http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1839
64. Wollenweber, p. 138, identifies the eleventh He 162 and second one at the far end of the right side as an A-2, W.Nr. 120077, "Red 1". Franks, p. 26, says, "W.Nr. 120077: Allocated to 2./JG 1 at Leck as 'Red 1' (some sources state 'Red 2'), captured there by the British in May 1945 ...". Note the "Red 1", the black surround to the gunport and the "wolf's head"
wappen.
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1843
65. This very poor photo shows a "Red 1" over a painted out "2" parked at the edge of a forest. Note the cut pine tree beneath the wing and more lying behind the He 162 probably placed on the wings as camouflage. This "Red 1" has the "wolf's head"
wappen of 2./JG 1 and there is gunpowder residue in front of the gunport with black surround. Even with the rain tarp on the engine nacelle, it is apparent that the entire nacelles of JG 1 were painted entirely in dark camo and that there was no RLM 76 blue/white on the nacelle.
The pro-tem
Staffelfuhrer of 2./JG 1 up to 1 May 1945 had been Ltn. Gerhard Hanf. His previous unit had been in III/JG 77 from which he had adopted the "wolf's head" as his
Staffelwappen. As
Staffelfuhrer, Hanf would have had "Red 1" as his personal aircraft, but on 1 May 1945 he was replaced by Hptm. Wolfgang Ludewig as
Staffelkapitän.
Both this photo and the one above are the only ones I have seen in original markings and both are of the starboard side.
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1844
66. W.Nr. 120077, "Red 1", was one of five He 162s that were selected by Col. Harold E. Watson for
Operation Lusty and one of the four crated and shipped by train to Cherbourg, France. Placed aboard the Liberty ship
Richard J. Gatling, it sailed on 12 July 1945 and arrived in New Jersey about 1 August. "Red 1" was then shipped overland to Freeman Field, Seymour, Indiana, where it was re-assembled and coded FE489.
W.Nr. 120077 must have been repainted at Freeman Field. Note the fake RLM 76 on the engine nacelle and lack of black surround on the gunport. Franks, p. 74, says this about Hanf's "
Nervenklau" motto on the port side, "There is no wartime photographic or documentary proof that this marking was ever applied whilst in service. It was certainly added when it was repainted in the USA though...".
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1845
67. I apologize for not making a note of the source of this photo when I downloaded it. If it is true, then Hanf himself explained why "
Nervenklau" would have been found on the port side of his "Red 1" at Leck.
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1846
68. On 24 July 1946, W.Nr. 120077, re-coded as T2-489, was transferred from Freeman Field to Roger's Lake, Muroc, CA, [later Edwards AFB], where Lt. Bob Hoover, seen here, flew it once. Note the spurious markings and camouflage.
http://forum.12oclockhigh.net/album....pictureid=1847
69. "By 1947 this airframe was at the University of Kansas. In 1948 sold to Mr. Eddie Fisher and taken to Kansas City; Found there by Ed Maloney in the 1960's and purchased for his new museum at Claremont, California; Moved to Maloney's Planes of Fame Museum at Chino, California; Extant", Franks, p. 26.