Messerschmitt Bf 109 was called the Me 109R, suggesting it was just another variant of the standard fighter, but in fact it was a racing aircraft having little in common with the Bf 109. It was powered by the DB 601ARJ, producing 1,156 kW (1,550 hp), but capable of reaching 1,715 kW (2,300 hp). This world record for a piston-engined aircraft was to stand until 1969, when Darryl Greenamyer's modified Grumman F8F Bearcat, "Conquest I", broke it with a 777 km/h (483 mph) record speed. When the Bf 109 was designed in 1934, by a team led by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser,
Messerschmitt Bf 109 operational history a combination of Macchi 205s and Fiat G.55s although, for various reasons, the unit rarely operated from August 1944 through to December, when the first Bf 109 G-12 trainer arrived. Still in December, the remaining 17 pilots of I° "Gruppo" were moved to Rangsdorf, in Berlin, to start a training course on Me 163 rocket fighter. In November 1944, I°Gr.C was transferred to the "Luftwaffe" flying school at Holzkirchen in Germany to convert to the Messerschmitts. At the beginning of February, 57 of I° "Gruppo"s pilots were ready for operations with the Me 109; 51 (52, according to other sources