Editing Messerschmitt (section)

===Background===
In February 1916, the south German engineering company [[MAN SE|MAN AG]] and several banks purchased the unprofitable aircraft builder [[Otto-Flugzeugwerke]], starting a new company, ''Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG'' (abbreviated ''B.F.W.'', and meaning approximately "Bavarian Aircraft Factory").<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1939/1939-1-%20-%200932.html |title=''Flight'' (Oct 5, 1939) |access-date=4 September 2015 |archive-date=27 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170627021702/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1939/1939-1-%20-%200932.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The articles of association were drawn up on 19 and 20 February, and completed on 2 March 1916. Details of the company were recorded in the Commercial Register with an equity capital of RM&nbsp;1,000,000 on 7 March 1916. 36% of the capital was provided by the [[Bank für Handel und Industrie]], Berlin, 30% by MAN AG and 34% by Hermann Bachstein, Berlin. The first Chairman of the Board of Management was Peter Eberwein, who had previously been employed at [[Albatros Flugzeugwerke]].

Due to the need for immediate aircraft production for the ongoing war, there was no time for development work and BFW manufactured aircraft under licence from [[Albatros Flugzeugwerke]]. Within a month of being set up, the company was able to supply aircraft to the war ministries of [[Prussia]] and [[Bavaria]]. However, major quality problems were encountered at the start. The German air crews frequently complained about the serious defects that appeared in the first machines from BFW. The same thing had happened with the aircraft from the predecessor company run by Gustav Otto. It was only organizational changes and more intensive supervision of the assembly line that succeeded in resolving these problems by the end of 1916. BFW then started turning out over 200 aircraft a month, with their workforce growing to 3,000 and becoming one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in Bavaria.

The end of the war hit BFW hard, since military demand for aircraft collapsed. The company's management were forced to look for new products with which to maintain their position in the market. Since World War I aircraft were largely built from wood to keep their weight down, BFW was equipped with the very latest joinery plant. The company still held stocks of materials sufficient for about 200 aircraft, and worth 4.7&nbsp;million reichsmarks. The machinery and the materials were then used for the production of furniture and fitted kitchens. In addition, from 1921 onwards, the company manufactured motorcycles of its own design under the names of Flink and Helios.

In the autumn of 1921, Austrian financier [[Camillo Castiglioni]] first announced his interest in purchasing BFW. While most of the shareholders accepted his offer, MAN AG initially held on to its shareholding in BFW, but Castiglioni wanted to acquire all the shares. He was supported in this by BMW's Managing Director Franz Josef Popp who, in a letter to the chairman of MAN, described BFW as a "dead factory, which possesses no plant worth mentioning, and consists very largely of dilapidated and unsuitable wooden sheds situated in a town that is extremely unfavorable for industrial activities and whose status continues to give little cause for enthusiasm". Apparently Popp was still in close contact with Castiglioni and was perhaps even privy to the latter's plans for merging BMW with BFW. It was probably in the spring of 1922 that Castiglioni and Popp persuaded MAN to give up its shares in BFW, so that now the company belonged exclusively to Castiglioni. Then, in May of the same year, when the Italian-born investor was able to acquire BMW's engine business from [[Knorr-Bremse|Knorr-Bremse AG]], nothing more stood in the way of a merger between the aircraft company BFW and the engine builders BMW.