Captured Aircrafts: EEUU

[johnbr]

I have always loved the Ju-290 it is to bad the engines for it were not put in to production.I think it would have been great with the Ju-222 or DB-604 engines.

 

[gekho]

Largest flying-boat to achieve production status during World War II, the six-engine Blohm und Voss Bv 222 Viking was designed in 1936 to provide Deutsche Lufthansa with a 24- passenger airliner for the North and South Atlantic routes, but it was not until 7 September 1940 that the first prototype Bv 222 VI was first flown by Flugkapitan Helmut Wasa Rodig. Flying characteristics were pronounced good and the first operation for the Luftwaffe was flown by a civilian crew between Hamburg and Kirkenes, Norway, on 10 July 1941. Usually escorted by a pair of Messerchmitt Bf 110 fighters the Bv 222 VI, with six Bramo Fafnir radials, then started flying regular supply missions across the Mediterranean for German forces in North Africa. Several narrow escapes from Allied fighters emphasized the need for some defensive armament and the second and subsequent prototypes included a number of gun positions, while the Bv 222 VI was fitted with seven single 7.92mm and 13mm machine-guns, and under each wing a gondola mounting a pair of the latter. The Bv 222 V3 featured gun turrets on top of the wing between the outboard engines, each with a 20mm cannon. By March 1943 a total of seven transport prototypes had been completed, all with armament variations; all served with Lufttransportstaffel See 222 (LTS See 222) in the Mediterranean, three being lost (two shot down by fighters and one sunk after striking a buoy while landing at Athens). The remaining aircraft, the Bv 222 V2, Bv 222 V3, Bv 222 V4 and Bv 222 V5, were converted for maritime reconnaissance and served with Fliegerfuhrer Atlantik, some with FuG 200 search radar; the Bv 222 V3 and Bv 222 V5 were destroyed at their moorings at Biscarosse by Allied fighters in June 1943, and another aircraft was shot down by an Avro Lancaster over the Bay of Biscay in the following October. The Bv 222 V7 was the prototype of the production version, the Bv 222C, of which five examples were completed with six 746kW Junkers Jumo 205D or 207C diesel inlines and a total armament of three 20mm and five 13mm guns. Of these one was shot down by a British night-fighter near Biscarosse and another was hit by strafing Mustangs at Travemunde; the Bv 222 V2 was destroyed during the Allied reoccupation of Norway; two others were sunk by their crews at the end of the war, two were flown to the USA and one was ferried to the UK after the end of hostilities.

 

[A4K]

Great stuff mate! Have a model of this girl in the stash...she is H-U-G-E!!!

 

[gekho]

The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from Sturzkampfflugzeug, "dive bomber") was a two-man (pilot and rear gunner) German ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, the Stuka first flew in 1935 and made its combat debut in 1936 as part of the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. USAAF operated one in Tunisia in 1943 for a short time before it crashed and was written off.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHyWMkc6MCk

 

[gekho]

The Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet, designed by Alexander Lippisch, was a German rocket-powered fighter aircraft. It is the only rocket-powered fighter aircraft ever to have been operational. Its design was revolutionary, and the Me 163 was capable of performance unrivaled at the time. Messerschmitt test pilot Rudy Opitz in 1944 reached 1,123 km/h (698 mph). Over 300 aircraft were built; however, the Komet proved ineffective as a fighter, having been responsible for the destruction of only about nine Allied aircraft (16 air victories for 10 losses, according to other sources).

