Messerschmitt - Larger Aircraft 1928
At the Messerschmitt Aircraft Construction Company in Bamberg it was found that the space limitations of the old ammunition factory were no longer sufficient for manufacturing the volume of aircraft being ordered. There were deficiencies in the mass production techniques, deficiencies in metal construction and engine specialists, and in the control, initial testing and acceptance areas. Therefore, the young firm owner was distracted from construction problems which led to delays, setbacks, and additional costs. In addition, the Bavarian Aviation Company in Augsburg; (BFW) at the same time had a deficiency in orders for their well-equipped manufacturing plant, and therefore, it was natural to unite both firms. After difficult negotiations, Messerschmitt formed an interest association with the BFW on September 8, 1927, and after this he moved his entire firm to Augsburg.
After finishing the running contracts for the Udet Flamingo, BFW1 and BFW 3, as well as the M21 and M22, which were conceived as double-decker aircraft, at the special request of the users, only Messerschmitt designs were manufactured. Just after having to Augsburg the M20 was built which had been constructed and prepared by Messerschmitt. It was designed for ten passengers and was to be developed with the support of the Reich's Traffic Ministery for the German Lufthansa.
The aircraft crashed during its first flight, but already on August 3, 1928, the second prototype made its long range flight and therefore, re-established the confidence in the construction of Messerschmitt. In the late fall of 1928, the M20B was first shown to the general public at the German Aviation Exhibit (DELA) in Berlin. The press called it the "most modern German aircraft." Some interesting features of this aircraft included the fact that the single spar wing construction method was used, which had not been used with such large aircraft up to the time. Also, it was exceptional because of the ratio of empty weight and payload (2600 2000 kg - 1.18), considered to be impossible for commercial aircraft. The 500hp BMW motor had very good takeoff and ascent characteristics. The velocities were above those of comparable aircraft types (%ax = 220 km/h, Vcruise = 180 km/h). It had a range of 800 km and this satisfied completely the requirements of traffic within Germany.
Messerschmitt in 1928 produced the two-seat, sport and trainer aircraft M23, from the successful competition aircraft M19. This Messerschmitt construction was built during the beginning of the 1920's, and could perform acrobatics. It became a fast, universal, cheap and economical all-around aircraft which was easy to fly. It was used for training, sports, and tourism. Therefore, a good aircraft was available for all of the aviation sport groups. The M23 was a two-seat, low wing aircraft with wooden construction, with single spar wing and all of the characteristics of light construction taken from the economical method of constructing gliders.
There were the construction series A. B. and C. open and with a cabin, on wheels, skis, or pontoons, with star motors or series motors between 36 and 150 hp, empty weights between 280 to 370 kg, and flight velocities up to 185 km/h for landing velocities around 65 km/h. During the eastern Prussian competition in 1928, it was victorious with the indestructible Theo Groneiss., In 1929 and 1930, Pritz Morzik won the European race on the M23B P and M23C, respectively, against strung international competition.
The demand for a "intermediate size" between the M13 {with six passengers} and the M20 (ten passengers) led Messerschmitt to develop the M24. It was designed for transporting eight passengers as a commercial aircraft. The M24 was put into service in October 1929, at the North Bavarian Aircraft Company GmbH. The aircraft was equipped with a 320 hp BMW-Va motor or the approximately equally strong Junkers-L5 motor. It was a high wing aircraft which had a construction similar to that of the M2OB. In spite of its very favorable weight ratio of 1.15, only four of these were built because of the depression in business.
Messerschmitt at the beginning of 1929 developed a three-seat, fast, commercial aircraft with a closed cabin for an American licensed firm, the Eastern Aircraft Corporation. It was called the M26 and only one prototype was built. The New York stockmarket panic of 1930, had led the EAC into bankruptcy and, therefore, the plans to build this aircraft over the next six years in the USA could not berealized.
