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Peak Me 109A Microlight Messerschmitt

F or most pilots, the chance to fly one of the most famous

and elegant fighters of all time – the Messerschmitt Bf 109 – will remain an unfulfilled dream. Not least because only a handful of these impressive fighters are still in flying condition. However, if you are happy with something smaller that still looks like the Me, try Peak Aerospace’s Me 109. This scale replica is now available as either a microlight or an

‘Experimental’ kit.The story of the Peak Me 109

started in 1983, when after visiting the Oshkosh Show, the German pilot and carpenter Tassilo Bek (who died last year) decided to build his own ‘personal warbird’. In 1992 his 80% sized Me 109, certified as a microlight, made its maiden flight. A further five were built from his plans by friends who joined the project. Two of them decided to construct a slightly stronger and heavier version, certified in the ‘Experimental’ category under supervision of the OUV (Oskar Ursinus Vereinigung, the German equivalent of the British PFA). Bek did not intend further serial

production, and so ‘109 fan’ Christian

Peak Me 109JOCHEN EWALD REPORTS FROM GERMANY ON AN EXCITING SCALE REPLICA OF THIS FAMOUS FIGHTER.

A Microlight MesserschmittABOVE The controls of the Me 109 are crisp and positive, as you’d expect from a ‘little fighter’. (ALL JOCHEN EWALD)

RIGHT In level flight at 6,500rpm with the throttle pulled well back, the ASI indicated 90kts.

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The bubble on the wing covers the retracted wheel.

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Engelen got the opportunity to purchase the plans and rights. Now the first one, produced by his company ‘Peak Aerospace GmbH’, (formerly ‘Mecklenburger Ultraleicht Flugzeugbau’) is flying, and I was invited to try it. Peak Aerospace GmbH’ is located

at Pasewalk airfield north-east of Berlin, close to the Polish border, and I recently visited the factory to inspect some machines under construction and fly the microlight version.This small, low-wing aircraft is

built from a mixture of materials, mainly glass fibre. The wing uses a conventional D-box, main spar (with carbon fibre spar belts) and (GRP) ribs structure. Ceconite is used to cover the aft section of the wing. The microlight wing uses a

Wortmann FX63-137 aerofoil and does not have flaps, while the shorter ‘Experimental’ wing has a HQ 42E aerofoil and flaps to make landing the faster aircraft easier. The one-piece wing can easily be de-rigged after undoing five bolts. One of these is for the control connection, the other four connect the wing to the fuselage, which then remains standing on its wooden (ash) undercarriage. The GRP fuselage is strengthened by stringers and comes with a sideways opening GRP-framed Plexiglas sheet canopy. The undercarriage – as in the original Me – retracts outwards into the wing. Its

wheels are equipped with separately foot-operated disc brakes, and the rudder-connected tailwheel unlocks at full rudder deflection to permit turning around one wheel. The strutted tailplane and the rudder are built using a wooden frame structure. This is quite heavy and

will be re-designed to save weight. In front of the cockpit, there is a

55-litre fuel tank, and behind it an integrated BRS ‘softpack’ ballistic rescue system. The shroud lines from the front fixing points are GRP-covered, which does disturb the smooth surface somewhat.

This aircraft was equipped with the ‘old fashioned’ 55hp Rotax 582 two-stroke engine, although its predecessors have also been powered by Hirth F30 and 2703 engines as well as with the Rotax 912 (in the heavier ‘Experimental’ version). Peak Aerospace hopes soon to receive an example of the new two-cylinder four-stroke Sauer M800, which should perfectly fit underneath the little Me’s cowling.This factory prototype has the

clever registration ‘D-MYME’, and is the second aircraft off the Pasewalk production line. (A German Harley Davidson dealer bought the first aircraft shortly before it was ready to fly to use as a display in his shop.)D-MYME is equipped with a

Rotax 582 engine which spins a

fixed pitch warp drive three-blade composite propeller. Intended as the pre-production aircraft, it was used to optimise the design for the serial kits, and it retained a rather ‘prototype-like’ interior. Shortly before my flight, the

propeller reduction drive had been changed to a lighter one, and a new tailwheel was installed which was slightly heavier than the previous version. This brought the centre of gravity back a bit, so that with my 80kg in the cockpit, the CG was already at its aft limit. However, installing the new, lighter tail unit is expected to solve this problem soon.