Five Me 163s were originally brought to the United States in 1945, receiving the Foreign Equipment numbers FE-495 and FE-500 to 503.[31] An Me 163 B-1a, Werknummer (serial number) 191301, arrived at Freeman Field, Indiana, during the summer of 1945, and received the foreign equipment number FE-500. On 12 April 1946, it was flown aboard a cargo aircraft to the U.S. Army Air Forces facility at Muroc dry lake in California for flight testing. Testing began on 3 May 1946 in the presence of Dr. Alexander Lippisch and involved towing the unfueled Komet behind a B-29 to an altitude of 9,000–10,500 m (30,000–34,400 ft) before it was released for a glide back to earth under the control of test pilot Major Gus Lundquist. Powered tests were planned, but not carried out after delamination of the aircraft's wooden wings was discovered. It was then stored at Norton AFB, California until 1954, when it was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. The aircraft remained on display in an unrestored condition at the museum's Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility in Suitland, Maryland, until 1996, when it was lent to the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler, Georgia for restoration and display but has since been returned to the Smithsonian and as of 2011 is on display unrestored at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington D.C..
Me 163 B, Werknummer 191095 is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force near Dayton, Ohio. It was acquired from the Canadian National Aviation Museum (now the Canada Aviation and Space Museum), where it had been restored, and was placed on display December 10, 1999. Komet test pilot Rudolf "Rudi" Opitz was on hand for the dedication of the aircraft and discussed his experiences of flying the rocket-propelled fighter to a standing room only crowd. During the aircraft's restoration in Canada it was discovered that the aircraft had been assembled by French "forced labourers" who had deliberately sabotaged it by placing stones between the rocket's fuel tanks and its supporting straps. There are also indications that the wing was assembled with contaminated glue. Inside the fuselage was found patriotic French writing. The aircraft is displayed without any unit identification or Werk Nummer.

Me 163 B, Werknummer 191660, "Yellow 3", is owned by Paul Allen's Flying Heritage Collection. Between 1961 and 1976, this aircraft was displayed at the Imperial War Museum in London. In 1976, it was moved the Imperial War Museum Duxford. It underwent a lengthy restoration, beginning in 1997, that was frequently halted as the restorers were diverted to more pressing projects. In May 2005, it was sold, reportedly for £800,000, to raise money for the purchase of a de Havilland/Airco DH.9 as the Duxford museum had no examples of a World War I bomber in its collection. Permission for export was granted by the British government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport as three other Komets were held in British museums.

 

[gekho]

Great stuff mate! Have a model of this girl in the stash...she is H-U-G-E!!!

Me too. I think we have the same model... IXO, isnt it?

 

[A4K]

Yep! need a new flat just for the model!

Great pics again, love that shot of the soldier guarding the Me 163! (diorama idea...)

Evan

 

[gekho]

Yep! need a new flat just for the model!

Great pics again, love that shot of the soldier guarding the Me 163! (diorama idea...)

Evan

All the collectors have the same problem mate. I posted some pics of my models in my thread "My collection"; take a look, I am sure you will enjoy it.

 

[AtsneIndia]

2nd world ware aircraft pic.
Just look them.

 

[A4K]

All the collectors have the same problem mate. I posted some pics of my models in my thread "My collection"; take a look, I am sure you will enjoy it.

Just took a look at that thread again...that is one hell of a collection mate, fantastic work!!! (and if there's any work for solderers or artists where you live, I'll be over in a flash..!)

Just looked at my BV 222 btw, and it isn't IXO, but Revell - 1:72 scale!

 

[gekho]

In May 1945, with the surrender of Germany, after over 33,000 Bf 109's had been assembled by Messerschmitt, the majority of the Bf 109 production lines were closed down. Even with the conclusion of World War II in Europe, in both Spain and Czechoslovakia, the Bf 109 production continued. From 1945 to 1948, the majority of the grounded aircraft of Germany and the axis powers that had received the Bf 109's were quickly destroyed/scrapped. Some examples were taken as either captured aircraft/war trophies/technical examples for further studies. For the next 23 years, these were the first generation of Bf 109 survivors. These are some examples of the captured Bf-109

- Luftwaffe Bf 109 G-6 trop, WNr.16416, was captured by the USAAF in May 1943 at Soliman airfield, originally belonging to JG 77. Subsequently it was disassembled, shipped and re-assembled in the United States at Wright Airfield for testing. On 25 December, after simple repairs, it was flown to the Air Forces Scientific Research Institute.
- On 28 August 1944 Romanian pilot Cpt. Cantacuzino flew a Bf 109 G-6, WNr. 66130, with American prisoner Lt.Col. James A.Gunn III to Foggia, Italy. The aircraft was tested and after some flights was destroyed.

