslovakia. With roughly 33,000 of the countless versions built, the Me 109 was one of the most produced aircraft of all time.
Don't know what a Messerschmitt bf109 looks like? Go watch the movie "Battle of Britain," The bad guys are flying spanish-built versions of the
109. The planes in the movie however, have
Rolls-Royce instead of
Daimler(Mercedes)engines, and so have pointier noses.
The first fighters of the Israeli Air Force were czech-built Messerschmitts.