Messerschmitt BF 109: The Design and Operational HistoryMore than 33,000 Messerchmitt Bf 109s were built between 1935 and 1945, making it the second most produced warplane of all time. Its baptism of fire was in Spain during the Spanish Civil War of 1936 39. The Bf 109 was the mainstay of Luftwaffe fighter squadrons, and the favoured choice of most of the Luftwaffe's fighter aces. Luftwaffe Bf 109 pilots accounted for thousands of Allied aircraft, with individual scores for some pilots reached hundreds of