Hispano Aviación HA-1112 Buchón
Hispano Aviación · Spain · first flew 1954 · fighter
The Hispano Aviación HA-1112 Buchón (pouter pigeon) was a Spanish-built development of the Messerschmitt Bf 109G powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin 500-45 — a German airframe on a British engine. It served with the Spanish Air Force from 1954 and is now the most numerous flying "Bf 109" in the world.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, tapered |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 1 × piston, nose-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | 9.12 m fuselage |
| T — Tail | Conventional |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- Deep, bulged nose cowling with a large ventral intake bath — the Rolls-Royce Merlin 500-45 installation that gives the "pouter pigeon" profile; no DB 605-engined Bf 109 looks like this
- Spanish Air Force roundels and camouflage in original service; used as Bf 109 film stand-in in 'Battle of Britain' (1969)
- Longer, rounder nose profile than DB-engined 109s; wide spinner
The nose is the giveaway. The upright Merlin sits higher and fuller than the inverted DB 605, so the Buchón has a deep, rounded cowling with a large intake bath underneath, where a DB-engined Bf 109 has slim top decking and only a shallow oil-cooler scoop. The Merlin's exhaust stubs also exit low on the cowling flanks; the inverted DB 605's sit high.
Specifications
- The Hispano Aviación HA-1112 Buchón has a length of 9.12 m (30 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 9.92 m (33 ft).
- Its maximum speed is 670 km/h (416 mph).
- Typical crew: 1.
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Spain took a licence for the Bf 109G-2 during the war but never received the Daimler-Benz DB 605 engines to go with it. Hispano Aviación first flew the airframe behind a Hispano-Suiza 12Z, producing the HA-1109-K1L and then the broad-propellered HA-1112-K1L "Tripala", but the installation was never satisfactory. The answer turned out to be British: a Rolls-Royce Merlin 500-45, first flown in the airframe in 1954. Its deep, swollen cowling earned the aircraft the nickname Buchón.
Variants
HA-1109-J1L and HA-1109-K1L with the Hispano-Suiza 12Z; HA-1112-K1L "Tripala", also Hispano-Suiza powered and named for its broad three-blade propeller; HA-1112-M1L Buchón, the definitive Merlin 500-45 version and the only mark the Buchón name properly belongs to; plus two-seat trainer conversions.
Where you'll see it
Spanish Air Force (Ejército del Aire) 1951-65. About a dozen airworthy survivors make the Buchón the most common 'flying Bf 109' in the world today, regularly appearing on the airshow circuit in Europe and North America, often in Luftwaffe film markings.
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