Early in the book we are introduced to Luftwaffe Obersleutnant
Keller, the German ace in command of the secret base at Rechlin.
Flying for the Nationalist forces under Franco during the Spanish
Civil War in 1936 - 1939, Keller’s Messerschmitt would have been
painted in markings similar to the aircraft shown in this photo. Is
this the real thing? Well, kind of…It is actually a Spanish-built
version of the ‘109 called a HA-1112 that the Spanish air forces
operated into the 1960’s. By most accounts, it was a horrible
airplane. The most remarkable departure from Willy Messerschmitt’s
original design is that the HA-1112 was powered by…of all things…a
Rolls-Royce Merlin. This example was obtained from the Spanish in
the late 1960’s, used in the filming of Battle of Britain, purchased
by American interests, brought to the U.S. and photographed as seen
here, by the author (that would be me) in 1974 at the Camarillo
airport during the filming of Hindenburg. It was used in the
beginning of the film for one scene in which George C. Scott,
playing a Luftwaffe officer, arrives back in Germany after duty in
Spain. Like a ‘109 could really fly that far!