In 1942 Spain entered an agreement with Germany to produce a variant of the Messerschmitt Bf-109G. The only problem was that Germany could never provide enough airframes or engines to get production going due to the war. As a result the Hispano Aviación HA-1112 Buchon was developed that was basically a Bf-109 with a Hispano engine instead of a Daimler-Benz and later variants had the Rolls Royce Merlin engine (as used in aircraft like the Supermarine Spitfire). These engines gave the fighter plane a different look to the Bf-109. These aircraft were in service in Spain right up to 1965 and as such have appeared in many movies where they portrayed Luftwaffe Bf-109’s (most famously the 1969 movie Battle Of Britain).
On a recent trip to the United Kingdom I was lucky to catch this HA-1112 painted up to represent a Luftwaffe Bf-109 doing a flying display at the Imperial War Museum – Duxford.
