[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Mike and Vince,

Mike, the first of your most recent photos appears to be a different part from the one you first showed. Also, to the right, appears to be at least one oxidized cast aluminum part. Do these parts at all fit together?

As I understand the story, von Ohain had been constricted by the RLM in the design of the HeS 011 and, at the end of the war, ordered that all of the prototypes be destroyed in hopes of landing a contract with the U.S. to build more, free from the RLM constraints. IIRC, the U.S. Navy did order 12 new HeS 011's to be built. I've never been able to find the records of the Navy actually testing one of them.

If you refer to Antony Kay's book German Jet Engine and Gas Turbine Development, 1930-1945, page 44, Tony shows a photo of the 109-011 V1, which is far different from the post war version. If von Ohain destroyed the prototypes, what you may have is a mish-mash of prototype parts scrounged from his facility and brought back to the U.S. The fact that all you have are remnants tends to support this thesis.

Then, again, these parts might be to one or more engines that we simply don't have enough information upon which to draw a firm conclusion. Basically, I don't want to rah-rah us into a conclusion that we may not have adequate evidence to support.

Regards,
Richard