W.Nr. of unusual Me 262 with white, wavy squiggles

[JonCOlsen]

I found this interesting photo of an Me 262 painted in a camo scheme consisting of rather long, wavy white (or very light blue?)squiggles. It also has a nose cap painted in 3 colors! It's in the book, "Stormbird Colors" by Brett Green and Benjamin Evans on Pg. 37. According to the caption, this was an "Me 262 A-1a Jabo of III./KG(J) 54." Does anyone have any suggestions as to its W.Nr. or any tactical letters/numbers it might have had on it?

Thanks!

>Jon

 

[Wurger]

Interesting...

 

[fubar57]

Found a photo of a similar aircraft belonging to that outfit. It said the squiggles were RLM76, "winter" markings.




Geo

 

[GrauGeist]

Out of all the Luftwaffe units, it was Kg54 that had the most interesting and unconventional camo schemes, especially during the last year of the war. Many patterns were not uniform to RLM guidelines and in several instances, did not follow RLM colors (paint perhaps bartered from nearby Wehrmacht units?)

 

[JonCOlsen]

Found a photo of a similar aircraft belonging to that outfit. It said the squiggles were RLM76, "winter" markings.




Geo

Grau Geist, I think the Me 262 you're referring to had the code, "B3+BH." It's quite well documented, though the Wr. Nr. appears to be unknown. There is an interesting photo of it that shows a group of pilots having a discussion. The camo is definitely VERY similar to the one whose photo I posted, except for the colorful nose cap. As an Me 262 that served in KG(J) 54 is it safe to assume that the Me 262 in the photo I posted had a "B3" on it?

>Jon

 

[stona]

There is a picture of a similarly camouflaged aircraft, with various personnel standing in front of it, also of 7./KG(J) 54, taken at Neuberg-an-der-Donau in March 1945. With the little detail visible in the background of the picture you posted I can only say it might have been taken at the same place and similar time. The weather is the same!

B3 was KG 54's code and had been since the start of the war. You'll have to guess an aircraft letter which following practice at this time should be in the 7 Staffel colour (white). The last letter should have been a black R for the 7th Staffel of the 3rd Gruppe.

IIRC the unit code, B3 was applied in very small letters at this time.

The other aircraft you referred to, B3+BH, was presumably a 1 Staffel aircraft.

Cheers

Steve

 

[JonCOlsen]

Steve, thank you very much...excellent information! So, "B3+?R" it is! I know this might be asking a bit much, but...any suggestions as to what the white aircraft letter might have been? Would any random letter have been equally possible?

Thanks again!
>Jon

 

[stona]

There's no way to know with the available evidence. Unless a photograph showing a side of the aircraft turns up you'll have to guess. Same for the R, sometimes this was the same size as the aircraft letter sometimes smaller like the unit code (B3).
I'd choose any single digit number for the individual aircraft letter and make the R full sized, but that's just a hunch.
Cheers
Steve

 

[JonCOlsen]

Thank you, Steve. Just one more question for anyone who can answer it... did certain aircraft letters have a specific meaning regarding the aircraft's intended role? For example, a certain Me 262B-2 that served in KG(J) 54 (Wk. Nr. 170075)had the code and aircraft letters: "B3+SH." Might the "S" in this instance indicate that this Me 262 was a trainer intended for "students"?

The main reason I'm asking is because I'd like to make a model of the squiggly Me 262 in the photo and I have a white "s" decal. Would it be reasonable to use "S" as the aircraft letter? If so, my model would have the following code/letter combination: "B3+SR."

Thanks!

>Jon

 

[stona]

The S for school aircraft was the first letter of the training unit's code, not the aircraft letter. That code system was slightly different, the aircraft being given a numeric number at the end of the code rather than the third letter as in a bomber unit. A made up example would be something like S4+B22.

Operational units wouldn't carry any aircraft designated for a particular role by their identification letter. You could do B3+SR if you wanted, the S would have no significance other than the aircraft's individual letter.

Cheers

Steve

 

[JonCOlsen]

Thanks Steve .