Wings of Luftwaffe at the service of the R.A.F.

[pampa14]

During World War II a variety of Luftwaffe aircraft were captured and tested by the Royal Air Force. The following link provides an extensive collection of photos of these aircraft with British markings:

Aviação em Floripa: Asas da Luftwaffe a serviço da R.A.F.


Hope you enjoy and I count on your visit!

 

[vikingBerserker]

Very interesting, thanks for posting.

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

 

[nuuumannn]

Here's a bit of background to some of the aircraft in that line up for interest's sake, from my records.

Second and 23rd image from the top shows Ta 152H-1 on display during the German Aircraft Exhibition at Farnborough in October/November 1945; note the Fw 190A behind it and the nose of the Ju 188 behind its tail in the first image. The Ta 152 was given the Air Ministry number Air Min 11, visible on the right hand side and was eventually scrapped.

Fourth and 20th from the top is Bf 109E-3 DG200 in flight without its canopy. This was removed because the test pilot was so tall he couldn't fit in! It was eventually misplaced. It was at the time this picture was taken part of No.1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight and was forced landed at Manston in November 1940. It survives at the RAF Museum and was fitted with the canopy from a Bf 109G for a number of years, which prompted enthusiasts to write disgruntled letters to the museum about it!

Fifth, 35th and 44th from the top is Bf 109E-3 AE479 of the Air Fighting Development Unit. It was written off in an accident in the USA in 1942.

Sixth down shows Me 262A-2a, which was captured by 616 Sqn equipped with Gloster Meteors at the time. It was assigned the number Air Min 51 and survives today on display at the RAF Museum, after display at St Athan and then Cosford for many years.

Eighth and 16th down is Me 262A-2a Yellow 17, which was also captured at Schleswig and flown by 616 Sqn personnel. It went to the UK and became Air Min 52 before going to Canada, where after sale to a private individual it was scrapped by him! Note the Fw 190 captured by 182 Sqn and wearing the code XM behind it.

10th and 33rd down is Ju 88A-1 AX919, which forced landed near Bexhill during the Battle of Britain. It was eventually scrapped and used as a source of spares for other captured Ju 88s.

12th down is a Bf 109G captured in Italy by 318 Sqn personnel and decorated with its squadron code LW and the Polish checker board marking on the nose.

17th and 28th down is an He 111H captured in Egypt by 260 Sqn and adorned with its codes HS-?.

The Bf 109F with the bomb painted on it forced landed at Beachy Head in late 1942 and was given the serial NN644. It was eventually scrapped. The bomb marking was from JG 26.

22nd and 25th down is Fw 190A-3 MP499 wearing yellow prototype P in a circle marking. This aircraft was a significant acquisition as it was the machine accidentally landed at RAF Pembry, South Wales by Oblt Arnim Faber and was the first intact Fw 190 captured by the Allies. The JG 2 Cockerel's Head emblem can be seen on its nose cowl. The aircraft was scrapped post war, but bits survivie, including its windscreen armour plate and instrument panel at the Shoreham Aviation Museum.

27th down is a special transport variant of the Fw 200 Condor; this particular one was Heinrich Himmler's and later Karl Donitz' once he became Fuhrer after Hitler's death. The aircraft was assigned Air Min 54and was sadly scrapped - with such distinguished personal connections to it, it would have made an intriguing subject for preservation.

30th down is Ju 88G-1 night fighter TP190, in which the pilot got lost and landed by accident at RAF Woodbridge.

36th down is Bf 110G-4/R-3 Air Min 30 and is shown on display during the Enemy Aircraft Exhibition at Farnborough. This picture is often captioned as being the RAF Museum's surviving example, but that was AM 34, not this aircraft, which was scrapped. It is one of a couple of Bf 110s that arrived in the UK that were thought to have been flown by Heinz-Wolfgang Schnaufer.

39th down and the last image is Me 163B-1a VF241, which was the only Komet that was flown in the UK post war. Taken aloft under tow by a Spitfire, it was flown by test pilot Eric 'Winkle' Brown and in his memoirs Wings on my Sleeve he claims that he flew the aircraft under power, which in previous accounts, including his recollection Wings of the Luftwaffe, he said he flew it only as a glider. Most other accounts of Komets in the UK post war state that none were flown under power, but Brown certainly stands by the claim tha he did fly it under rocket propulsion.

40th down is a retouched image of Bf 109G-2 wearing the CV-V codes of Australian No 3 Sqn, personnel of which captured the aircraft intact in Egypt, where it was flown by Sqn Ldr Bobby Gibbes, who is possibly flying it in this picture. The aircraft is better known to aviation enthusiasts the world over as Black 6 and enjoyed a number of years doing flying displays around the UK in the 1990s before it was tipped onto its back on landing at Duxford. An Air Historic Branch airframe, it is now on display at Hendon.

43rd down is Ju 88R-1 night fighter PJ876, in which its crew defected to the UK by prior arrangement, landing at Dyce (Aberdeen) in 1943. It survives at the RAF Museum.

Third from the bottom is Ju 88A-6 HM509, which landed by accident at RAF Chivenor in 1941. It was eventually scrapped.