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,
Arado Ar 80 Arado Ar 80 The Arado Ar 80 was a pre-World War II fighter aircraft, designed by Arado Flugzeugwerke to compete for the "Luftwaffe"s first major fighter contract. The Ar 80 was uninspiring in terms of performance and also suffered a number of failures. The contest was eventually won by the Messerschmitt Bf 109, and the Ar 80 prototypes ended their days as test aircraft. With the Nazi rise to power in February 1933, a plan was put into place to dramatically expand the "Luftwaffe". The new and highly-political "Reichsluftfahrtministerium" (RLM) demanded that the large industrial firms cooperate, keeping construction as