More JG 26 Emils -daily ebay photo find # 249

here

 'Red 1' above, an E-3 of 2./ JG 26  - note the Teufelskopf devil's head emblem under the cockpit. This appears to be the earlier "rounded" design of the emblem.

also on this blog;

JG 26 Emils in the Westfeldzug

Issue no.6 of Heimdal's "Aces" magazine

Issue no.6 of Heimdal's "Aces" magazine just arrived - 100 beautifully printed pages on thick glossy stock jam-packed with Fw 190s, Bf 109s, Spitfires and Hurricanes...

features include " Focke Wulf 190 summer 1943 " (10 pages), "35th victory of Kurt Goltzch" (4 pages), " the 200th sortie of Hubert Pölz of Schlachtgeschwader 3" (a superb 4-page PK photo report)....among others

Cover photos show Kurt Goltzch in front of his G-6 'white 23' of the Stab II./JG 2 and below that, Bruno Stolle, Gkr. III./JG 2 (not JG 26), preparing for a sortie in his Fw 190 A-5 'white 24' .. more rare ECPAd pictures along with superlative artworks in the articles..

all issues available at Heimdal's new web site at https://www.editions-heimdal.fr

Junkers Ju 390 V-1 "GH UK", LG 2, JG 53, JG 77 Emil, Motorwechsel, Kran -daily ebay photo find #247

Junkers Ju 390 V-1 "GH+UK" vermutlich Winter 1943/44 in Merseburg, Rechlin oder Dessau.

The Junkers Ju 390 was a rare bird - only two constructed - intended to be used as a heavy transport, maritime patrol aircraft, and long-range bomber, a long-range derivative of the Ju 290. It was one of the aircraft designs submitted for the abortive Amerika Bomber project, along with the Messerschmitt Me 264, the Focke-Wulf Ta 400, and by February 1943, the Heinkel He 277. Two prototypes were created by attaching an extra pair of inner-wing segments onto the wings of basic Ju 90 and Ju 290 airframes, and adding new sections to lengthen the fuselages..

Below; Junkers Ju 290 A vermutlich im Winter 1943/44 in Merseburg, Rechlin oder Dessau.

Ju 88 C-2 of I./NJG 2 on Sicily

Me 110 E der III./ZG 26 Catania 1941/42

Latest from Michael Meyer here

More JG 53 from Marko Auer here

Above; Bf-109E-7,W.Nr.6503, Stammkennzeichen PU + CQ, 3./JG 77,Eastern Front 1942 prior to being taken on charge by JG 103. Plane crashed 31.3.1944 ,Germany. See the supercharger intake from Bf 109 T.

Well-known line-up of JG 1 He 162 at Leck here

Grünherzjäger I./JG 54, Gotha Go 244, Junkers Ju 90 in Russland -daily ebay photo find #246

Ort u. Zeit: Grünherzjäger I./JG 54 in Russland ca. 1942

on offer here

4 motoriges Deutsches Militär-Flugzeug vom Typ Junkers Ju 90 mit Kennung +B im Einsatzbereich bei Smolensk

Heiko Fuchs current ebay sales are here

Clare Mulley - " The women who flew for Hitler " -video book trailer filmed at the IWM, Duxford

'The Women Who Flew for Hitler' by Clare Mulley is published in paperback today and has been getting great reviews. " Not an attempt to look at good Nazis or bad women, it is an attempt to look at two real women whose very different choices put them on opposite sides of history." Clare's book describes the lives of two German test pilots, Hanna Reitsch and Melitta von Stauffenberg, who ended up on opposing sides of the regime. Watch the 2-min book trailer below filmed at the IWM, Duxford

- 'Vividly drawn... this is a thrilling story', The Telegraph
- ‘Popular history of a high order', The Times
- ‘A satisfying, rollicking read… well researched and beautifully written', The Spectator
- ‘Superb and beautifully written, well paced and full of drama.’ The Literary Review


"....Clare Mulley, award-winning author of three biographies, has produced a stunning dual exploration of these two remarkable flying aces, retrieving their chequered, interwoven lives from the dusty corners of history, reassessing their wartime careers and providing fascinating insights into Nazi Germany and its attitudes to women, class and race. Hanna and Melitta, two talented, courageous and strikingly attractive women, fought convention to make their names in the male-dominated field of flight in 1930s Germany. Middle-class, vivacious Hanna, with her distinctive Aryan looks and go-getting energy, was a champion glider in the years between the wars, making her name as a celebrity-seeking, over-confident daredevil....Melitta, who was also awarded the Iron Cross, was more than just a test pilot; when she wasn’t in the cockpit of a Stuka dive bomber, she was at her drawing board, working on the development of planes in her high-level job as an aeronautical engineer...."

 Read more at: https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/whats-on/arts/book-review-the-women-who-flew-for-hitler-by-clare-mulley-1-9049560

More on Melitta Stauffenberg on this blog

http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/germanys-other-wwii-female-test-pilot.html

Fake Luftwaffe 'memorabilia' on Ebay - daily ebay photo find #245

from a blog reader; " Hi Neil - I thought you might like to highlight this obviously fake Luftwaffe memorabilia on your blog offered by eBay UK seller artura7 "...

