"New" ? Me 109 INFO

Ok,not really a new plane, but new info on an old plane. And not really a 109, but the Spanish built version of it, the Hispano 1112 version with the single stage Merlin 45 engine.
On another site there is a news clip of an engine run, for the first time in decades of this 2seat 109 formerly owned by Connie Edwards. Its a very rare airplane, may be 1 othere, but this is the only 2 seat fully dual control factory built one that I have ever seen.
After the filming of the Battle of Britain movie bout 1968 that Connie flew in he got a Spitfire and several 109s and brought them iback to his hangar at Big Springs, Texas. I dont think the 109 ever flew there , maybe didnt even run., but it was kept out of the weather and mainly just covered in dust, but kept safe.I think he had 2 Mustangs also. Connie is a larger than life guy and a vintage one of a kind himself. He has a lot of great aviation stories and can tell them with the best.I saw this plane in his hangar, intact but covered in dust like the Spitfire IX, I wish I could have rolled them out and just washed them with a hose and a little soap , really all they needed at that time, and then maybe covered them in plastic. I knew the 109 represented a unique oportunity to fly a 109 that almost no pilots will ever have.

Bill,
what happened to the other aircraft?

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Originally Posted by wyoranch

Bill,
what happened to the other aircraft?

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I think the Spit and Mustangs were sold off individually. The 7 (?) ME-109's were advertised as a package deal.

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Originally Posted by Bill Greenwood

After the filming of the Battle of Britain movie bout 1968 that Connie flew in he purchased a Spitfire and several 109s and brought them iback to his hangar at Big Springs, Texas. I dont think the 109 ever flew there , maybe didnt even run., but it was kept out of the weather and mainly just covered in dust, but kept safe.I think he had 2 Mustangs also.

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According to Wikipedia, your friend Connie Edwards was the Stunt Coordinator for the film. He received a Mark lX Spitfire, 6 Buchons-Spanish made version of the ME Bf 109, and a P-51 in lieu of money payment for his film services. According to AOPA Pilot, Nov. 2014 this original collection was sold to collectors in 2014.

one day Jay Cullum and I were visiting Connie's place, he was such a good host, and we were looking in his hangar at all the treasures. Most of them were covered in dust, some with canopies open, but otherwise in good shape. I had never seen a two place Me 109 before, its a small plane to fit all that inside. 109s have a reputation for bad ground handliing, with the Spanish version worse than the original. When I said how great it would be to have a two cockpit two place 109, my friend remarked , "Yea, you could scare two people at once." Jay is a long time EAA and Caf member and flew a P-51 and T-34 for years. Nice guy, funny sense of humor and fine pilot. I once borrowed a big truck type SUV from Jay. The gas cap was locked and fuel gauge was about on empty. He would not give me the key to fill it up, he said it got good fuel milage and he enjoyed watching me worry about running out in the middle of Dallas rush hour traffic. I never ran out I guess he did know his vehicle. Jay made a good video of spinning his 51 starting at 17,000 feet!
There are a lot of otherwise pretty good warbird pilots who will take one step backward when ask to volunteer to fly a 109. Steve Hinton has flown both and says the original handles much better than the Spanish version. I got to sit in a 109 in Canada and thougth about what id say if asked to fly it. Id taxi it especially on grass, but would have to think long and hard before flying it. I never was asked, never got the chance. Skip Holm flew it and got it half sideways landing on rain soaked field. but saved it. He was impressed by its capabilty as a fighte, said he could give a Mustang a hard time with the 109.

There is a very good article about/interview with Connie Edwards in the most recent (#78) Warbird Digest (not the EAA pub). He goes on at length about his experience flying the different types of planes used in the Battle of Britain movie and his opinion on each. Bill Greenwood may take issue with some of those opinions.

I recall Connie saying he flew the other two seat Spitfire MK IX in the movie, not mine. He had an engine fire once that forced a belly landing which Connie handled well with minimum damage. I don't know if he flew any of the other planes the 109s (Ha111s) or the other Spitfires or any of the bombers. Connie's opinions usualy have a ring of truth surrounded by a lot of wry humor. The attitude indicator of a Spitfire or standard RAF plane has the numbers at the bottom opposite of American types.Connie said he flew with the canopy open in bad weather so that if the Attiude Indicator ever appeared to be right side up , he was going to bail out.
It was either Lefty Gardner or Connie who told me that they thought they were pretty good pilots until the got over there and flew with the genuine RAF vets.
The one thing he did better than even fly was tell stories, he once kept my Son Charles spell bound for two hours at Oshkosh sitting in the back of his seaplane when Charles was about 10 years old. Connie sadly lost his Son Tex a few years back in a horrible head on car accident at night on the highway.
A famous English warbird writer once came over to visit Connie at the ranch and was amazed at the castle of a house and having a few cocktails for brunch at 11 am. Connie is a good host. I last saw Connie at a friends funeral in Texas, some larger than life folks in that group.

Well the article I referred to certainly has some stories!

For those of you not former military or with only a passing brush with it, there is a well known saying that the only difference between a war story and a fairy tale is that fairy tales begin “Once upon a time,” and war stories begin, “There I was...” Fairy tales and war stories both need to keep the interest of the listener and “have the ring of truth.” How much is “ring” and how much is “truth” should always be a mystery.