Erla built Bf109G-14/AS Red 5 of JG300

  

During the autumn of 1944 Erla delivered a series of Bf109G-14/AS aircraft to units engaged in the Reichdefense. Unlike Erla built G-10's, the Erla G14-/AS didn't have the refined engine cowling. Neither did it have the redundant lower cowl bumps of the Mtt Regensburg built G-14/AS. It did have the deeper oil cooler and the enlarged oil tank that can also be found on regular Erla built G-14's. 

Red 5 was photographed at Borkheide in the autumn of 1944 and was flown by an unknown pilot of 2./JG300. This aircraft was very similar to the more famous Red 2 "Rita" flown by Eberhard Gzik. A colourphoto of Red 5 clearly shows that the numerals of 2./JG300 were a brighter red than the fuselageband.   

Gelbe 8 - another dull, late-war aircraft, or...?

 

I started looking into Gelbe 8 due to a discussion on social media, an aircraft that I've known about for a long time but never looked at closer as it honestly looked quite dull. 

Coming back to it after having spent considerable time on learning the paint schemes of various factories and their W.Nr batches, this one actually has some very interesting details. First, the contrast between upper colours suggests a camouflage of 75 and 81, which is rare for an Erla built aircraft. What is more rare is the fin, it's painted like a typical fin from a Mtt Regensburg aircraft, NOT a typical Erla built aircraft. 

As if that wasn't enough, there's a slight curve to the panel line below the windscreen! These unique features makes me wonder if this aircraft in it's relatively short career had a visit to a frontreparatur for a check up that included some fresh paint and some body work. 

Found at Ainring after the war, it's believed to have been a III./JG300 aicraft possibly flown by Jochen Stiege.  

Bf109G-14/AS of Bruno Klostermann

This is the Bf109G-14/AS flown by Bruno Klostermann in the autumn of 1944. Klostermann was a cousin of famous French ace Pierre Clostermann. Klostermann was killed in action on January 14:th, 1945, flying an Erla built Bf109G-10 marked Green 12. This however is clearly a Mtt Regensburg built Bf109G-14/AS.

Bf109G-14/AS from JG300

A photo found on Ebay shows the fuselage of this aircraft beeing made ready to be towed away from a field following a crash/emergency landing. The tailband makes it certain that it's a JG300 aircraft. The medium tone numeral with white outlines looks like the numerals used by 11./JG300 although it's hard to be certain.

The JG300 losslist shows a Bf109G-14/AS Green 14, lost on January 30, 1945 after the pilot Uffz. Gerhard von Strassmann crashed on take off from Mark Zwuschen while on a ferry flight. Whether it's the aircraft in question is impossible to tell though.

Both colors in the top fuselage camoflage are too dark to be RLM75 so I've opted for latewar colors. The nose seems lighter as does the tail but that wouldn't be unusal with missmatched parts from different productiobatches. The wings are not seen in the picture and could have been in any of the late-war pattern. 

Updated the profile 2013-11-24

Erla Bf109G-10 from JG300

This is another one of those dark painted, Erla built Bf109G-10's. In this case there seems to be only one color on the upper surfaces, the small differences more likely being the result of weathering and a slightly uneven paint application. The newly released promopicture of the coming Revell Bf109G-10 seems to show this scheme, but with the wrong enginecowling as the boxart shows it in 74/75/76.


W.Nr comes from Jörg Meincke via Marc-André Haldimann. Also, credit goes to Jörg Meincke for correcting the caption.