DB 600 in Bf 109?

[Mikael Olrog]

Hi, Can anyone shed some light on the plans for fitting the DB 600 (not DB 601) to the Bf 109. There's some contradicting information related to this in books and I wonder if anyone have seen the "documents" covering this. Is it correct that it was planned for the Bf 109 D but that it instead used the Jumo 210 D. Was the DB 600 ever fitted to any prototypes. One source suggest that one aircraft with this engine was flown at the Alpenrundflug at Zürich in 1937.

Best regards
/Mike

[Harold Lake]

It is my understanding some, or possibly all, of the ten Bf 109 E-0s were at one time powered by the DB 600. But the DB 600 was not Messerschmitt's first choice and, as soon as flight cleared DB 601s became available, they quickly replaced the DB 600s. The Bf 109 E-0s were characterized by their long tunnel shaped superharger intakes; a feature not retained by the Bf 109 E-1.

[Falcon]

Originally Posted by Harold Lake

The Bf 109 E-0s were characterized by their long tunnel shaped superharger intakes; a feature not retained by the Bf 109 E-1.

Some early Bf 109 E-1 got also this supercharger intake:
http://www.me109.info/display.php?a=e&fid=2791
(Bf 109 E-1 WNr. 1798 build by Bayrische Flugzeugwerke, Augsburg)

IMHO it will be not a clue for a DB 600 engine. It was only a construction step to find the optimal air intake and exhausts.

[Harold Lake]

Falcon,

Great photo of W.Nr. 1798 which supports the idea that the tunnel intake appeared on at least some of the very early E-1s before it was abandoned. The last Bf 109 E-0 was only 9 aircraft before (W.Nr. 1789) and also it was close to W.Nr. 1800, the V22, (which tested a new intake design closer to the final production model) so it would be interesting to know something about the nine aircraft in between. From an engineering perspective, it would be equally interesting to learn what characteritics of the tunnel design were found to be unsatisfactory and weather or not the switch to direct fuel injection played a part in their decision.

[Mikael Olrog]

Hi,

Thanks for your comments. Apparently the tunnel design was also used on some DB engined Do 17 aircraft before being abandoned on them too.

/Mike