Bf109 Neubau 1/44 to 3/45

[ArtieBob]

Bf 109 G with DB 605 AS. Early deliveries were all Umbau, beginning with Erla, Antwerp. 2 in 1943 (probably Dec., none in Jan., 26 in Feb., 46 from Erla in Mar. plus 20 from RW E, 43 from Erla in Apr. plus 48 from Rw E and 5 from BV. After that the data I have is not complete. Prien and Rodeike's book is generally excellent, but I believe the C-Amt monthly reports were not in circulation when their book was written. The key is separating Neubau from Umbau as defined by the RLM. "It appears that if the conversion was done after leaving the assembly plant, then the aircraft would be considered “Umbau”. A good example is the Bf 109 G-5/R2 referred to by Rasmussen in his message of on 12 Sep 05 . These Bf 109 G-5 aircraft were apparently converted to the Bf 109 G5/R2 subtype at the Erla Antwerp repair and modification facility (no new build final assembly was done at this facility during 1944) and 34 Bf 109 Aufklarer from Erla A (Antwerp) appear in the monthly reports for Umbau aircraft for July 1944. These may have been “new” aircraft, with only test flight and ferry time from the Erla final assembly plant at Leipzig to Antwerp, but Umbau is how they were identified by the RLM."

Best regards,

Artie Bob

[John P Cooper]

Can someone confirm for me the relevance of the follwing documents as they relate to the BAL (Bauaufsicht Luft).

1) L.Dv. 61/1

2)L.Dv. 61/2

Additional does anyone know of a source for reproductions of this material?

[Jochen Prien]

Dear ArtieBob,

you are right - when we put together the Bf 109 F - K some 12 or more years ago we had only fragments of the C-Amts Listen at our disposal which helped a great deal but also left some questions unanswered.

With all the new material that has been unearthed since it would be high time for a new - third - edition if we only had time for it. Right now we are fully booked out with work on the JFV series. The need for a revamping the F - K study is great as - at least in my opinion - nothing has been published since that would mark a real step ahead in the field of '109 research or could even be considered as the definitive work. Not to be misunderstood - we consider our small volume as just what it is labelled - an illustrated study. But as such - and even more so in an updated version - it could hold ist own against anything that has been published since.

Jochen Prien