Ulrich Steinhilpers Yellow 2

 

For the first time, I'm posting a profile of an aircraft of which no known photos exist, Ulrich Steinhilpers "Yellow 2" that he flew on a mission against England on October 27th 1940 that ended with him being shot down and taken prisoner. 

Ulrich Steinhilper wrote a book about his life in the Luftwaffe that has been often quoted by authors for the German perspective on the Battle of Britain. One author who have leaned on Steinhilper for the German perspeptive is James Holland in his "The Battle of Britain" that I finished reading this summer. 

Just when I finished the book, Kotare posted the marking options for their upcoming model of the Bf109E-4 and included Steinhilpers aircraft as one of the options. Their idea of how the aircraft could have looked seemed wrong though as it included the JG52 shield and sword emblem below the windscreen and had the Running boar emblem moved to aft of the Balkenkreuz. These were changes to the markings of I./JG52 that was made after the Battle of Britain, either in Germany or the Netherlands.  

I went back to known photos of I./JG52 aircraft during the Battle of Britain and during September and October 1940 the Running Boar emblem was still displayed on the nose. The nose was painted yellow all the way back to the windscreen. Some photos shows spinners in Black-green and white while others shows yellow. 

3./JG52 seems to have used brown numerals which was often the case for the third staffel. Photos shows tactical numbers darker than the yellow in the fuel triangle for example. Also, "Yellow 4" that was shot down on the same day as Steinhilper is described in the intelligence report as having a yellow nose and an orange "4". I have there fore opted for RLM 26 for the "2" on Steinhilpers aircraft.  

Finally, Holland mentions that Steinhilper had five victorymarkings on the tail of his aircraft the day he flew what would be his last mission. I've added the five markings in the same style and placement as on Helmut Bennemanns aircraft as such markings most likely would be similar on aircraft within the unit.  

Finally, the general look of the aircraft - as the W.Nr is known, it's 2798, and there is a photo of aircraft from the same W.Nr range taken at Regensburg, I could use that to try and do a similar style of mottle and stencils. 

Without a photo it's of course impossible to be certain that a profile is correct, but I'm confident that it's as close as it can be given what we know. 

 When Yellow 13 of 9./JG51 belly landed on a beach near Calais it was photographed A LOT! It's an interesting aircraft with the III./JG51 axe emblem and the yellow markings used by the fighter units of the Luftwaffe during the second half of August 1940. A replacement panel that is obviously taken from another aircraft due to the mis matched colour can be seen in the first photos of the crash. Most photos shows the aircraft with those panels removed though so many older profiles lacks that detail. 

Some sources say that this was the aircraft of Karl Heinz Schnell while other sources say pilot unknown.  

Edit: After my initial post I found a picture of Yellow 13 before the belly landing and it does seem to show Karl-Heinz Schnell in the cockpit. The profile has also been updatedt to reflect details I found in other pictures.  

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.   

White 1 of Paul Schalk, 5./JG11

 

 

White 1 of Paul Schalk is featured in three photos in Priens "Jagdfliegerverbände der Deutschen Luftwaffe Teil 16/1" although it's misidentified as a G-14/AS. It's actually an Erla built G-10. The aircraft shows traces of repainting in several places and the fuselage cross is slightly skewed. The yellow fuselage band of JG11 seems to have been overpainted with RLM 75 unless the yellow colour has the exact same tonal value as the 75 which is possible but unlikely. So, it's another late war aircraft painted to look as dull as possible. 

 

It's possble that White 1 was flown looking like this with the yellow fuselage band in place, but as there's also signs on the fuselage that the tactical number has been replaced at one time or other it's impossible to know for certain.

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.  

JG1 in Normandy - Friedrich Zanders Blue 22

 

 

During its time in Normandy after the invasion, the Gruppenstab of III./JG1changed its markings from white numerals to blue. There's photos of Blue 22 and Blue 23 that shows this practice which is also confirmed by the loss lists. 

The photos of Blue 22  shows the area below the cockpit up to and including the numerals and a part behind the Balkenkreuz. The camouflage and stencils proves that Blue 22 was built by Mtt Regensburg and the III./JG1 loss lists shows several aircraft in the 165.xxx W.Nr batch. 

Details in the paintwork seems to confirm this, pointing towards the tall tail version found within the 165.xxx batch. I've finished the profile accordingly. Although markings were simple during the Normandy campaign, most aircraft seems to have had spinner spirals applied as it was an important I.D. marking.

 

Bf109F-2 flown by Wilhelm Balthasar

 

Another aircraft flown by a Geschwaderkommodore! This time W.Nr 5749, an F-2 flown by Wilhelm Balthasar during the summer of 1941. The bold markings and the aggressive angle of the Chevron makes for an interesting looking aircraft. The 31 victory stripes on the rudder shows that the photos of this aircraft were taken between May 19 and June 22 of 1941.