Messerschmitt Bf 110

I actually built a Bf 110 before, quite some time ago, and wasn’t happy with it at all. So I basically started from scratch, and I like this one a lot better already…

The Bf 110 was originally conceived as a “heavy fighter” for general interdiction of enemy air/ground forces, and as a long-range bomber escort. Hermann Goering absolutely loved it, because it all looked quite good on paper. In reality though, the Bf 110’s range was halfway decent rather than “long”, and it was absolutely no match for Spits and Hurricanes in dogfights. In a nutshell: it only worked against countries who had no air force to speak of.

So, exit the Bf 110? Absolutely not. It wasn’t a bad plane at all, but it was no Mosquito… simply a somewhat plain machine that got pushed into the wrong role. The 110 was sturdy, simple to fly, and had sufficient power and space to carry a pilot, a spotter/radio/radar operator, rear gunner and lots of deadly hardware. When fitted with a radar system, it made quite a deadly night fighter.

The build

Nothing fancy, really. I tried to approximate the Bf 110’s “look and feel” to the extent possible, adding a (simplified) interior and working canopy & rear gunner’s station. Still… a vast improvement over my initial version of the ‘110…

Flying it/controls

There’s not much to tell; the plane is easy enough to fly. Just add a bit of rudder at takeoff to keep it on track, and it’s all smooth sailing after that. Controls;

AG1 : Open/close main canopy. You should do that before taking off, since the plane automatically spawns with open canopy. But then again, the canopy will close anyway once you start the takeoff run.

AG2 : Use this only with the other canopies closed. This opens the rear gunner’s station canopy, allowing a bit (but not much) wider field of fire.

AG3 : Press this when you want to use the rear gunner’s station. It will freeze out the plane’s controls, activates a gyro, and lets you control the MG15 to fire at enemies on your six.

AG4 : You will notice engine smoke effects sometimes. Looks neat, but still… you can switch them off with AG4. The build has realistic weight, power and fuel load; the smoke effect unfortunately uses up quite a bit of fuel… and so it’s really only useful to take pictures.

AG8 : Wingtip lights on/off

Other than that, everything’s standard… trim, VTOL down for flaps and so on.

Armament

One of the Bf 110’s most important features was the amount of weaponry and ammo it could carry. This build is quite conservatively armed with;

• One MG15 machine gun (7.92 mm) - the rear gunner has a single machine gun, allowing him to target attacking planes as well as his own plane’s tail (meaning: be very, VERY careful).

• Four MG17 machine guns (7.92 mm) - the upper nose section holds no less than four MG17’s, always good for a bit of mayhem…

• Two T20 mm autocannons (20 mm) - the lower nose section holds two 20 mm autocannons, always good for a few laughs. These work very well against bombers and armoured vehicles.

• … and the fun part: four Werfer-granate 21 launcher tubes. These cousins of the “nebelwerfer” rocket launcher are designed to chuck rockets into bomber formations, but they’re also good fun when used against ground targets. Limited range, though.

Mods

I used one mod for the cockpit instruments; these look way better than anything self-made. The mode is not necessary to fly the plane, but it doesn make the cockpit look nicer -so it’s recommended.

Enjoy your flight!