Israeli air force BF109s?!

[Rolf Steiner]

Strikes me as an odd turn-up under the circumstances, but I guess a tool for the job is a tool for the job! Just how did the post-war Israeli air force end up with 109s? Were they surplus war stock? Put together from components smuggled out of factories by forced labourers a few years previously? Or just clones?

[Tim]

Hi Rolf,

What I understand is the aircraft were originally designated 109G's and K's minus the Daimler Benz engines. These aircraft were being built in Czechoslovakia. When the war ended the Czechs had these incomplete aircraft and a lack of the required power plants.

An idea was hit on that up on that the Jumo 211F engine be used, the result was the Avia S99 and Avia S199, and these were not a great success, I saw somewhere the Israeli and Czech pilots who flew them, referred to them as 'Mule's. The handling was reputably appalling.

As the aircraft were not a success and the fledgling IAF quickly sort replacements by way of Spitfires and Mustangs. however one IAF Avia shot down a C47 of the Egyptian airforce carrying some VIP's.

I understand The IAF museum still has an example.

[phylo_roadking]

I have an article somewhere on these, I'll try to dig it out tomorrow; I think they had a major vibration problem too. IIRC at the time they were the IAF's only fighter "strength"...and either the Egyptian or Syrian air forces were flying Spitfires! 109s vs Spitfires in the Middle East again LMAO

The Czechs called them the Mule...but the IAF pilots simply called them Messer LMAO...which after all was German and Yiddish for "knife", and Sakeen, Hebrew for knife, was the official name of the aircraft in IAF service.

The Jumo engine was heavier with less power than the DB original fitment, and this upset the airframe badly. Also, the torque reaction from the massive paddle propeller didn't help with the 109's endemic groundlooping issue...

Oh, and the interrupter gear was often faulty...prop life was short as well as torquey LMAO

As for the why they ended up with them - the "illegal" israeli state before UDI was buying up whatever it could on the black market...and was already buying Czech-made and reconditioned WWII small arms. AFTER UDI "legal" sources of arms didn't exactly free up quickly either for the original "wolfling" state LOL they took pretty much what they could find and what they were offered.

[Doktor Krollspell]

Hello Gentlemen!

Here's a photograph of the Israeli Me 109 and an informative source link to go with it...


The Avia S.199 Czech version of the Messerschmitt Bf 109G-14

http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/ ... ghter1.htm


Regards,

Krollspell

[Rolf Steiner]

Hello gents

Sorry, didn't come back to this one for some time, thanks for the info! Sounds like the got hold of a bit of a dud there then! the engine cowling looks kind of different to me, which I guess is the giveaway regarding the engine...

[bf109 emil]

http://www.spyflight.co.uk/iafvraf.htm

The IAF had to address its lack of fighter aircraft and slowly the first few Avia S-199s, Czech built versions of the Messerschmitt Me-109 that were purchased by Israeli agents in Czechoslovakia, began to arrive and were quickly pressed into service attacking advancing Arab forces. As the aircraft began arriving in Israel, with them also came a variety of foreign volunteer pilots, known as 'Machal' - volunteers in the War of Independence. Some were Jewish idealists with a genuine passion for defending the new state of Israel, some were adventurers who just wanted to fly, whilst others just needed a job and were not too bothered about the fairly basic pay - therefore it would not be unreasonable to describe some simply as mercenaries, although this description is always avoided by Israelis when describing the 'Machal'.However, none of the new IAF pilots liked the Avia S-199, nicknamed "The Mule". The Mule was powered by the Junkers Jumo 211F 12-cylinder liquid cooled engine, married to a large three-bladed wooden propeller, intended for the Heinkel He-111H bomber. The combination of engine and propeller generated far too much torque and this, together with the narrow track undercarriage, made the Mule very prone to ground looping when taking off or landing. Overall, many pilots considered the Mule was almost as dangerous to themselves, as it was to the Arabs and, with the REAF quickly replacing any Spitfires they lost, the IAF knew they had to acquire a more effective fighter - like a Spitfire.

[hucks216]

Here are a couple of links that show the different nose of the Avia 199...

www.clubhyper.com/reference/s199ng_1.html

www.swannysmodels.com/S199.html

[bf109 emil]

The mule bf109

The Mule was powered by the Junkers Jumo 211F 12-cylinder liquid cooled engine, married to a large three-bladed wooden propeller, intended for the Heinkel He-111H bomber. The combination of engine and propeller generated far too much torque and this, together with the narrow track undercarriage, made the Mule very prone to ground looping when taking off or landing. Overall, many pilots considered the Mule was almost as dangerous to themselves, as it was to the Arabs and, with the REAF quickly replacing any Spitfires they lost, the IAF knew they had to acquire a more effective fighter - like a Spitfire.

The pigeon bf109 with a Merlin engine

In 1953 there appeared a further development of the fighter-bomber version. Designated HA-1109-MIL and named Buchon (Pigeon), this model was built in substantial quantities for the Spanish Air Force, its principal difference from the -K1L being the installation of a new power plant, the 1,400-hp Rolls-Royce Merlin 500-45, driving a four-blade Rotol propeller. The final fighter--bomber model was the HA-1112, generally similar to the HA-1109-K1L-M1L except that it carried twice the latter's quota of Oerlikon rockets, while the wing machine-guns were replaced by 20-mm Hispano HS-404 cannon

http://simviation.com/fsdcbainmm.htm