[Graham Boak]

If V-7 = 009, then which aircraft was A-05 that visited DB, in one source? (DB have no record.) And which was 007/008?

There are a number of contradictory pieces of information published - were there originally 10 airframes ordered or 6? If it was ten then reduced to six, that explains why four numbers may be missing before we get the development batch A-0s. It seems entirely logical that the DB605 prototypes, like the true DB603 prototypes, should follow the short batch of A-0, or even be conversions as the hybrid A-03/4 were. Logic may well be a weak reed in this case.

If we accept Dr. Mankau's selection of the evidence (reasonably enough) then which aircraft were 007, 008, 0015 and 0016? Perhaps the latter were "cancelled" A-05 and A-06, both of which appear in some sources but not in others?

Some time I had considerable correspondence with Dr. Mankau, and I agree that he is the most reliable source, though I would turn to his articles in Flugzeug which are much fuller than the comments in the Petrick book. I think he would agree that the full history of the aircraft has not yet surfaced - unless of course he has since obtained more!

PS Eric Brown claimed to have flown an Ar240 with DB605 engines postwar, from a French (or French-occupied) airfield. Does your available information help to identify which this could have been?