Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules
Augsburg
View attachment 740435
View attachment 740436
Original WWII Photo: Officer Posing With Captured ME-262 Jet Augsburg Germany | eBay
<p>From the estate of COLONEL NELSON P JACKSON O-19253. Nelson spent the war in various units as a photographer, including several AAF units, mobile radar, 7th Infantry Division, and as a personal photographer for several American generals. </p><br /><br /><p>Dimensions may very, if you’d like...www.ebay.com
Love the covers of that magazine. Wish they would release a book of just to covers.An article written by Gilles Collaveri. Gilles has been writing about a lot of crashed aeroplanes and some of you might be on his mailing list in which he distributes his writings
I asked permission to post this and asked him if future articles can/may be posted on this board. Hope Gilles can find time to come over this neck of the web and contribute whatever he would like to share. English translation provided by Gilles Collaveri.
View attachment 739682
View attachment 739684
View attachment 739686
View attachment 739687
SOME VERY RARE PARTS When I received a picture of aircraft parts, I was very surprised and even dubious. Indeed, they were presented as those of a Messerschmitt 262, and they allegedly had been found in France. However, Me262 crash sites in France are extremely rare. The owner of these parts contacted and he explained to me that he exchanged them a few months earlier with a collector in Normandy. I was puzzled but an investigation will show that they are genuine. The MESSERSCHMITT 262, A VERY RARE BIRD The Messerschmitt 262 was a German jetfighter that had an operational career at the end of WWII, as of August 1944. It was a twin engine fighter, equipped with two Jumo 004B engines. Enjoying exceptional performances, it was even said that it could have changed the outcome of WWII if it had been earlier and better used. 1400 were built, which is not a high number for a WWII fighter (as a comparison, more than 30 000 Messerschmitt Bf 109s were built) and only a few hundred Me262s saw operations against allied aircraft. When Germany surrenders on 8 May 1945, the allies rush to find all sophisticated equipment (and the corresponding engineers!) and grab as much as possible this high technology. Therefore, a certain number of German aircraft are ferried by the Americans to Cherbourg where they are loaded onto an aircraft carrier to be taken to the USA. This squadron is named « Watson's Whizzers », after the name of its boss, Colonel Watson. OUR AIRCRAFT : «HAPPY HUNTER II » (ex « WILMA JEANNE » ) The Me262 «Happy Hunter II » (1) was almost a unique aircraft: it was equipped with a 50 MM cannon. Only two such aircraft were so modified. It bore the serial number (« Werknummer ») 170083. Initially nicknamed « Wilma Jeanne », it was renamed « Happy Hunter II ». On 30 June 1945, it was ferried to Cherbourg by a German pilot, Ludwig Hofmann (2). Near Evreux (map), one turbine exploded and the engine caught fire. The flight controls got jammed and the pilot had no other choice than bail out. He survived and the aircraft exploded in a field. Quickly, the US army cleared the field, with special attention due to the strategic importance of this aircraft. EXAMINATION OF THE PARTS Back to the parts: Mickael, who sent us them, was convinced that these parts came from the Me262 « Wilma Jeanne/Happy Hunter II ». He explained that he made an exchange several years ago with a collector based in Normandy, who discovered them in a field. At first glance, these parts looked genuine but the Me262 is such a rare aircraft that we wanted to be sure of their origin. ENSURE THEY ARE FROM A ME262 The package composed by these parts looked coherent: airframe, equipment, pump, hardware, but we had to investigate more thoroughly.
