Developed
by

ModelTech ME109 PSS

by Klaus Weiss
reviewed April 1996
Heathcote Soaring League

Construction

This is outlined fairly well in the booklet so I will briefly gloss over some of the steps.
Commence with the wing as suggested, making sure that when you join the halves, you get a good joint and the correct dihedral. I didn't use the plywood plate as a brace as outlined in step 7 of the torque rod installation section, and glassed the entire wing joint with a strip of fibreglass cloth and resin.

When you get to step 2 in the 'Wing Mounting' section, you will find that the 'hardwood' block is really plywood, so don't become confused. I ended up tapping this block for a nylon wing mounting bolt, as the blind nut and bolt supplied were of very poor quality and stripped, even under very modest pressure. In step 3, I find it best to measure the distance from the trailing edge of the wing spar just inside the tips, back to the centre of the rear of the fuselage, to get the correct alignment to centre the wing, then mark the location prior to drilling the wing mounting hole. In step 13, the W12 block has been fitted and shaped at the factory so don't go crazy looking for it in the parts bag.

When fitting the stabilizer, make sure it is properly centred by measuring from a central point on the nose of the fuselage, to the trailing edge tips of the stab. Trial fit the fin and mark the alignment on the stabilizer so that the tailplane will be centred when it comes time to attach it to the fuselage. For convenience, I would also drill the elevator horn mount prior to mounting the stab onto the fuselage.In the radio assembly stage, I used a mini servo in the wing, but a standard one will fit comfortably into the opening.
When cutting the elevator pushrod exit slot in the fuselage, it might pay to angle it slightly upwards towards the elevator horn, so that you don't have to bend the metal rod or have it rubbing against the fuselage side.

There is not much 'meat' left on the inside top of the hatch when the rear dowel mount holes are drilled into it, so I reinforced the part by gluing on a piece of ply. I was not entirely happy with the way the hatch was secured and felt that the weight of the receiver battery could loosen it at the front, where it is not secured at all. I cyanoed a brace across the inside of the fuselage to hold the receiver and battery in place, to prevent the weight bearing down directly on the hatch cover, particularly during aerobatic manoeuvres. Where the hatch is held in place with a bolt at the centre location, I also cut out the triangular piece of balsa bracing and fitted a piece of hardwood with a blind nut to ensure a solid fastener. Finally, I omitted the metal landing skids, as in my view they looked just plain awful.
When balancing the Me109, do so with the model inverted as it is more stable and a correct balance will be easier to determine. I added 57gm (2oz.) to the nose to balance at the recommended point. Control throws were also adjusted as recommended for initial flights.
The Model Tech Messerschmitt Me109 finished up weighing 830gm (29oz.) ready to fly, which is 70gm lighter than the Mustang slope soarer, so I was interested to see how it would fly.

There are any number of colour schemes available for the Me109, the only problem being that they all look alike. I chose a scheme similar to the lll/JG26 Schlageter which was based at Caffiers, France during WW2. (Any WW2 air buffs out there, take note I said my colour scheme was "similar to.")

I chose to cover the model in silver Solartex and olive drab and yellow Monokote, but it could just as easily be painted. Just remember that most of the camouflage schemes depicted in books on the BF109, could make it hard to see the model when flying low on the slope in afternoon light. If fitting exhaust stacks, (the model looks much better when they are fitted) paint them from the inside prior to attaching them to the fuselage. Same applies to the canopy frame lines. The stab struts can fitted or left off. I left mine off, as they can be knocked off if landing in rough areas. There were relatively few full size models of the BF109 fitted with struts anyway. Do fit a pilot, it makes the model look so much better. I found a very suitable character made in polystyrene and looking ready for a fight.