Messerschmitt Bf 109 11 July 1938 when Erhard Milch finally allowed Willy Messerschmitt to acquire the company. All Messerschmitt aircraft that originated after that date, such as the Me 210, were to carry the "Me" designation. Despite regulations by the RLM, wartime documents from Messerschmitt AG, RLM and "Luftwaffe" loss and strength reports continued to use both designations, sometimes even on the same page. All extant airframes bear the official "Bf 109" designation on their identification plates, including the final K-4 models. The aircraft was often referred to by the folk-designation, 'Me 109', particularly by the Allies. The aircraft was often nicknamed "Messer"
Light fighter match or beat the range of their heavy twin-engined counterparts. The German Messerschmitt Bf 109 entered service in 1937 and became the most-produced fighter in history, with nearly 34,000 built. The design philosophy of the Bf 109 was to wrap a small airframe around a powerful engine using Messerschmitt's "lightweight construction" principle, which aimed to minimize the weight and number of separate parts in the aircraft. By concentrating wing, engine and landing gear weight in the firewall, the structure of the Bf 109 could be made relatively light and simple. The Bf 109 was the second-smallest major fighter aircraft of