Other Countries |
While Germany was by far the most prolific and well known operator of the 109, it was far from the only country to use it as a front line fighter. The first "official" export order for the 109 came from Switzerland, and of course there were a large number of 109s sent to Spain with the Kondor Legion to take part in the Spanish Civil War. Those aircraft remained in Spain after the return of the Legion to Germany in 1938, and formed the backbone of the Spanish fighter arm well into the late 1940s. Finland was another well-known Messerschmitt customer, as was Italy. Other countries in which the 109 and its derivatives served operationally included Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Israel, Romania, and Yugoslavia.
Photos of Bulgarian aircraft are not easy to track down in any event, which makes this color photo of "white 3" and "white 9" all the more special. Camouflage of these aircraft was Dunkelgrün 71 over Hellblau 65; note the inboard position of the underwing national insignia, and the aircraft number outboard of this. |
Hungary secured a permit to produce G-2s and G-4s at Györ, although it is not known if these are locally produced airframes. Of interest here are the clearly extended slats and perfectly aligned cowling cooling scoops. |
109Fs were supplied in some number to Hungary's air force as well, and this one sports a local camouflage scheme of dark brown, dark green, and light grey over light blue. Given the shallow oil cooler and smaller supercharger intake, this appears to be a 109F-2. |