The undercarriage is not as high as that of an original Me, so entering the cockpit via the step surface on the wing is easy, although the process of sliding down through the narrow frame should be done carefully to avoid damaging the right frame of the open canopy. The cockpit itself offers enough space for

pilots up to about 1.90m. However, the pedals and seat could not be adjusted in this example, so I used a cushion to bring my head close to the top of the flat canopy and achieve an adequate eye position to allow me to taxi and fly safely.Controls and levers in the cockpit

were well placed ergonomically, and

“THE CONTROLS OF THE ME 109 ARE CRISP AND

POSITIVE”

ABOVE LEFT This unfinished fuselage shows the positions of the reinforcing stringers.

ABOVE The Rotax 582 is an old fashioned two-stroke engine, but with a good reputation for reliability.

BELOW LEFT The undercarriage retracts into a box in the wing.

BELOW The retractable ash-wood undercarriage is fixed to the fuselage.

This uncovered wing from the production line nicely shows the glass fibre rib design, with the carbon fibre belt covered main spar.

The propeller is a three-blade fixed-pitch Warp Drive unit.

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The canopy opens to the right side, the ‘frame width’ of the

canopy is quite narrow

the panel offers enough space for a reasonable instrument suite. This aircraft, besides the usual flight instruments, was equipped with an UL-MIP digital engine control instrument. Personally, for this historic design, I would prefer a set of old-fashioned ‘round clocks’! Operating the undercarriage initially

appeared somewhat idiosyncratic, so before flying we put the aircraft on stands and I tried it on the ground. In fact, although the instructions

did seem rather complicated, the actual procedure is relatively straightforward. Indeed, I found that it is quite straightforward – and even easier in flight, as I experienced later.Once it was back on its wheels I

strapped in, started up and headed out. I found taxiing the Me very simple, and looking left and right along the slim cowling required only a slight zigzag course to ensure there was nothing in the way. The pedal brake system was not yet

the definitive version. For rudder operation, the pedals move fore and aft, while tilting the whole pedal plate forwards activated the brakes. So very careful pedal operation was essential to avoid unwittingly braking during rudder inputs. For serial production, toe brakes will be installed.After doing my checks and

switching on the electric fuel pump, I lined up on the runway, checked that the tailwheel was locked by applying light rudder inputs and then opened the throttle fully. Acceleration was good, and with the stick held neutral, the tailwheel – and shortly afterwards the

whole aircraft – promptly left the ground.

Some left rudder was required to compensate for the engine torque. The forward view during the climb is a bit restricted by the flat canopy, but this is how it was in the original design, and looking at a real Me 109, I think the forward visibility at slow speed must have been much worse!

Although the drive reduction and the propeller setting had not yet received their final ‘fine tuning’, climbing performance appeared quite good. Flying at a speed of 55kts, with the engine revving at 6,400rpm (a bit below METO), I reached 3,300ft above the airfield

after three minutes, which is

1,100ft/min.As already mentioned, I found the

undercarriage easier to operate in flight than on the ground. While the cockpit ventilation through the intake besides the cowling was very good, I considered that the engine cooling still requires some improvement. Having set full throttle at 5,000ft the coolant temperature soon reached its maximum (in fairness, the company was hoping to take delivery of an optimised radiator the next day). Time now to look at the cruising

performance. In level flight at 6,500rpm with the throttle pulled well back, the ASI indicated 90kts, which was still a bit below the 97kts expected with the optimised propeller setting. I found 5,500rpm a comfortable and, regarding the fuel consumption of this quite old-fashioned engine,

PEAK ME 109 SCALE REPLICA

As tested. It is also available with a variety of different engines and

as an ‘Experimental’ category aircraft with a MAUW of 500kg and a

6.5m wingspan.

n DIMENSIONS

LENGTH 6.7m 22ft 0in

HEIGHT 1.4m 4ft 7in

WING SPAN 8.1m 26ft 7in

WING AREA 10.1m2 108.8sq ft

n WEIGHTS AND LOADINGS

EMPTY WEIGHT 190kg 419lb

MAX AUW 300kg 661lb

USEFUL LOAD 110kg 242lb

WING LOADING 29.7kg/m2 6.1lb/sq ft

POWER LOADING 6.25kg/kW 10.1lb/hp

FUEL CAPACITY 55 lit 12Imp gal

n PERFORMANCE

VNE 113kts 210km/h

CRUISE 97kts 180km/h

STALL 32kts 59km/h

CLIMB RATE 11,00ft/min 5.5m/sec

n ENGINE

Rotax 582 liquid-cooled two-cylinder two-stroke, producing 65hp

(48kW) at 6,500rpm

n PROPELLER

Warp Drive composite three-blade fixed pitch

n MANUFACTURER

Peak Aerospace GmbH, Franzfelde 31, 16309 Pasewalk, Germany

Tel: 49-3973-229560 Fax:49-3973-229560

Email:info@meck-ul.de web:www.meck-ul.de

“THE PEAK ME 109 IS A

REALLY HANDY AIRCRAFT”

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The tailwheel is connected to the rudder via springs.

