Red 109s

[Vraa84]

Hi

I just finished reading W/C Gibbs' Not peace but a sword. In it he mentions being attacked by Bf 109s that are painted red with yellow noses.

Does anyone know what unit operated such a/c or if it is a fault observation.

TIA
Nicolaj

[Red Baroness]

Does the author make mention of the geschwader?

About the only "yellow nosed" geschwader that I can think of is 26, but unless you can give me a date and operational area of the book, I'm really unable to come to a conclusion as to which JG it might have been.

I don't think, right off the top of my head, that any Luftwaffe pilot would be crackers enough to paint his plane entirely red; that tends to make targets really easy to spot.

It is possible that in the waning sunlight or the morning lowlight of dawn, planes that are silver could appear to be red due to refraction.

[Griffon]

AFAIK, there was only one entirely red fighter in the LW, and this was an early ME-163B

[Rob Romero]

Hermann Graf (212) flew Bf-109s and Fw-190s in the West with prominent red 'Tulip' noses and yellow markings.

Rob Romero

[Red Baroness]

Yep. Graf also sprang to mind. His Focke was beautifully painted. I have that profile in my CFS3 game and I "steal" it from the aerodrome from time to time to fly it.

I can imagine the chewing I would get when I return it in the state I usually do - a few holes here and there, a bit of a tree branch... the usual.

Who was the pilot of the all-red 163B - wasn't that the prototype they painted that color? *goes to check the new Komet DVD she just got*

[Adriano Baumgartner]

High,
It seems that some Fw 190 A-8´s from IV/ JG 3 also had red noses. I would like to mention that of Uffz. Willi Unger for example and if you do have the book Fw 190 in Action you also see that other JG 3 machines had a red nose!
Cheers...

[Adriano Baumgartner]

For Red Baroness: Subject RED Me 163 Komet
For this query, I fully recommend the book of Wolfgant Spate: Top Secret Bird, Me 163 Komet. He describe the entire DFS and Me 163 Program in AMAZING details. Certainly a MUST read for all those who like the subject.
Hope you will find the book easily. It is cheap and very interesting.
All the best

[Red Baroness]

Hi Adriano;

I have the Wings of Fire video that was released a while back on the Komet; still haven't gotten around to watching it fully yet. I think I've seen a version of Spaete's book in my local bookstore.

Regards,

Cori

[JerryBoucher]

Let's not forget that one of the early Bf109Es 'D-ISLU' was painted entirely red.

[Vraa84]

Hi

Thank you all for the information.

The incident discreped took place off Le Havre in the summer of 1941. The authors oppinnion on the LW pilot, was that they where inwillingly to press home any of their 5 attacks, and that this was what save the formation.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Nicolaj