III./JG54, Black Friday, 29 Dec 1944...

[Crimea_River]

Guys, this is from Green Hearts by Urbanke. No date of the photo is given but maybe it helps.

 

[lesofprimus]

The very same book Im using as the main research for this video..... Thanks for the scan....

Do u think u can scan the profile of Yellow 4 of Werner Merz for GrauGeist to get a solid look at the camo for the Fall of 44 in there???

 

[lesofprimus]

Just realized u didnt scan but took a pic of the page lol, nevermind....

 

[B-17engineer]

Best I can do because I am on my way out the door...

 

[Crimea_River]

Do u think u can scan the profile of Yellow 4 of Werner Merz for GrauGeist to get a solid look at the camo for the Fall of 44 in there???

Will take a picture tonight when I'm home. The profiles are fold-out pages so don't scan easily with the machine I have.

 

[lesofprimus]

Im gonna try and take some pics this evening and see how they come out... Wait till I try before u get into scanning....

 

[lesofprimus]

OK here are the pics I shot from the book, came out pretty decent.....

Dave, we're gonna have to get Merv to work on the Spit code letters, looks like his are too small.....

 

[Erich]

you better hurry the heck up bud as I am puttin in for the December 5, 1944 op real soon under your belt. plenty of tasty stuff between Jg 301 and JG 1 against many US Mustang groups, colorful 356th fg was involved with JG 301.......oh what the heck that can be saved for the following winter display.

 

[ontos]

Hey Dan found this while searching for the colors and camo for the Spitfires, this was taken in 1944 of Stousland and his Spit. The Norwegian markings show on the spinner. I wasn't sure of the colors for the aircraft, thanks Airframe for the very helpful information. I did find some radio call letters for the Norwegian Spits, but not all.

Cheers,ontos

 

[GrauGeist]

Excellent find on Stousland's crate...I would have never noticed the "S" unless it was pointed out!

I hope you can get a little time to post your progress on the Spit's skin in the IL-2 Lounge's "Black Friday" thread, you're doing a heck of a job!

 

[ontos]

Thanks Dave, I noticed the "S" when I found the photo, I'll put it on the skin. I have seen quite a few of the Spitfire pilots put letters under the nose of their aircraft. As soon as I get the camo on, I'll download some screenies.

 

[lesofprimus]

Sounds great, and thanks for ur help on the British side Merv......

Great find on the spinner and code numbers as well.... The listing I made for skins required was just a amtter of putting the last letter for their last name....

Erich, yes Im gettin geared up for another JG301 video, been readin Willi's book again in the sh!tter lol....

 

[ontos]

OK, this is what I have so far on the Spitfire flown by Lt. Stousland. Still a lot of work to be done, weathering, internals etc. Please look it over and let me know of any errors or corrections to be made. I'm available for e-mail or pm.

 

[lesofprimus]

Hey Merv, I think the spiral on the spinner is too far forward....

Otherwise, it looks phenominal... The panel lines and roundels look tits....

 

[Airframes]

Looks great, but note the following.
1) The spinners had lost the Norwegian colours and 'Sky' base colour during the period concerned. They were then black overall.
2) The fuselage roundel shown is the early war period 'C' type roundel. It should be the 'C1' type, with a narrow yellow outer band, and the red centre circle should be the enlarged one, making the white ring look narrow.
3) As the Squadron was part of 2 TAF, by this period the 'Sky' tailbands were being overpainted in camouflage colours. This meant that the serial numbers were moved forward, virtually touching the individual code letter, and in smaller black characters than the official 8 inch high version. I need to verify if the 'Sky' bands had gone on the date in question.
4) It was common practice in some squadrons to repeat the individual code letter under the nose, in order to aid identification to ground crew when the aircraft was taxiing. AFAIK, the squadron's Spits all had the code letter repeated.
5) I think the yellow, wing leading edge I.D. stripe was retained, although it was removed on some 2 TAF aircraft - I'll check and confirm.

 

[ontos]

Thanks for the great information Airframes, this helps allot. I have about 15 different pictures of the Norwegian Spits. and they all seem to be different. At least I wont have to work on the spinner bands, that is a bear. I'll make the new roundels and put them on and the rest of the corrections.

 

[GrauGeist]

That skin is really looking sharp, man!!

Good info, Terry...it's interesting to see how many changes to A/C ID occurred in such short time spans towards the end of the war (on both sides)!

 

[Airframes]

The major changes were mainly in 2 TAF Dave, and the roundel change was late 1941, remaining the same until the end of the war. The upper wing roundels were changed to 'C1' on all aircraft late January 45, so that's not relevant, but some squadrons used a different style and colour for the individual code letter, and sometimes the squadron codes as well. AFAIK, this doesn't affect the units concerned for the date in question but I'm in the process of double-checking everything.
I should have the full package together in the next two or three days. Did you or Dan look at the link I gave for the RCAF Typhoons? The serial and code listing against the pilot's names might be useful.

 

[GrauGeist]

I haven't had a chance to check out the link yet, but I will!

My thoughts regarding the changes to markings/insignia, both overall down to squad level, are on a whole...such as the USAAF national insignia changes and similiar...stuff like unit recognitions (yellow band here, white stripe there...red spinner for a half a year, etc)...it's mind boggling sometimes!

Thanks a million for your help on these projects, Terry!

 

[lesofprimus]

Heres the Tiffy painting Terry was talking about.....

It seems the the code letters for the 439th are 5V, not F3.....

Heres the site code listings...
The 439 Aircraft Registry Page 7 - Typhoons Mk 1B