Hispano Aviación HA - 1112 The Hispano Aviación HA - 1109 and HA - 1112 were license - built versions of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 G - 2 developed in Spain during and after WWII . Design and development . The Spanish government in 1942 arranged a manufacturing licence with Messerschmitt AG to build the Bf 109G - 2 , with DB605A engines , propellers , instruments , and weapons to be supplied from Germany . This proved impossible , as Germany was incapable of meeting her own needs , let alone Spain ' s ; in the event , only twenty - five airframes ( minus their tails ) and not even half the necessary drawings were delivered . As a result , Hispano substituted the 1 , 300 hp Hispano - Suiza 12Z - 89 engine , which flew at Barcelona in 1944 , while the first HA - 1109 - J1L made its maiden flight 2 March 1945 at Seville , using a VDM prop and lash - up engine mounting . The other twenty - four airframes were flown during 1947 - 9 with Escher - Wyss props , but never became operational . A developed version , with an improved installation for the Hispano - Suiza 12Z - 17 engine , appeared in May 1951 as the HA - 1112 - K1L . Fitted with a three bladed DH Hydromatic propeller , it was nicknamed " Tripala " ( " three blades " ) . Its armament consisted of one or two 12 . 7mm Breda machinegun s and Pilatus eight - packs of 80mm rockets . It first flew in 1951 , and although 200 units were planned , only 65 were ever built . The Hispano engine was an upright V12 in contrast to the inverted V12 Daimler - Benz DB 601 & 605 engines used in the Bf 109 . Being however of compact design , it fitted the airframe of the Bf 109 well , representing it in the German 1957 film " Der Stern von Afrika " ( " The Star of Africa " ) about Luftwaffe ace Hans - Joachim Marseille . In the original design , an asymmetric vertical fin with an airfoiled profile had been introduced starting with the Bf 109F to produce a slight left movement of the tail , which counteracted the left - side torque reaction from the Daimler - Benz engine ' s " counterclockwise " rotation . Since this was left unchanged in the Buchón , and the Hispano V12 powered a clockwise - turning propeller instead , the combination of the airfoiled fin and the " clockwise " - turning propeller created a hard - to - counteract right swing on takeoff , since the fin and the propeller essentially worked in the same direction . A second version , the HA - 1110 - K1L , was a two - place tandem trainer model . HA - 1112 - M1L . The final variant was the HA - 1112 - M1L " Buchón " ( Pouter ) , which is both a male dove or a pelican in Spanish . It first flew 29 March 1954 . The 1112 - M1L was equipped with the 1 , 600 hp Rolls - Royce Merlin 500 - 45 engine and Rotol propeller , both purchased as surplus from the UK . This engine had a chin intake , that altered the lines of the Bf 109 ' s airframe visually . As such , this plane was an improvised assembly of outdated components for the specific purpose of controlling Spanish colonial territories in Africa where a higher level of technology was unnecessary , and moreover not available in isolated Spain at the time . Its armament consisted of two 20 mm Hispano - Suiza 404 / 408 cannons and two Oerlikon or Pilatus eight - packs of 80 mm rockets . It remained in service until 27 December 1965 . HA - 1112 - M1Ls remained in flying condition until the mid - 1960s . This made them available for theatrical use , masquerading as Bf 109Es and Gs in movies like " Battle of Britain " , " Der Stern von Afrika " , " Memphis Belle " , and " The Tuskegee Airmen " . Remarkably , " Buchons " also played the Bf 109 ' s opposition , the Hawker Hurricane , in one scene in " Battle of Britain " . The HA - 1112 have also flown in the film film alongside the CASA 2 . 111 bombers which were a Spanish - built version of the Heinkel He 111 German bomber . They had the same engines , the Rolls Royce Merlin 500 . Monográficos Aéreos : H . A . 1112 - M1L " Buchón " - Pedro Miguel Paniagua Magán - ISBN 978 - 84 - 921179 - 0 - 1