Claim: Me 209/Bf 109R, manufactured by Messerschmitt and designed by Willy Messerschmitt, flew for the first time on August 1, 1938.
Evidence: 1 August 1938 Willy Messerschmitt designed the small aircraft with a cockpit placed far back along the fuselage just in front of its unique cross-shaped tail section. In 1934, in collaboration with Walter Rethel, he designed the Messerschmitt Bf 109, which became the most important fighter aircraft in the Luftwaffe as Germany rearmed prior to World War II.