WWII War Birds - pics and video

[nugunner]

Those Messerschmidts were probably the Spanish license-built Hispano Aviacion HA-1112-M1L, which were the production variant with the Rolls Royce Merlin. About 65 were built in the 50s and were later used in the film "Battle of Britain".

Interestingly, Israel operated Czechoslovak built Avia S-199 versions of the Messerschmidt from May to December 1948, during the War of Independence. They even shot down Egyptian Spitfires. They were so dangerous to fly, they were withdrawn after that.

 

[JR Hartman]

amazing stuff! thank you.

oh and a 109 wouldn't have a BMW in it anyway, it would be a Daimler Benz DB600 series.

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

...Interestingly, Israel operated Czechoslovak built Avia S-199 versions of the Messerschmidt from May to December 1948, during the War of Independence. They even shot down Egyptian Spitfires. They were so dangerous to fly, they were withdrawn after that.

Lumpy looking thing, isn't it? Compare that to the original:

That tumour at the back of the cowling is not flattering.

 

[diopter]

Design and development[edit]

Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine

Junkers Jumo 211F Engine

Avia continued building Messerschmitt Bf 109G-6s after the war under the Avia S-99 name, but soon ran out of the 109's Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine after many were destroyed during an explosion at a warehouse in Krásné Březno. The S-199 continued to use the Bf 109G airframe but, with none of the original engines available, an alternative engine had to be used. It was decided that as a replacement for the original engine, the aircraft would use the same engine (Junkers Jumo 211 F) and propeller as the Heinkel He 111 bomber. The resulting combination of parts was an aircraft with extremely poor handling qualities. The substitute engine with the propeller lacked the responsiveness of the Daimler-Benz unit and the torque created by the massive paddle-bladed propeller made control very difficult. This, in combination with the 109's narrow-track undercarriage, made landings and take-offs extremely hazardous.

The Daimler-Benz DB 605 engine allowed for a central cannon mount (Motorkanone in German) that fired through the propeller spinner. This was not possible with the Junkers Jumo 211, and so the S-199 used a version of the Luftwaffe's Rüstsatz VI modification kit, which consisted of a pair of MG 151 cannon, one each in a gun pod, one beneath each wing. This further impinged on the aircraft's performance. A final hidden danger lay in the gun synchronizer for the cowl-mounted MG 131 machine guns, which did not work as it was meant to, leading a few Israeli aircraft to shoot off their own propellers.[1]

Around 550 S-199s were built, including a number of conversion trainers designated CS-199 (armed) and C-210 (unarmed). The first flight took place in March 1947, and production ended in 1949. The last examples were withdrawn from Czechoslovak service (with their National Security Guard) in 1957.

 

[4307]

Here's a photo from my grandfather. He served in the Luftwaffe, as a pilot.
The back of the photo lists the pilots and their planes markings.

Fliegergruppe Cottbus, Staffel II, 19/10.35 (19/10/1935)
Pre-war monoplanes: Heinkel He-46c reconnaissance fighter, aka: "the flying cloths line". Unarmed in this photo.
location of the photo: Fürth Germany.

We recently found this photo behind another framed family photo. The photo is quite large 11"x7.75". I want to get it re-framed under UV glass.

I come from a family of German pilots, my Grand Uncle who flew and died in his Messerschmitt over Romania in late 1944.
My Great grandfather was a Captain in the Luftwaffe stationed in Holland.
We have a pile of photo's of my Grandfathers uncle from WWI, who was a pilot under Ernst Udet then reassigned to Jasta 20, flew a Rumpler C-IV, then assigned to Jasta 71, flew a Fokker D.VII with custom skin design named "OttO". he was issued an Albatros, but flew "OttO" until the Armistice.
Wingnut Wings made a 1/32 scale model of his Fokker D.VII "OttO" apparently Otto's plane "OttO" was the only plane that incorporated a pilots name into the skin design. There were 3 D.VII sporting words in Jasta 71. #1 was named "Lude"(nickname), the next was "Ede"(nickname) and then "OttO" (pilots name) and remained in that flying formation and at the aerodrome. His D.VII machine is also in the video game Rise of Flight.

h ttp://www.msc-hansgrade-berlin.de/image_zoom.php?show=N2QxOGUyNDkxMmNhY2ZjMzEzYjQ1MTM1ZTdiNTk4NjEuanBnP3dpZHRoPSI4MDAiIGhlaWdodD0iNTMxIg%3D%3D

Since this is a WWII thread, I'll stick to posting this. Prewar but still Luftwaffe...

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

4307 - that's quite an esteemed lineage. Cool picture, too. Got me thinking about German WW2 training aircraft, specifically the BF/ME 108 - not specifically a trainer (more a liason machine really) but a lovely trim little thing, as one might expect from Willi and crew:

Not THE aircraft, but painted to represent it...

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

"Outside work" - plenty of fresh air and exercise...

 

[JR Hartman]

that P-38 is cool!

 

[Ganderite]

I like everything about the P38 except the lack of an ejection seat.

 

[JR Hartman]

ummm? nothing back then had it.

or did I miss the funny somehow?

 

[Dark Alley Dan]

Nice to see there are still a few flying:

"Glacier Girl" (17630) has quite the story. She looked like this when they rediscovered her:

 

[Ganderite]

ummm? nothing back then had it.

or did I miss the funny somehow?

Look at the horizontal stabilizer behind the cockpit. Bailing out was a challenge, between rolling down the side window and then dodging the stabilizer.

 

[JR Hartman]

oh, I get why, but no one had them back then. That's just how it was. People got hit by the tailplane all the time. But then again, no one got spinal fractures from Martin Baker either.

 

[Jedi_CGB]

Thanks so much for sharing this!
My Great Uncle Al was an aircraft mechanic on Malta. Buzz Beurling was one of the pilots in the squadron he worked on.
Sadly he was killed when the Germans strafed the airfield.
I've always been a huge Warbird fanatic.

 

[tommyinbc]

A couple of pics taken at Warbird Adventures in Florida a couple of summers ago. My brother and I went up in the two Texan T-6's...A special day for the both of us..

 

[Pblatzz]

Well here's where you can buy one, they are indeed or were used in the making of the Battle of Brittan...

http://www.platinumfighters.com/#!ha-1112-m1l/c12zi

 

[bush1]

Nice to see there are still a few flying:
"Glacier Girl" (17630) has quite the story. She looked like this when they rediscovered her:

That was quite the story about retrieving it from the ice cap and restoring it to flying condition. I was at Oshkosh the first summer that it flew and sat in on their video and slide presentation of the whole process. They even retrieved the guns and ammo and fired off a bunch of rounds up on the ice cap. The presentation was over an hour and given by the guys that were on scene digging her out. Impressive to say the least.

 

[catapult]

During a port visit in Tokyo. A visit at the Yûshûkan war museum.

 

[CV32]

A few pics of the Vickers Vimy that Steve Fossett and Mark Rebholz flew in July 2005 to recreate the first nonstop crossing of the Atlantic in June 1919.

As you may recall, Fossett went missing a couple of years later in the Sierra Madre Mountains (while flying another aircraft) and his crash site was discovered a year after that.

 

[sail32]

"Glacier Gal" was one of six P-38s and two B-17 Bombers that landed on the Greenland ice cap.

http://p38assn.org/glaciergirl/index.htm