Messerschmitt BFW M.23C (73.5″) – Additional Wood Pack

This model will prove to be an absolute delight to build and fly. The laser cut parts do speed up construction greatly. The M.23c is a proper builder’s model as can be seen from the structure shining through the opaque covering. This M.23c will certainly generate interest wherever you take it and could cause great amusement to hear onlookers argue among themselves about whether it’s a Klemm, a BA Swallow, or some sort of modified Moth Minor!!

Jim just loves those Golden Age lines, evoking as they do a time of brave aviators and plucky designers pushing the limits of what was possible with the technology to hand, a time when the speeds attainable by air racers, though little more than 100 mph, must have seemed dizzyingly fast and continent crossing flights must have seemed like true expeditions into the unknown. Jim’s design is built to a scale of approximately 1/6th and although he has taken a few liberties with things like the taper of the wing and the size of the tail areas, the outline remains close to the original. One thing about aircraft of this era is that there were so many variations, even within one sub-type, that a large degree of personalisation is possible. The M.23c could be found with either a radial or inline engine, twin open cockpits, enclosed cockpit, or with one open cockpit and the other faired over as it would have been for racing. The size and location of the removable battery hatch on this design allow a choice of cockpit options for the builder to choose from; you could even make two hatches, and retain the option of changing the appearance of your model to suit your mood.

4-Max have all the required electronics, including five servos, a PO-5065-360 motor, 6S 3700mAh LiPo battery, 17” x 8” wooden prop and a 70 amp ESC.

The full size: The BFW M.23 range of sports aircraft was developed by Willy Messerschmitt from his earlier M.19 design and for a time they enjoyed a number of successes as air racers. The M.23b won both the 1929 Ostpreussenflug and Circuit of Europe races, leading to the final version, the M.23c, which was developed for, and won, the Circuit of Europe in 1930. Willy Messerschmitt would, of course, go on to design the formidable Bf 109 fighter and so, in a way, I like to think that if the Supermarine S.6B is to be considered the forerunner of the Spitfire, then the M23 might be thought of as the forerunner of the 109. Indeed, the tail surfaces have a shape which, to my eye at least, bears a resemblance to the pugnacious fighter waiting in the margins of Willy Messerschmitt’s doodling pad.