At full rudder deflection, it unlocks and permits turning

around one wheel.

LEFT The flat canopy offers a good view sideways, but a slightly restricted view forwards.

BELOW For comparison, this is a real 109.(ALL KEY COLLECTION)

At 55kts the roll-rate from 45° to 45° is only two seconds – almost an ‘aerobatic’ time!

The canopy lock can be operated from inside and outside. It can also be locked by key from outside.

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RIGHT The panel offers enough space for a reasonable instrument suite. This aircraft, besides the usual flight instruments, was equipped with an UL-MIP digital engine control instrument.

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acceptable cruise setting. This gave 75kts IAS.The controls of the Me 109 are crisp

and positive, as you’d expect from a ‘little fighter’. The only disturbing thing was that while the elevator needed only low forces, the ailerons had a lot of friction. This disturbed the control harmony. The reason for this was that Bek once experienced aileron flutter, caused by the pushrod in the wing starting to swing. To eliminate this, he installed some felt rings in the holes through the ribs to guide the pushrods but, in this aircraft, the holes in the rings were just slightly too small, consequently, there was a lot of ‘stiction’. For serial production, they will be replaced by roller bearings, as had already been done with the elevator

pushrod. Apart from this, the 109 is a really handy aircraft; at 55kts the roll-rate from 45° to 45° is only two seconds – almost an ‘aerobatic’ time!Stalling was – although I flew at the

rearmost CG position, surprisingly gentle. Flying at full throttle below 38kts IAS, the controls started feeling mushy, and at 35kts buffeting began. This increased as speed was reduced, until at 33kts the 109 stalled. With the engine running at idle, the same behaviour occurred between one and two knots faster.The Peak Aerospace Me 109 is a real

fun flyer, and I really liked to ‘play’ with it, (though only within the limits that microlights are certified to fly, of course). In fact, it does make you long for more. The ‘Experimental’ version with strengthened, shorter

wings that can be certified for aerobatics (and probably a more powerful engine) might be a bit more like the ‘real thing’ for those who want to play fighter pilot.The approach and landing do not

require more experience than any other conventional taildragger. Although this microlight version does not have flaps, the braking effect of the propeller rotating at idle is good, and side-slipping is effortless, effective and also gives you a good view on the landing area. About 50kts in still air appeared to be an appropriate approach speed – flying faster would result in a long float on the air cushion underneath the low wing. Fully held off, the little Me lands softly, with the tailwheel

“I REALLY ENJOYED FLYING THIS AIRCRAFT”

touching just before the main wheels. I found no tendency to balloon, and the ash undercarriage legs provide good, well-damped suspension. Operating the brakes was undemanding, as they are effective without a tendency to ‘nod’ the nose down and smash the prop.I really enjoyed flying this aircraft,

and it does appear to be the cheapest way to become a Me 109 pilot (albeit at 80% scale). However (and unlike a real 109) it is affordable, especially if you are willing to do some of the work.

In fact, even untrained builders should be able to get the well-made, pre-fabricated microlight kit into the air in under 600 hours. The ‘Experimental’ kit is a bit less pre-

fabricated, in order to meet the ‘51% rule’ and be accepted as a ‘homebuilt’. The Rotax 582 installed on the test aircraft is cheap and reliable, but is a bit obsolete for such an aircraft. And of course, the sound it produces is

nothing like that of the 12-cylinder Daimler you expect to hear when seeing its silhouette. In conclusion, I would rate the Peak

Aerospace Me 109 as a wonderful light aircraft – not only does its World War Two appearance attract a lot of attention wherever it goes, but it’s also fun to fly.

The cockpit is narrow, but comfortable. The levers retract the undercarriage.

BELOW Seen here over the Baltic Sea, the Me 109 replica certainly looks ‘real’.

This is the cockpit of a Bf 109E. Note that some of the instruments are colour coded and that there is no artificial horizon.

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