[Charles Bavarois]

Marc,

please let me add a few thoughts to your great scenario on Wertheim.

Quote:
“Summer 1944: Wertheim' Flumann GmbH becomes a Messerschmitt repair facility carrying repair work in their Schlossberg tunnel workshop. Acceptance flights are carried out”

Flugzeugwerke Mannheim “Flumann” was doing repairs on Bf 109s at least since 1942. Flumann always was an independent plant with its own leadership, workers, infrastructure and budget. It never was a subcontractor of Messerschmitt. I have acceptance-flights of repaired a/c from 1942 up to March 1944 at Mannheim and from Juli 1944 from Wertheim.

Quote:
“End of January 1945: due to operational priorities, acceptance flights activities in the Amberg-Schafhof-Vilseck area are shut down”

We can verify a lot of acceptence-flights at Vilseck, Amberg and Cham up the the end of March and even early April 1945 what is very near to the absolute cessation of Bf 109 production itself. As for Amberg-Schafhof: Sharing an airfield with an operational flying unit was not unusual. Just remember München-Riem, Neuburg/Donau, Schwerin, Leipzig-Mockau a.s.o).
BTW: IV./SG 151 was not an operational flying unit, but a mere advanced training group and stopping activities of A/B 43 and A/B 121 has no conection to Messerschmitt, but was part of the general reduction of training due to fuel-shortages.


Quote:
“From February 1945 onwards, part of the Bodenwöhr airframes production is sent to Wertheim for engine and wings outfitting, final assembly, test and acceptance flights”..

This points towards a general shift of final-assembly to Wertheim. Actually it was a small-scale and unique stopgap measure. Hauptausschuss Flugzeugbau filed a report on the situation on a/c-deliveries on 14. February 1945 and said:
“Zur Entlastung vom Mtt.R wurden den Reparaturwerken Flumann Wertheim und Wels im Januar für je 30 Flugzeuge die Großbauteile übergeben. Eine Ausbrigung von diesen aufgerüsteten Flugzeugen erfolgte bis 10.2.45 nicht“
(rough translation: to relieve Messerschmitt-Regensburg in January 1945 major subassemblies for 30 a/c each were handed over to repairworks Flumann at Wertheim and Wels”. None of these rigged-up a/c was delivered up to 10. February 1945”

The term “Großbauteile” regularily is connected to larger prefabricated parts of an a/c, for example the fully equipped fuselage including the cockpit, the complete wings, the engine with all necessary equipment and with its cowlings attached (“Triebwerk”). This explains, why the K-4s at Wertheim were without engines. Flumanns task was to fit “ready to use” Triebwerke and wings to the fuselage, to built in weapons and radio and to do the regular works on Einflug and Abnahme. Also “aufgerüstet” points towards some “putting together” of parts, not real production of any kind.


Another thing:

Looking at the foto of the tunnel-entrance, I consider, that the tunnel itself was quite narrow. The tunnels at Tisnov or at Gevelsberg were much broader. Installing machines and tools for wing-repair perhaps was possible, but not for fuselages and certainly not for wings and fuselages at the same time. I think, we have to look for other facilities around the Schlossbergtunnel, perhaps some wooden buildings in the forrest or some of the hangars of the Wertheim Fliegerhorst.

HTH

Carl