 

[gekho]

ne of the best Italian fighters of the mid-war years, Mario Castoldi's Macchi C.202 Folgore (thunderbolt) was developed from the radial-engined C.200, but was powered by a Daimler- Benz DB 601 produced under licence as the Alfa Romeo RA 1000 RC 411. First flown by Carestiato on 10 August 1940, the C.202 Series 1 production version entered service with the 1° Stormo at Udine in the summer of 1941, this unit arriving in Libya in the following November. The Folgore was a lowwing monoplane with inwardretracting landing gear and an armament of two 12.7mm Breda- SAFAT machine-guns in the nose; there was also provision for two 7.7mm guns in the wings. Engine production was slow and severely delayed the build-up of the Folgore in service.

The aircraft underwent very little change and development during its life span, and was produced in 11 series. It eventually served with 45 Squadriglie of the 1°, 2°, 3°, 4°, 51°, 52°, 53° and 54° Stormi in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, the Aegean and Russia. Production amounted to about 1,500, of which 392 were produced by the parent company and the remainder by Breda. In combat the Folgore proved to be well-matched with the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V in performance, but was badly undergunned and, although slightly superior to American fighters such as the Bell P-39 Airacobra, this armament deficiency prevented Folgore pilots from knocking down many Allied bombers. Ultimate wartime development of the C.200/202 series of Italian fighters was the Daimler Benz-powered C.205; only 66 were in service by the time of Italy's withdrawal from the Axis. The C.205V Veltro (greyhound) would have been capable of meeting most Allied fighters on equal terms.

 

[Airframes]

Great pics.

 

[A4K]

More great stuff - keep it coming mate!

 

[Wayne Little]

Cool!

 

[gekho]

Two prototypes were built. Between 18 - 25 airframes were under construction when the war ended. After the war, a Kikka was taken to the United States, for analysis, to the Patuxent River Naval Air Base, Maryland. It is now housed in the National Air and Space Museum. This aircraft is very incomplete and is believed to have been patched together from a variety of semi-completed airframes.

Two Ne-20 jet engines had been taken to the US and sent for analysis to the Chrysler Corporation in 1946. This was only revealed in 2005 by W.I. Chapman, who was in charge of the project at the time. A working engine was assembled with the parts of the two Ne-20s, and extensively tested for 11 hours and 46 minutes. A report was issued on 7 April 1947, titled "Japanese NE-20 turbo jet engine. Construction and performance". The document is now on display at the Tokyo National Science Museum.

 

[gekho]

he Messerschmitt Bf 110, often (erroneously) called Me 110, was a twin-engine heavy fighter (Zerstörer - German for "Destroyer") in the service of the Luftwaffe during World War II. Hermann Göring was a proponent of the Bf 110, and nicknamed it his Eisenseiten ("Ironsides"). Development work on an improved type to replace the Bf 110, the Messerschmitt Me 210 began before the war started, but its teething troubles resulted in the Bf 110 soldiering on until the end of the war in various roles, alongside its replacements, the Me 210 and the Me 410.

 

[gekho]

Mistel was originally a bomber airframe, usually a Junkers Ju 88 variant, with the entire nose-located crew compartment replaced by a specially-designed nose filled with a large load of explosive, with a fighter aircraft on top, joined to the bomber by struts. The combination would be flown to its target by a pilot in the fighter; then the unmanned bomber was released to hit its target and explode, leaving the fighter free to return to base. The first such composite aircraft flew in July 1943 and was promising enough to begin a programme by Luftwaffe test unit KG 200, code-named "Beethoven".

 

[gekho]

The Raiden first saw action in September 1944 over the Marianas during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. It was also used at Formosa, but it would become famous in the defense of the Japanese home islands against unescorted B-29 day raids. Its good performance, powerful armament, and armor protection made it perhaps the best bomber destroyer employed by Japan in the latter stages of the war. The pilots of 302nd Naval Air Group based on Atsugi air base showed the most brilliant record. The Raiden unit distinguished itself by shooting down a total of about 300 enemy planes in the short period from the end of 1944 to the end of the war. Captured J2M was U.S. Technical Air Intelligence Command (TAIC) tested in the 92 octane fuel plus methanol, and J2M2 (Jack11) achieved a speed of 655 km/h (407 mph) at 5,520 m (17,400 ft),[4] and J2M3 (Jack21) achieved a speed of 671 km/h (417 mph) at 4,980 m (16,600 ft).

 

[A4K]

More great stuff here, cheers mate!