Indeed. Laughable ..but people appear to have bid large sums for this. Exactly the same style of 'document' being sold by 'antikfinder' too here

More JG 54 Knight's Cross holder document fakes being offered by 'destination 5555' here

III./ JG 53 Flugplatz Maldegem, Belgium 1941 -daily ebay photo find 244

more scenes from Marko Auer taken at Flugplatz Maldegem, Belgium, 1941, temporary home to III./JG 53. During early 1941 the entire Geschwader converted onto the latest variant of the Bf 109, the Friedrich, and was deployed along the Kanalfront to counter the RAF's attempts to 'lean into Europe'...

here

more on III./JG 53 ace Erich Schmidt (above left)
http://falkeeins.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/erich-schmidt-iiijg-53-rk-july-1941.html

More JG 53 in 1941 on this blog here

More Nahaufklärungsgruppe 13 NAG 13 Fw 190 at Cuers, south of France, April 1944 -ebay photo find #243

more scenes from Cuers in the south of France, home to short-range recce Staffel 2./NAG 13 pre-D-day, " one of our Fw 190s, April 1944.."

on offer here

More Channel Front early Fw 190s

here

and Flugplatz Orel in the East via Marko Auer

Focke Wulf Fw 190 V18 - Hobbyboss 48th scale

 The Focke Wulf Fw 190 V18 was a high altitude fighter prototype using the latest DB 603 in-line bomber engine which featured a large Hirth exhaust-driven turbocharger located in a fairing under the fuselage. The required piping ran along the wing roots, partially buried in fillets. This "pouch" led to the so-called "Känguruh" (Kangaroo) nickname for these models. The V18 was later modified to the V18/U1, with a "downgraded" 603A engine, but a new DVL turbocharger - four additional prototypes based on the V18/U1 followed: the V29, V30, V32 and V33.

The problem with this Hobbyboss kit is that it doesn't know which variant it really wants to be. It doesn't help that the box-art is rather more detailed than the kit itself. Missing in the kit are the Hirth turbocharger exhaust fairings on the fuselage and upper wing while the cowl features the apertures seen on the V15 (the first prototype to test the turbocharger ducting).  The exhaust-driven turbocharger unit is included but can only be seen through the rather bare and open wheel well, while the ends of the pipework need to be drilled out. The cockpit appears to be over-sized while the rear cockpit decking is 'open' and was covered with some Eduard etch.

Below; my completed Hobbyboss Fw 190 V-18 in 48th scale, Focke Wulf's 'first' Höhenversuchsjäger or 'high altitude fighter test-bed'. Like most of this company's products this is a neat kit, which is nicely detailed and easy to assemble but which is a little way from being an accurate scale replica. The striking grau/aluminium finish and the turbo exhaust ducting makes for an 'exotic' looking machine and I guess we should be glad that a reasonable replica is available in kit form and not just as some short-run resin. Incidentally while the kit decals work well, the stencils (German language) are full of typos/spelling mistakes!

Focke Wulf spent virtually two years trying to turn the Fw 190 into a high performance high-altitude fighter. You can read some favourable comments regarding the V18 on the web - but the V18 was another example of failed rather than innovative German engineering, one of those 'failures' that have acquired a charisma of their own (..certainly with the scale model fraternity .... like the He 219 ). While it could manage 400+ mph at 31,000 ft, it could only do it intermittently. The fact remains that this Hirth turbo-charged DB 603-engined test bed had no better performance than the standard DB 603 installation on the Fw 190 A airframe (Fw 190 V-15) and as such was a developmental cul-de-sac that delivered little, despite the amount and length of testing undertaken. (see Dietmar Hermann in "Focke Wulf Höhenjäger", VDM 2002). 'Dienstgipfelhöhe' (service ceiling) of the V-18 was 12,750m, similar to the V15 with a rate of climb that was no better and a lower top speed.

 A Focke Wulf internal report stated, " ..bei Betrachtung dieser Flugleistungsgegenüberstellung kann die Frage aufgeworfen werden, ob sich der Turbineneinbau in die Fw 190 in der jetzigen Ausführung überhaupt lohnt.."  - in other words, "..taking into consideration the comparison in performance the question must be asked as to whether the Turbo installation in the Fw 190 as seen in the current version is worth the effort at all.."

Not only was there little or no performance increase the V18 presented only drawbacks in terms of aerodynamic efficiency and stability, the tail-heavy aircraft being a difficult machine to pilot as Heinrich Beauvais' account of a test flight on 27 March 1943 makes clear. Testing of the V18 ended in late November 1943 after 66 flights and 42 hours flying time. The RLM had already decided not to proceed with a DB 603-engined version of the Fw 190 which was in Hermann's view a critical mistake - the DB 603s went to the Me 410 (1160 Me 410s built between 1943-44 accounting for some 2320 DB 603 engines) which could not hold their own against Allied escort fighters over the Reich. Neither could the standard BMW 801-engined A versions of the Fw 190. It was only when Me 410 production was halted that Focke Wulf was able to consider production of a high performance DB 603-engined fighter in the form of the Ta 152 C...but by then it was too late.