Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun

The Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun was a four-seat sport and touring monoplane designed by Willy Messerschmitt at Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, the company that became Messerschmitt AG. Built to compete in the 1934 Challenge International de Tourisme, it was the first aircraft of its size to use all-metal stressed skin construction, with a patented single-spar wing and automatic leading-edge slats. The prototype flew in spring 1934 and the Bf 108B with a larger Argus engine followed in 1935. Production moved to Regensburg and later to occupied France, and more than 500 had been built by 1942. Private pilots flew it widely before the war and it was a favourite for record flights. The name Taifun came from the pilot Elly Beinhorn, who gave it to her own aircraft.