Although the story of the most famous German combact aircraft - Messerschmitt 109 - goes back to 1933, its star began to shine in earnest over five years later. Hailed as the perfect weapon by Nazi propaganda, the Augsburg product was everything but, at least in its early days. The real breakthrough in the Bf 109 history came when an attempt was made to give that small, simple fighter one of the best powerplants of the time. The attempt, as history so clearly showed, was a complete success.