The plane was moved from Leck to Sola by Lt. Frank. The Ar 234 seems to be one of the latest aircraft made and I doubt it was used operational fully. Being delivered to the II./KG76 in February 1945 was transferred to the III./KG76 in the mid of the April. At the end of the month she got the test flight in Kaltenkirchen and then was sent to Leck at the beginning of the May. On the 5th May 1945 she was flown to the Sola where she was captured by the Brits 5 days later.
Arado Ar 234B-2, Wk. Nr. 140312 serviced in the III./KG76 and was coded F1+DR orginally. Moved to the Sola airfield where was captured by the Brits in May 1945 and then allocated to the USA by the RAF as USA 50, redesignated FE-1010, later T2-1010. Because all paint had been stripped from the aircraft before the Smithsonian received it and started the restoration, the aircraft was painted with the markings of an aircraft of 8./KG 76. In other words the marking is quite fictional one. It seems there is no record who could fly the plane.
Arado Ar 234B-2, Wk. Nr. 140312 serviced in the 8 and 9./KG76 and could be coded F1+DR orginally. Moved to the Sola airfield where was captured by the Brits in May 1945 and then allocated to the USA by the RAF as USA 50, redesignated FE-1010, later T2-1010. Because all paint had been stripped from the aircraft before the Smithsonian received it and started the restoration, the aircraft was painted with the markings of an aircraft of 8./KG 76. In other words the marking is quite fictional one. It seems there is no record who could fly the plane.
Arado Ar 234B-2, Wk. Nr. 140312 serviced in the 8 and 9./KG76 and could be coded F1+DR orginally. Moved to the Sola airfield where was captured by the Brits in May 1945 and then allocated to the USA by the RAF as USA 50, redesignated FE-1010, later T2-1010. Because all paint had been stripped from the aircraft before the Smithsonian received it and started the restoration, the aircraft was painted with the markings of an aircraft of 8./KG 76. In other words the marking is quite fictional one. It seems there is no record who could fly the plane.
Arado Ar 234B-2, Wk. Nr. 140312 serviced in the 8 and 9./KG76 and was coded F1+DR orginally. Moved to the Sola airfield where was captured by the Brits in May 1945 and then allocated to the USA by the RAF as USA 50, redesignated FE-1010, later T2-1010. Because all paint had been stripped from the aircraft before the Smithsonian received it and started the restoration, the aircraft was painted with the markings of an aircraft of 8./KG 76. In other words the marking is quite fictional one. It seems there is no record who could fly the plane.
At the beginning you wrote "served in 8 and 9./KG76"
At the end
"the plane bears the markings of aircraft 8./KG 76"
and "In other words, the labeling is completely fictitious."
That is, historically he served exclusively in 9./KG76?
AFAIK , the F1+DR code wasn't known when the Ar 234 was being restored. So the plane got the F1+GS markings of the 8./KG76 squadron that got the jet bombers as the first unit. Well .. it looks like there should be the "DR" instead of the "GS".
At the beginning you wrote "served in 8 and 9./KG76"
At the end "the plane bears the markings of aircraft 8./KG 76"
and "In other words, the labeling is completely fictitious."
That is, historically he served exclusively in 9./KG76?
The plane could be operated by both the 7,8 and 9 Staffel ( III Gruppe ) because the transferring of planes among squadrons was something common, not during the war only but also at the war end. But it doesn't mean the markings had to be changed. A couple of sources states that the plane served both in 8 and 9 squadron of the KG76. It could be. Please, see the image of the F1+HT captured at the Sola airfield where the W.Nr.140312 was sent together with. The yellow colour of the letter "H" and the letter "T" indicate the 9./KG76. Because the plane code should be F1+DR so the squadron of the Ar 234 should be 7./KG76 though. The another thing the may make believing she also was of the 8./KG76 was that at the end of war all the planes in the Norway were gathered under the command of the Oblt. Kolm who was the 8th Staffel commander.
To sum up ... because there is too many cantradictions I would say the best way would be to use the III./KG76. Therefore I have edited my post with the form of unit marking. Unfortunately we criss-crossed our posts and you quoted the old content.
This is the USA markings used for the foreign stuff tested by the Americans ... "FE" - Foreign Equipment or Foreign Evaluation.
AFAIK , the F1+DR code wasn't known when the Ar 234 was being restored. So the plane got the F1+GS markings of the 8./KG76 squadron that got the jet bombers as the first unit. Well .. it looks like there should be the "DR" instead of the "GS".
The plane could be operated by both the 7,8 and 9 Staffel ( III Gruppe ) because the transferring of planes among squadrons was something common, not during the war only but also at the war end. But it doesn't mean the markings had to be changed. A couple of sources states that the plane served both in 8 and 9 squadron of the KG76. It could be. Please, see the image of the F1+HT captured at the Sola airfield where the W.Nr.140312 was sent together with. The yellow colour of the letter "H" and the letter "T" indicate the 9./KG76. Because the plane code should be F1+DR so the squadron of the Ar 234 should be 7./KG76 though. The another thing the may make believing she also was of the 8./KG76 was that at the end of war all the planes in the Norway were gathered under the command of the Oblt. Kolm who was the 8th Staffel commander.
To sum up ... because there is too many cantradictions I would say the best way would be to use the III./KG76. Therefore I have edited my post with the form of unit marking. Unfortunately we criss-crossed our posts and you quoted the old content.
