Air Ministry 52 in Canada eBay listing

[Vince Malfara]

Gentleman

I knew it would show up eventually and here is is a photo of Air Ministry 52 on display in Canada at the RCAF Staff College 1948.
Lee Walsh sent me the link tonight.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/321608501838...MakeTrack=true

Sorry if I posted it in the wrong forum. Very excited to see this.

Vince...

[Falcon]

Originally Posted by Vince Malfara

Sorry if I posted it in the wrong forum. Very excited to see this.

I see a Messerschmitt 262, so I think you are in correct forum. ;-)

[Revi16]

Some additional info here, http://silverhawkauthor.com/canadian...anada_410.html

[Vince Malfara]

Thank you Falcon and Revi16, I appreciate your help and comments.

Although there is so much information on the aircraft in question, Yellow 17 and AM 52 I still have my reservations that these two aircraft were actually one and the same. I have been tracking the AM 52 Me262 for over 15 years and there are too many discrepancies to make a positive determination that Yellow 17 is actually AM 52 or 500210. There has been some very good new information which has surfaced lately which puts a lot of the information currently available in question and outdated. I along with a few others ( who have been searching a bit longer than I) have surveyed and dug on the land where this aircraft was reportedly buried and interview several individuals with first hand knowledge of it's supposed demise and have yet to come up with any concrete evidence.

Still digging in Canada

Cheers

Vince...

[David E. Brown]

Hi Vince,

As you recall, based on my research the Downsview Me 262 is AirMin 52 / VH509 but its original German identity was unequivocally NOT Yellow 17 (WNr.500210), "Twente 2" (WNr.112372) or Yellow 5 (WNr.500443) but in all probability the fourth single-seat Me 262 aircraft found / surrendered at Schleswig and seen in the background of several photos taken there.

Its precise identity is uncertain but photographic and circumstantial evidence support the interpretation that it is an aircraft from JG 7, originally from I. Gruppe and coded "White 2" (1. Staffel ). It appears to have been transferred to the nightfighter unit 10./NJG 11 where its JG 7 unit markings and codes were overpainted. It was re-coded “Red 1” in the same style as other aircraft in its new unit. Its Werknummer is not known but the camouflage and markings point to coming from the end of the 111000, 112000 or 113000 Werknummer series (probably 1123xx) and it is hoped that a photo will eventually emerge confirming its Werknummer. It, along with is sister ship AirMin 51 (WNr.112372; above), are believed represent the only known examples of single-seat jet aircraft used operationally as nightfighters by the Luftwaffe during the last weeks of World War II.

Regarding “Yellow 17”, I believe that it became AirMin 79 and was the unknown / unaccounted for Me 262 that ended up at Orfordness along with the Arado Ar 234 B that is believed to have been AirMin 78. My bet is that this was “E2+30”, WNr.140107 of Erprobungsstelle Rechlin that was photographed by P/O Steve Butte of RCAF 403 Squadron at Schleswig on 14 July 1945.

Cheers,

David

[Vince Malfara]

Hi David

Thanks for your excellent representation of the facts as they stand today. I absolutely agree with you regarding the identity of Air Min 52. I have started to draft an article specific to this dilemma of Yellow 17 and Air Min 52. I have not received any reply's to emails sent to the gentlemen who posted their fathers photos of Yellow 17 at Lubeck which show the best port side view and a more legible W.Nr.

Best

Vince...

[taitbb]

Great photos. I think the more pressing concern though, is this, or is this not buried at the end of the runway at downsview airport. :-)

[Vince Malfara]

I had a conversation with one of the last people to see it before it disappeared. When it was no longer on the site he asked where it had gone he was told a supervisor at De Havilland Aircraft of Canada said it was buried. I will call him again as it has been a couple of years since I last talked with him, he is the one who took the photo of it on the scrap pile. He had drawn me a map of the location but it was too late for digging.
When they say at the end of a runway it was actually part of the tarmac area, it's long gone and covered by soccer fields, hockey arenas and parking lots, but there is one small area left which we never had GPR'd or access to until a few years ago.