Messerschmitt M20

Messerschmitt M20
Type:	Feeder aircraft
Design country:	German Empire
Manufacturer:	Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG
First flight:	February 26, 1928
Number of pieces:	15th

The Messerschmitt M20 was a commercial aircraft designed for ten passengers by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG in Augsburg . It was designed by Willy Messerschmitt .

history

M20 (1934)

The aircraft developed on behalf of Deutsche Luft Hansa was a shoulder- wing aircraft in light metal construction and was powered by a BMW VIa engine with 500 hp.

The first prototype crashed on the first flight on February 26, 1928 due to a broken tail unit (see also: History of Lufthansa - 1929). The Lufthansa pilot Hans Hackmack was killed.

Lufthansa took over two aircraft in 1929, another aircraft in 1930 and chartered one aircraft from DVS. Four more aircraft were delivered by April 1931.

On October 6, 1930, the D-1930 crashed near Dresden on approach due to wind gusts. The two-man crew and the six passengers were killed. On April 14, 1931, the D-1928 crashed near Rietschen in Upper Lusatia, killing the two-man crew and injuring some of the seven passengers. The reason was a break in the tail unit, whereupon Lufthansa immediately put the aircraft out of service.

The DLH did not accept the other aircraft ordered from the BFW, which led to a legal dispute. Since DLH did not pay for the aircraft that had already been built, this contributed to the bankruptcy of Bayerische Flugzeugwerke. The last six aircraft were not delivered until September and October 1932. After that, the M20 was used again in mainline traffic.

From 1933 to 1935 it was one of the main models of the DLH until it was replaced by the Junkers Ju 52 / 3m . Five aircraft were chartered to the Air Force from 1935 to 1937. After 1935, the aircraft was increasingly used in other transport services, including at the DLH subsidiary Hansa Flugdienst.

At the beginning of the war, the planes were chartered to the Luftwaffe, where they were all scrapped until 1943. The DLH owned a total of 14 M20s, including 13 of its own aircraft. A total of 4.1 million kilometers were flown with the M20 at DLH, of which 3.75 million kilometers were planned.

Technical specifications

Three-sided view

Parameter	Data
crew	2 (pilot, copilot)
Passengers	10
span	25.50 m
length	14.90 m
height	3.75 m
Wing area	65.00 m²
Empty mass	2600 kg
Takeoff mass	maximum 4650 kg
drive	a BMW VIa, 500 PS (approx. 370 kW)
Top speed	219 km / h
Cruising speed	190 km / h
Summit height	5500 m
Range	880 km

See also

• List of aircraft types

Web links

Commons : Messerschmitt M 20  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Pictures, technical data and history of all 15 machines (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Accident reports from May 15, 1931 and October 18, 1930, Bundesarchiv Berlin, Deutsche Bank holdings
2. ^ Ebert / Kaiser / Peters: Willy Messerschmitt - pioneer of aviation and lightweight construction. Bonn 1992, p. 56 ff.
3. ^ Documents from the Lufthansa archive, Cologne