Messerschmitt Me 209 V1

The world's fastest piston engined airplane was this Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 which set the absolute world speed record of 469.22 mph on April 26, 1939. Aircraft was flown by Flugkapitan Fritz Wendel, (shown below being congratulated by designer Willy Messerschmitt). Power was a specially designed Daimler-Benz DB 601 ARJ twelve cylinder inverted liquid cooled engine of 1,800 hp which could be boosted to 2,300 hp for short bursts. Aircraft was completed in June 1938 and first flew August 1, 1938. Just a few weeks prior to Wendel's flight, on March 30, 1939, 22-year old Hans Dieterle flew a Heinkel He 100 V8 at a speed of 463.92 mph to break the then existing absolute speed record set June 2, 1933 by Italian pilot Francesco Angello in a Macchi-Castoldi MC-72. Angello's record was 440.7 mph. He flew a tandem engine, open cockpit, externally braced wing, twin float seaplane. Dieterle's record lasted less than a month. The record set by Wendel in the Me 209 V1 would last for 30 years. It was broken on August 16, 1969 by American Darryl G. Greenamyer in a highly modified 3,100 hp F8F-2 Bearcat "Conquest 1", at an average speed of 483.041 mph. Some parts of the Me 209 V1 still exist today, stored in the Polish Air Museum at Krakow.

The ME-209 Speed Record stood for over 30 years until August 16 1969 when an American named Darryl G Greenamyer broke it by flying 483.041 mph in a highly modified F8F-2 Bearcat.

The Me 209 was intended from the outset as a record breaker but the basic fuselage was used in the otherwise totally different Me 209 V4 in the effort to build a Bf 109 successor.

In the years between 1935, when Germany first revealed formation of the Luftwaffe, and the outbreak of World War II, Adolf Hitler was most anxious to impress upon the world the capability of the fighter aircraft that equipped his new air force. This resulted in design of the Messerschmitt Me 209 to be used to establish a new absolute world speed record. With only superficial resemblance to the Bf lO9, the Me 209 was tailored around a specially-built Daimler-Benz DB 601ARJ engine with a take-off rating of 1342 kW (1 800 hp), which could be boosted to a peak of 1715 kW (2,300 hp) for very short periods. This capability proved sufficient for the Me 209 to set a new record, Flugkapitan Fritz Wendel flying the first specially-prepared proto type on 26 April 1939 at an average speed of 755.136 km/h (469.22 mph).

At this point the German propaganda ministry stepped in, details for ratification submitted to the FAI identifying the record breaking aircraft as the Messerschmitt Me 109R in an attempt to convince other nations that the record had been gained by a variant of the Luftwaffe's new fighter. Nevertheless, the record stood for just over 30 years, but although attempts were made by the Messerschmitt company to develop a new fighter based on the ME-209 design, Me 209A prototypes flying later in the war, the programme was abandoned.

 

The aircraft kind of looks like a Gee Bee racer from the 1930's with an inline engine instead of a radial engine. Both have the cockpit set far back and the tiny wings. James Dolittle flew one and a number of other pilots were killed in them. If I remember right they built a flying replica a few years back and it crashed too.

 

Wonder how they "keep" these records. As there were faster planes in 44 than this one. It was an exceptional performance for the time though.

 

you know..when i first read this I thought...hmmm ...I went to my Encylopaedia of aircraft and looked through , p47,Corsair,Tempest,Fury,Mig's,Yak's,Pfiefel,or any other fast fighter I could think of...and bugger me...Me209V1 was indeed the fastest. Not a bad effort really when one considers the emphasis placed on such an achievement in that era and for long it held up. Most surprising that the record lasted that long and also that it took a heavily modified Bearcat to break it.

 

The record could have been broken earlier, I think, but it wasn't enough just to have a faster plane. You had to set up a special test run with international observers etc. Quite an expensive exercise. It wouldn't have been possible in wartime and I suspect no-one could be bothered in the aftermath.

Tony Williams: Military gun and ammunition website and discussion forum

 

OK this was bugging me...such a long standing record? Seems that Chrome was right about 44. Data in "Complete Book of fighters" ( Brave title eh?) says that Republic thunderbolt XP47J achieved speed of 493mph in Jul44 and then a month later was boosted to 505mph (813km/hr). Yeeha...tighten ur helmut strap chaps. Oh and I do remember this version of the me209 was very specifically designed to get and keep this record whereas it appears the 47J was a further refinement of the beast already in service.

 

The Ta 152 could hit 472mph easily and beyond at altitude and besides it was operational while the Me 209 was not....

at this very moment former TA 152 pilots are having a mini-reunion in Dresden from the 5th-8th of May. Will let ya know what info I can bring up if possible

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That sounds cool. Keep us updated. The V-18 longnose according to one book went well over 480 mph with hirth turbosuperchrger.

The test for speed is done on a course, & involves a 2 way journey. Best done on a non windy day I would think.

The superbolt had contrarotating props I believe & had vibrational probs which were not solved. My neighbor was a 38 L driver & mentioned that. Very doubtful it would have seen service if war had continued because of this.

So far we have the 152, the xp72? & xp47J, the Mustang H 487 mph, & the DO 355 & V-18. On the British side The Tempest & Seafury.

Which was fastest Brit machine?

 

There was also the P-47 M which did see service.

The "P-47M" was a more conservative attempt to come up with a "hot rod" version of the Thunderbolt. Three P-47Ds were modified into prototype YP-47Ms by fitting the P&W R-2800-57(C) engine and the GE CH-5 turbosupercharger.

The performance of the YP-47M was excellent, with a top speed of 761 KPH (473 MPH), and the variant was rushed into production to counter the threat of the new German V-1 cruise missiles and German jet fighters. 130 P-47Ms were built, with the first arriving in Europe in early 1945. However, the type suffered persistent teething problems in the field and did not see much action until the war was all but over.

 

The DH Hornet managed 472 mph, the Supermarine Spiteful 494 mph.

 

Cool data Tony. Hornet was twin engine which is even more remarkable. I was kinda speaking of single engined planes, which would exclude the D0 335.

The wing of spiteful was not considered a success. But for speed, it certainly seemed successful.