How to ensure that these parts were fitted on a Me262 ? "fake" aircraft parts do exist and are even sold on auction websites. Mickael informed us the collector from Normandy sadly died a few months ago from cancer. We decided not to contact his spouse, terribly saddened by the death of her husband. But how to authenticate the origin of these parts? Mickael specified that the collector belonged to an association celebrating the memory of the crews killed for the liberation of France : « forced landings ». By sheer chance, I had met their president two years ago, during a ceremony in memory of the crew of a Lancaster near Chartres. This gentleman was contacted and confirmed immediately the finding in Normandy, he even was with Jean Luc, the person who found these parts. Confidence was back.. THANKS WERNER ! I suddenly had the idea to write to one of my « internet friends » : Werner. I never personally met him but he is was real friend because we are on the same wave: a shared passion for ww2 aircraft. Werner is a real expert for analyzing aircraft parts. I contacted him and he immediately replied « please send pictures, I worked in the 80's on a Reco Me262 of squadron NAG.6 that crashed near my home". Then followed an extraordinary analysis of these parts that Werner identified and placed on the aircraft. I am glad to share this with you and it is fascinating to see a corroded metallic artifact live again by being identified, positioned on the aircraft, and discover its function. ANALYSIS OF THE PARTS Cutaway drawing 1 Engine 2 Knob indicating the landing gear retraction 3 hydraulic pump 4 Lamp of the dashboard 5 FUG 16 radio system converter6 Turbine housing 7 Compass 8 Fuel filter 9 Part from a US aircraft TWO PARTS ARE DIFFERENT Two parts were different from the others : a German plate with the number « 8-4517A2 ». This part number is for a fuel filter that was not installed on the Me262 (furthermore, the prefix "8" is not engine related)
An explanation, very technical, is that this filter was considered as an accessory, a component of the fuel system, thus the « 8 » prefix (instead of « 9 » which is specific to engines). An other explanation is that it comes from a different aircraft crashed nearby the Me262 and that this plate was mixed up by mistake; It could be also « cannibalization », which consists of installing one aircraft part onto another, different, aircraft. As you can see, the analysis of aircraft parts proved to be a difficult exercise ! As well, a part in aluminum attracted our attention: it bore a « zinc chromate » green paint, typical of the US aircraft. By examining it carefully, we discovered the word "ALCOA" painted on it , this name is the one of a US aluminum manufacturer, we had here a part from a US aircraft. It certainly came from a US aircraft shot down in Normandy, and had no connection with the Me262. So, we had two parts that clearly did not belong to the Me262. This shows how careful one must be when storing aircraft parts, in order not to mix them. HERITAGE These parts deserve a full exhibition, in a museum, and they must never be sold or auctioned. Mickael, who magnificently restored these parts, is fully in line with this policy and very elegantly, he has given them to us. These parts will be preserved and will be exhibited in the Aéroscopia museum in Toulouse. So, during several weeks, we conducted a full investigation, in space, in time: a technical and historical investigation, with many inputs from different actors, and we close it with a formal identification of these parts, which become part of the French Aeronautical Heritage; This demonstrates beautifully the ultimate target of our association, "Aérocherche", which is indeed the preservation of aviation heritage. Gilles.collaveri@hotmail.fr IN MEMORIAM : This article is dedicated to Jean Luc, who found these parts, and who passed away too early. Thanks to : Mickael Retailleau, Werner Oeltjebruns, Jean Schreiber, Steve Polyak, Jean Pierre, Jim Geens « Karoband », Martin Ludwig Hofmann (the grandson of the pilot Ludwig Hofmann). . The incredible adventure of Ludwig Hofmann (3) Ludwig Hofmann was a pre-war world record holder in sky gliding and a test pilot at Messerschmitt. After the Allied invasion, his job was to train the American pilots of the « Watson's Whizzers » on the Me 262. When he bails out of his Me262 on 30 June 1945, Ludwig Hofmann flies probably at a speed close to 900 km/hour and he is only a few hundred meters high. The opening of his parachute is so violent that he loses his boots. He reaches the ground brutally and loses consciousness. When he awakes, three French people surround him: one woman and two men. They help him to walk to a house and install him on a sofa. They serve him a glass of Cognac. His body is covered with bruises and he suffers considerably. He is then in a strange situation : he is German but all the documents that show
he was flying for the US Air Force were in the aircraft that now burns fiercely. He fears to be taken for a fleeing SS (there are many SS trying to hide in June 1945). So, he tries to not speak German and he carefully keeps his US made parachute, the only proof that he is working for the American army. The French people take him in a wagon to the next city. Although they installed a mattress and two blankets, he suffers a lot. Arriving in the city, they ask him to get off at the next police station but he refuses and asks to see an American officer. A young US officer arrives, listens to him, and clearly does not believe him. He gives a call to the nearest US Air Base which is 30 kilometers from him, but nobody there ever heard about a German pilot ferrying a German jet for the US Air Force. He is requested to go to this US Base and a French man with a car accepts to drive him there. Upon arrival at the US Base, he tells his story another time but, again, nobody believes him. The US personal even make fun of him and joke "let us push him into the street so that the French can finish him" Ludwig Hofmann then shows his best proof: his parachute made in the USA, to convince them of his good faith. The American soldiers heartly laugh: «an American Parachute, a proof ? there are thousands of them in the countryside and in the forests of Normandy, this doesn't proof anything!!". Ludwig Hofmann asks to see the commander of the base. The later finally arrives, listens to him suspiciously, and after many requests, he accepts to call the Colonel Watson at Cherbourg. Then, at the general surprise, the answer he gets is positive "yes, we lost a Me262 jet with its pilot. Did you find him ? great ! ». So, Ludwig Hofmann is finally believed, taken care of, and an American DC3 comes to pick him up the day after. It will however takes months before he totally recovers from his injuries.
same place i think Autobahn; between Augsburg and Ulm Germany May 1945 22-03-1945 ThursdayIMHO that's one of the Messerschmitt Me 262As made by the Waldwerk "Kuno I" (Leipheim) or "Kuno II" (Burgau) and found near the Stuttgart-München autobahn between the Augsburg and Ulm, Germany 1945.
TS+MB in Munich-Oberwiesenfeld.