The M27 was built in 1930. Aviation schools and private persons wanted to have an even higher performance and even faster M23. However, since the static and dynamic strength limits had been reached, Messerschmitt decided on a new construction which would be designedfor a motor performance of up to 160 hp, with otherwise barely changed dimensions. The M27 designed this way had the exceptional properties and performances of its predecessors with the technical advances of light construction. In particular, the fuselage and control surfaceswere made of cloth-covered steel tubes. It was equipped with the 150hp Argus motor AS 8 R and reached a velocity of 200 km/h.
The postal aircraft M28 was a low wing aircraft made entirely of metal and was developed in 1931, by Messerschmitt based on a competition of the German Lufthansa, It was to transport 300 kg of freight with a cruise velocity of 230 km/h over a maximum range of 1,600 km. The prototype remained the only aircraft of this series, in spite of the fact that both conditions were satisfied, because new requirements were developed.
During the middle of 1930, economic conditions were poor and therewere setbacks because of crashes of the M20. As a consequence of this, the German Lufthansa first decided not to accept the ten M20Bts being built in mass production. The Bavarian Aircraft Company had payment difficulties and went bankrupt in 1931. Erhard Milch, then head of Lufthansa, became Messerschmitt’s enemy due to the crash of the BFW M 20, which killed pilot Hans Hackmack. Milch thereafter thwarted Messerschmitt every chance he got, canceling contracts and projects, removing RLM subsidies and openly favoring other manufacturers.
It was only after detailed investigations of the DVL that it was possible to show that Messerschmitt and the BFW were not responsible for the accidents. Wing ribs and control surfaces failed in spite of the fact that the required strength limitations were maintained. This led to a reconsideration of the load assumptions and pressure distributions along the profile chord, and this contributed to the technical advance of the entire aviation science.
In April of 1933, an agreement was reached which led to the acceptance of these aircraft and to the restart of the production of the BFW on May 1, 1933. In the meantime, Messerschmitt was able to keep alive his own development team through the bankruptcy of the BFW because of the old Messerschmitt Aircraft Aviation Company GmbH which was never dissolved and was associated with the BFW.
In spite of major financial difficulties and with great personal sacrifices, the development was continued. For the third European race of 1932, he developed the M29, a racing aircraft. After his aircraft had won the previous competitions, he wanted to keep his "favored role" alive by building an aircraft which completely corresponded to the state of the art of aerodynamics at that time. He was courageous and willing to take risks to develop several futuristic new designs. The freely supported, articulating spring member was used by Messerschmitt for the first time. The landing flaps, tail rudders with HP gap were also new features, as well as the construction of the elevation control surface in the form of a pendulum.
The M29 was a two-seats low wing aircraft with mixed construction having a cloth-covered, steel tube fusilage and freely supported single spar wings. One hundred fifty hp aircooled engines were planned (AS 8 R or SH 14A). The maximum velocity was 260 km/h. The M29 could not participate in the European race because of two accidents with deaths. Nevertheless, it was looked upon as an exceptional design by the aviation community, which generated useful data for the development of fast aircraft.
The M31, developed in 1932, had reduced performance but was aerodynamically similar to the sport and training aircraft M29, and was also built in a similar manner. For Messerschmitt this represented a cheap aircraft which was also economical. In spite of this, only one aircraft was built and sold because of poor economic conditions.
The "folk aircraft in an assembly kit" M33, developed by Messerschmitt at this time and shown at the DELA Berlin exhibit in 1932, was not sold because of the poor economic conditions. At the DELA exhibit in 1932, a large scale model of a antipode aircraft M34 was shown which had been developed by Messerschmitt and Madelung. Messerschmitt's earlier research in the area of economical large-distance aircraft allowed him to present an ideal design for this problem a few years later (eg Me 261/264).
The last sport aircraft of Messerschmitt was the M35 developed in 1933. This time it had the same construction as the M31 but twice the motor power, free standing articulated joint, and a landing gear with an aerodynamic fairing. It was demonstrated that one could expect to obtain from Messerschmitt an aircraft which would satisfy the most stringent requirements, rather than being a cheap aircraft.
This is why there was acclaim for this elegant and robust aircraft, both within Germany and within foreign countries, and it was also purchased. It became famous because of Willi Star who won the Merman acrobatic competition several times with his M35.
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