Hermann Buchner's Fw 190F-8 "< + -"

[Jamoliva]

Greetings again! I am doing some research on Hermann Buchner and his time in SG 2. John Weal's book offers a profile of a Fw-190F-8 with a "Indianer Kopf" and back chevron for Buchner as Staffelkapitän 4./SG 2 in Zilistea/Rumania, June 1944. I could not find any other reference to his aircraft accept for a decal sheet apparently based on this profile. I do not own Buchner's book Stormbird either. I appreciate if you have any information on this aircraft or profile.

Here it is:

But also in the same book there is a photo on page 130 when his 600th mission is celebrated with his Fw-190F-8 "Green Y." Then the question is if the profile above is accurate?

All the best,

CZ

 

[Andrew Arthy]

Hello again,

Hermann Buchner never flew an FW 190 marked '< + -'. He did fly '<< + ' on one occasion (September 1943), '<I + ' on one occasion (October 1943), and '<C + ' on one occasion in May 1944. At Zilistea in July 1944 he mostly flew 'G + ' on practise flights.

Cheers,
Andrew A

 

[Jamoliva]

Thanks again Andrew! It seems Weal's profiles are all mistaken.

I remember reading somewhere that the Buchner carried the "Indian Head" personal marking because his grandfather had been the tour manager for Sitting Bull's travelling show in Europe and his family held much Sioux memorabilia.

I guess I need to obtain a copy of his book.

Best,

CZ

 

[MiTasol]

Best place to search for his book is bookfinder.com
They even have five first editions

 

[Jamoliva]

Hello there! Finally I was able to retain a hardcover copy of the 2000 edition of Buchner's book Stormbird from a close-by public library. It is an excellent source that contains his memoir, many photos from his personal collection, color plates of his aircraft, and photocopies of his complete flugbuch pages. I recommend it to anyone who's interested in the subject. I want to share only one color plate about the plane in question regarding my original post. Also apparently the FW190F-8 in his 600th mission was a "black X" per the photo in my first post. Best to all!

 

[Wurger]

I would say the profile is still looking like these in the John Weal's books.

 

[Jamoliva]

Yes, it does because John Weal did the artwork for Buchner's book. It is a little bit strange that Weal had not corrected/edited his earlier editions of the color plates for the "Aces of the Russian Front" which was published in 2002, couple years after Buchner's book. They were kept as the same like the 1995 edition.

One thing I realized is that the plane in my first post could be actually the aircraft Buchner became an ace. But that plane was coded "black L" and you can see the overpainted L in that color plate. So maybe the aircraft later was painted with a chevron but he did not actually fly any missions with it after that point.

 

[Andrew Arthy]

I guess you're referring to 24 October 1943 when Buchner downed his fifth enemy aircraft? If so, the aircraft in the profile in your first post is an FW 190 F-8, and II./S.G. 2 did not receive any of these until April 1944.

As noted in the profile caption of 'Black X + ', there is basically no photographic evidence of any of Buchner's aircraft, so the colour profiles are almost all speculative.

Cheers,
Andrew A.

 

[Jamoliva]

Thank you Andrew! Yes, you are absolute right. What I meant to say was that maybe the "black L" in which he scored his fifth kill and the aircraft in my first post are the same machine considering the curious over-painted L, the second group bar and the "Indian head" marking (not a F-8 but probably a A-5 or F-3 and maybe stayed with the II/SG1 after 6. Staffel's move to SG2). But it is, of course, a speculation. Anyway, building a model of "black X" would be a better option since he both completed his 600th mission and shot down 6 planes in it as well.

Best,

CZ