Aircraft Tail Swaz - Identification Help!
 

I friend of mine has this tail swaz panel on what appears to be red backed canvas.

On the reverse it mentions being taken off a German aircraft in April 45'.

Does anyone have any idea as to what aircraft this could be from...?

https://i.postimg.cc/63d4bzQp/Sw-1.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/G21HDYjw/Sw-2.jpg




Cheers,

CM

Re: Aircraft Tail Swaz - Identification Help!
 

Hallo Max,

It could be any one of the "doppeldecker" or twin-engined trainers (Fw 58) used by the LW, since they were made of canvas with fuselages of wood/steel tubes.

Sadly without a werknummer it will be almost impossible to determine the type of machine simply by this "standard" swastika applied on the rudder.

Most humbly yours,
A.

Re: Aircraft Tail Swaz - Identification Help!
 

Do you know at least where the aircraft or this item was found or obtained in March 1945? Maybe some persons can help you determine the possible type with this information.

A.

Re: Aircraft Tail Swaz - Identification Help!
 

Hi Adriano,

Unfortunately my friend said he has no knowledge of its origin or the aircraft it came from which is a shame.

I am looking to purchase it from him so was wanting to get some feedback on its possible aircraft origin, but this will be likely impossible as you have said which is a shame.

Re: Aircraft Tail Swaz - Identification Help!
 

glider possibly...maybe Fi156

Re: Aircraft Tail Swaz - Identification Help!
 

Well remembered Harrison! I focused on old trainers but your suggestions are more pausible...Good bet!

Re: Aircraft Tail Swaz - Identification Help!
 

Very interesting!

It does say written on the back.

"TAKEN FROM GERMAN PLANE" 4 / 25 / 45


And what my friend believed said HOT GERMANY below that I have had another look and I believe the 'T' is in fact an "F".....

Which would make it - HOF GERMANY, a town in North Eastern Bavaria, near the Czech border.

.
.
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Re: Aircraft Tail Swaz - Identification Help!
 

Max,
This is what Larry de Zeng (and all) site (https://www.ww2.dk/lwairfields.html) about WW2 airfields do says about Hof:
Hof (GER) (50 19 00 N – 11 52 22 E)
General: field airstrip (Feldflugplatz) in Bavaria 115 km NNE of
Nürnberg, 47.5 km NNE of Bayreuth, 28 km SW of Plauen; airfield 3
km WNW of the town of Hof. History: 1927 listed as an emergency
landing ground (Notlandeplatz). 1928 list as a civil landing ground
(Verkehrslandeplatz). No records found of wartime use. Surface and
Dimensions: grass surface on clay soil measuring approx. 460 x 395
meters (500 x 430 yards) and irregular in shape. Infrastructure: had
a small hangar on the W boundary and an admin building on the S
boundary.
[Sources: AFHRA A5258 p.958 (1944); chronologies; BA-MA; NARA;
PRO/NA; web site ww2.dk]
So we can see that it was NOT an operational base of the Luftwaffe...so units linked to this airfield can not be established.

One must try to find elsewhere (maybe via Nick Beale and the DEFE3 messages or ULTRA or via other War Diaries) if pilots "running away from Russian Captivity" landed there with Fi 156...

I remember the War Diary of Oberleutnant Norbert Hannig (Luftwaffe Ace), when he describe a similar flight on a Fi 156, getting away from Prague to somewhere near his hometown by early May 1945, when things got "hot" on the Czech city...

You can see from the runaway dimensions that only light aircraft would be able to land there...which confirms the CANVAS which we can see on the swastika...

Now to find the correct werknummer and codes and fate of this machine, probably will be a "hard nut to crack". I do not say it is impossible....but at this period of the war, the register of losses, etc...is much more difficult to find (from what I have read from experts here).

IT is nevertheless a nice piece of History.

A.

Re: Aircraft Tail Swaz - Identification Help!
 

Many thanks Adriano for this information, it is very much appreciated.

Like you have said, I would say that accurate identification of aircraft type is likely impossible with no other information on the panel available.

Thank you very much for your help!

Cheers,

Christian

Re: Aircraft Tail Swaz - Identification Help!
 

Different aircraft had different size swastikas. Perhaps the dimensions could help?