Wikipedia calls the Bf 109 the most produced fighter aircraft in history, with 34,248 built between 1936 and April 1945. Allied aircrew knew it as the Me 109.
Most of the ones listed airworthy today weren't built in Germany. 11 of the 16 the survivor list marks airworthy are Hispano HA-1112 Buchóns, a Spanish version that stayed in service until 1965 and went on to play the Bf 109 in films such as Battle of Britain.
Register as of October 15, 2026. Survivor list as of May 5, 2026.
German fighters and Spanish airframes
The survivor list splits the 16 airworthy aircraft into 5 wartime Bf 109s and 11 Buchóns. In the United States the split is 3 and 2.
Spain built 239 HA-1109s and HA-1112s, Wikipedia says. The final version, the HA-1112-M1L Buchón, first flew in March 1954 with a Rolls-Royce Merlin. Its name means a male pouter dove in Spanish.
On the FAA register, 3 of the 13 are filed as an HA-1112 and the rest under Bf 109 or Me 109 model names. Some Buchóns have been rebuilt to look and run like wartime Bf 109s, so the model name on file doesn't always say where an airframe was built.
Two ways to count Bf 109s
The FAA register and the survivor list answer different questions, and each has blind spots.
| Count | Bf 109s | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| FAA active registrations | 13 | United States only. Includes aircraft under restoration, in storage or on display. |
| Survivor list, listed airworthy | 16 | Volunteer-edited, not an official record. The list covers 23 countries. |
| Survivor list, US airworthy | 5 | The US share of the list's airworthy aircraft. |
| Survivor list, all statuses | 108 | 16 airworthy, 48 on display, 43 under restoration or in storage, 1 with no status given. |
Where the airworthy Bf 109s are
Listed as airworthy by country, volunteer list revision of May 5, 2026
Who holds them
0 of the 13 registered Bf 109s belong to an individual. 3 are registered to limited liability companies and 10 to corporations.
Who the Bf 109s are registered to
Active US registrations by registrant type, October 15, 2026
Where they're registered
Registered addresses span 9 states. Virginia has 2, Texas 2 and Washington 2. The register records the owner's registered address, which isn't necessarily where the aircraft is kept.
Bf 109s by state of registered address
Top states, active US registrations, October 15, 2026
What powers them
Of the 6 registered Bf 109s with an engine on record, 2 list a Daimler-Benz DB 605 1 lists a Rolls-Royce Merlin, as fitted to the Buchón, and 1 lists an Allison V-1710.
Where they go when they leave
9 Bf 109s have left the US register with an export country on record, to Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
Destination of exported Bf 109s
Aircraft that left the FAA register with an export country on record
Most records of aircraft leaving the register carry no country, so this is a floor, not a total.
Which airworthiness category they hold
6 are Experimental, a category the FAA issues for purposes that include exhibition and air racing under 14 CFR 21.191. 7 have no category recorded in the register extract.
The accident record: 1 event
The NTSB database holds 1 Bf 109 accident record from 1986. None was fatal. None of today's 13 registrations appears on an accident record. With so few events, this is a count, not a trend.
The Warbirds in America hub breaks down all 36 types by purpose of flight, phase of flight and pilot experience.
The Spanish line outlasted the German one
The Luftwaffe flew its last Bf 109s in May 1945. The Spanish Air Force kept its HA-1112s until December 1965, and Buchóns have since stood in for the Bf 109 in Battle of Britain, Memphis Belle and Dunkirk.
The survivor list counts 108 Bf 109s and Buchóns in 23 countries. 16 are airworthy, 5 of them wartime Bf 109s, and the FAA register holds 13.
Questions people ask
How many Bf 109s are still flying?
No official body publishes a count of airworthy Bf 109s. A volunteer-edited Wikipedia list (revision of May 5, 2026) shows 16 listed as airworthy worldwide, 5 of them in the United States. The FAA register shows 13 active US registrations, which includes aircraft under restoration, in storage or on display.
How many Bf 109s were built?
Wikipedia counts 34,248 Bf 109s built between 1936 and April 1945, plus 603 Czechoslovak Avia S-199s and 239 Spanish HA-1112s.
Can a private individual own a Bf 109?
Yes. The register shows 0 registered to individuals, 3 to limited liability companies and 10 to corporations.
Where do Bf 109s go when they leave the US register?
9 Bf 109s have left the US register with an export country on record, to Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.
How many Bf 109s have been in accidents?
The NTSB database holds 1 Bf 109 accident record from 1986. None was fatal. That's a count, not a rate, because the database has no flight hours.
What's a Buchón?
The Buchón is the Hispano Aviación HA-1112-M1L, a Spanish licence-built version of the Bf 109 that first flew in 1954 with a Rolls-Royce Merlin. The survivor list marks 11 as airworthy, 2 of them in the United States.
How many wartime Bf 109s are still flying?
The survivor list marks 5 wartime Bf 109s as airworthy, 3 of them in the United States. The other 11 airworthy aircraft on the list are Spanish-built Buchóns.
Download the data
The counts on this page are available as a CSV: Bf 109 register summary. A table covering every warbird type is on the hub. To cite this page: PlanePassion, "How many Bf 109s are still flying?", based on FAA, NTSB and public records, November 4, 2026.