Synopsis
The story of the Messerschmitt Bf 109's most radical development, the Blohm & Voss BV 155, began in early 1942 as German planners considered the likelihood of America operating high-altitude bombers over occupied Europe. It was decided that a re-engined Bf 109 with extended wings, a wide-track undercarriage and a pressure cabin could meet this threat and the type was designated Me 155. A complex and challenging period of development followed, with Messerschmitt's high-altitude fighter going through numerous iterations before manpower shortages and the urgent need to prepare the Me 262 for series production compelled the company to seek outside help. Hamburg-based Blohm & Voss stepped in and the project became the BV 155. Despite a steep technological learning curve, official indifference and a fraught relationship with Messerschmitt, Blohm & Voss succeeded in building and flying a prototype just over a year after taking on the project. Using original wartime documents, author Dan Sharp explains and explores the history of this fascinating and unusual branch of the Bf 109 fighter family. Book jacket., The story of the Messerschmitt Me 109's ultimate development, the Blohm & Voss BV 155, begins in 1942 with plans to split the Me 109 family into three branches - a standard fighter, a high-altitude fighter and a carrier-based fighter. Initially these were known as the Me 409 but later became the Me 155 A, B and C. The project was given to the French to develop, where it stalled. But when Germany got its first taste of what the USAAF's bomber force was capable of - suffering huge damage to its war-critical industries as a result of massed raids on its factories and cities - work on the Me 155 B was recommenced as a matter of urgency. With the Me 262 consuming most of Messerschmitt's design capacity, the project was then passed on to a sub-contractor: Blohm & Voss. Richard Vogt, B&V's chief designer, quickly realised that Messerschmitt had made very little progress on the design and was forced to begin again almost from scratch. In just over a year, a prototype was built and flown - but the war ended before production could begin.