III./JG53 Kommandeur Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke

Flown by the commander of III./JG53 this aircraft was photographed at Mannheim-Sandhofen in March 1941. The finish seems to have suffered from heavy polishing which has partially removed the mottle. Despite of that, the aircfraft does appear rather dirty as well. It's hard to tell whether the panel in front of the windscreen was RLM71 or RLM04 but photos of Jürgen Harders famous "Chevron Circle" shows the panel as RLM04 and it seems likely that all the aircraft of the Stabschwarm would use the same scheme.

The Wrk.Nr of this aircraft is not known but the camoflage of RLM02/71 in the same pattern as used for the Bf109E during 1940 is identical to other aircraft in the Erla built 80xx series.