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Re: Me262 corrections

Posted by Dave on Wed Apr 07, 2004 07:22:42 AM

In reply top Re: Me262 corrections posted by JDK on Wed Apr 07, 2004 06:12:10 AM

James

No I haven't writen to Aeroplane , but the 'stormbirds group' of which I am a member [ Private mailing list which is an off shoot of the Stormbirds .com site ] did try to get hold of Russ after seeing the article for further discussion about the subject . Admitedly we did not try VERY hard , as we were advised he had moved on to another subject since then . Most of the members have devoted 20+ years to studying the type , so do have the evidence to back it up . They are in agreement with most of the article , with the exception of the the two major points above , plus if you want to nit pick , Yellow 5, is actually 111007, NOT 110007.
Upon reading the article there is actually little more evidence than previous as to the identity of it, and it could just as easily be 500210 as it could be 112372 ! If I had to choose I would put a quid on the latter though ;-)
The 'new shot' was already published in Smith & Creeks major 262 History [ Vol.4]
For those interested here is a potted history of both from the mailing list.

112372 Me 262 A-1a. Test flown at Memmingen by Uffz. Sepp Gerstmayr on 23
March 1945 at 16:29-16:36. It was then tested by Otto Kaiser on 24 March at
09:52-10:13. It was then assigned to JG 7. Captured at Schleswig, marked
'Air Min 51', and was flown on 1 June by Flt. Lt. Arend to Twente, Holland,
where it may have received maintenance. It is next believed to have been
flown by Arend to Farnborough (8) 23 June 1945. Flown from Farnborough to
Brize-Norton on 29 June by Squadron Leader Toni Martindale. At Brize-Norton,
it was test flown by Bell test pilot Jack Woolams. RAF serial VK893, first
flown at RAE on 6 September 1945, and flown regularly until 29 November
1945. A starboard side photo showing it already remarked in RAF insignia,
clearly shows the W. Nr. It is possibly the abandoned jet in which Lt.
Czypionka of NJG 11 installed two engines at L?beck and flew back to
Schleswig shortly before its capture. It can be seen in the Schleswig line
up photos as fifth in line, next to the B-1a. The ?Red 2? appears to have
been neatly applied over the former JG 7 crest, and still retains the
red/blue JG 7 fuselage bands. A previous number appearing to be a 2 or a 7
appears to have been lightly painted over on the aft part of the fuselage.


500210 Call sign KL+JX. Me 262 A-1a. Recorded to be in Rusin 6 April 1945.
'Yellow 17' of 3./JG 7, but attached to Gefechtsverband Hogeback, it landed
at Fassberg on 8 May 1945 after flying from Zatec (Saaz), Czechoslovakia, by
Lt. Hans Dorn, and surrendered to British forces. Flown on 27 May 1945 by
way of L?beck, to Schleswig by Clive Gosling. Assigned as 'Air Min. 52' and
given the RAF serial VH509. It was flown to Farnborough via Melsbroek and
Manston on 9 June 1945. It was placed in storage at No. 6 MU at Brize Norton
on 29 June before possibly being shipped to Canada on 23 August 1946. It apparently ended its days at Downsview airfield near Toronto, where it was eventually scrapped, with a large portion of it being buried there.


regards
Dave
p.s. I have no bone to pick with Russ , I met him at Duxford and he is a nice guy !



: Hi Dave,
: Thanks for the post. Please don't take this the wrong way
: , but have you a) written to aeroplane with the correction
: ? b) Have you evidence / documentation for the comments?
: I'm NOT a 262 expert, but the danger in this kind of work
: is that someone like Russ piuts a lot of careful work in (
: as I know he does) and then people come forward with amend
: ments / corrections. This is great, as long as they can be
: supported, we all then win. If not it comes under the 'e
: veryone knows' old wives tales.
: Cheers
: James

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