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Old 21st September 2019, 19:56
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Walter Nowotny's 262

Sorry if this has been asked before.

In the book 'German Fighter Ace Walter Nowotny an Illustrated Biography', page 151. Author Werner Held describs the events of 8th November 1944 as quote "Shortly thereafter the Rotte Schall in Hesepe and the Rotte Wegmann in Achmer took off. Each Rotte reported shootdowns after the first contact with the enemy. Lt Schall reported that his Rotte comrade, Fw Daudach, was shot down. Then a new announcement came from Schall: "My plane is on fire! bale out!". Anger and despair came over Nowotny. He called his driver and told Schnörrer: "Come with me Quax, I'm taking off!". Galland's cry, "Stay here, Nowotny!" remained unheard.
In Achmer, "Weifle 8" was ready for take-off. Nowotny's "Weifle 1" was in the hanger for reconditioning!

Now I'm confused. Most people assume Nowotny's aircraft was White 8 because that was the aircraft he was flying when he was killed. But Werner Held clearly states Nowotny's aircraft was actually white 1, which was in the hanger and couldn't be flown that day.

To confuse things further, it appears White 1 was the aircraft of Lt. Franz Schall.

Thoughts?
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