Me 262 plate, assembly nos.

[Horst Kube]

Dear friends,

I have an original plate from a Me 262 in the size 45 x 32 cm. On the reverse side of the plate are printed numbers 31165, see attached scan.

History of the plate: It was a present from a museum in the USA to Walter Schuck about 10 years ago. They explained that the captured and damaged Me 262 was brougt to the US after the war and should be restored. But due to lack of their budget, the restoring was never done.

My questions:

Does anyone know to which part of the aircraft the panel belonged? I presume it was assembled as a side panel?

Was the typing of the numbers 31165 originally for German production, or were they brought on later in the US to remember how to assemble the parts again after the planned restoring?

Thanks for any help,
Horst