The Bf109 : A Phoenix rising

The Bf 109e has been likened to an old soldier that merely faded away.
I prefer to think that its spirit has smouldered quietly in the ashes of its demise and is now being fanned to life,.. for, a totally rebuilt "Emil" fuselage has been taking shape. This is really a fantastic restoration or ( to use what is a more correct phrase nowadays) "conservation" project.

From the far away battlefields of Operation Barbarosa, the remains of the Messerschmitt 109e WNr 3579, flown by Hans Joachim Marseille in the Battle of Britain, have been saved. Delivered to Airframe Assemblies of Sandown Isle of Wight, the twisted wreckage revealed many forgotten secrets of Bf109 construction. In particular was the precise way in which the fuselage sections were originally formed, flanged and mated to produce a light monocoque skin with longitudinal stringers added as secondary items subsequent to assembly of the skins.

At the small Sandown workshops, port and starboard fuselage sides were constructed, fitted together and then the stringers were added.

All this was made possible by "Supermarine of California" who commissioned the project, enabling the construction of precision built tooling for the hand-forming of each individual fuselage skin. This is the third 109e fuselage that Airframe Assemblies have produced together with two sets
of wings and tail parts. All this is really quite cheeky as it has happened right alongside the construction of two Spitfire fuselages and their very complicated wings.