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 war. They were taken to the flight test center at Bricy and were the subject of thorough descriptive performance trials by the French Aeronautical Service. At the conclusion of the French trials at least two Bf 109Es, still in French markings, were sent to Boscombe Down. The Bf 109 was flown by the three top-scoring fighter aces of World War II: Erich Hartmann, the top-scoring fighter pilot of all time claiming 352 victories, Gerhard Barkhorn with 301 victories, and Günther Rall claiming 275 victories. All of them flew with "Jagdgeschwader" 52, a unit which exclusively flew the Bf 109 and