Flight Replicas Messerschmitt Bf 109Z 'Zwilling'

History

There is not a great deal of information on this ultimately un-flown version of the Bf-109. The origins probably lie with a precedent within the Luftwaffe for the joining of existing airframes in order to create a new type, an example being Heinkel joining together two He-111 bombers in order to create the He-111Z (“Z" also for "Zwilling", the German word for "Twin"). The He-111 Zwilling was designed to be a heavy transport and glider towing aircraft, and was a successful design much liked by its pilots.

This experimental prototype, intended to be a heavy destroyer rather than a fighter, was based on two Bf 109F airframes joined together by means of a new wing center section and new stabilizer, both of constant chord, in a similar way to the later F-82 Twin Mustang. The right fuselage cockpit was faired over and the pilot flew the aircraft from the left side fuselage.

Additional modifications included moving the main undercarriage hinges further inboard, and subsequent substantial modifications to the outer wings’ forward structure in order to accommodate the repositioned undercarriage plus the Rheinmetall‑Borsig Mk 108 30mm canon and ammunition.

Four variants of this aircraft were initially proposed. One was a destroyer armed with five 30 mm (1.18 in) cannon and up to a 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bomb load, another a fighter-bomber armed with two MK 108 cannon and up to two 2,200 lb. bombs. Both airframes were to be powered by the DB605 engine. A third and fourth were designed on paper and would be similar to the first two airframes but powered by Jumo 213 engines.

Only one Bf 109Z was built (presumably at Regensberg), and it was never flown, having been damaged in its hangar during an Allied bombing raid in 1943. Never rebuilt, the project was permanently abandoned in 1944.