Me262 found at Deelen

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by Richard T. Eger

It is possible that a decision was made not to use nameplates to avoid giving hints to the Allies where the hidden assembly facilities were located.
Regards,
Richard

Also possible are an economy measure or a shortage of plates (lack of metal, disrupted delivery of the finished item, bomb damage to the workshop that made them ...)

[Jaap Woortman]

But there is something visible at that place.

Jaap

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Jaap,

Taking your photos left to right:

1. That's the air scoop.

2. Could be the air scoop, but it seems too low for it and also rather elongated - more the shape of an ID plate.

3, The air scoop is clearly visible and open at the top of where you have circled. However, if you then compare what you and Franck think might be an ID plate below the scoop with the drawing provided by Stephen, those 4 black dots defining the rectangle just don't match up with the drawing. It's as if there are 4 black dots, but nothing else.

There really isn't anything unusual about the ID plate planned for the Me 262. It is likely the same pattern as used for other aircraft.

Regards,
Richard

[ouidjat]

Dear Richard,

An air scoop?
I don't see any air scoop on any machine at that place.

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Franck,

Trust me, the Me 262 had an air scoop for the cockpit. That said, I've gone through my stack of photos for white 29 and white 34 and those could, indeed, be ID plates.

Regards,
Richard

[ouidjat]

Richard,

I do trust you! No doubt about that, I just thought the scoop was closer to windscreen triangle, almost against the frame.
There is a good argument in your favour:
Why the hell "they" did put ID plates on 3 or 4 machines only??

It should be good to identify
1/ Type (sub-type) on which we can find them.
2/ Which assembly plant(or plants eventually) did do it as I would be very surprised to find one on Kuno's - for example.
....
Thinking about that, I have the same subsidiary question - but not in this thread - concerning the Bf109K-4 version!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best regards, Franck.

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Franck,

As you have pointed out, these potential ID plates appear on the Me 262A-1a/U3's. Eger Flugzeugwerke in Czechslovakia was charged with converting Me 262's to this configuration. We know that the A-1a/U3's had a rather unique camouflage scheme and that most, if not all, had a large white outline number on the forward fuselage, although I'm not sure exactly when this was applied. If I recall correctly, David E. Brown told me that the camouflage painting of these machines was of an excellent quality. It is possible that specifically Eger installed ID plates on the aircraft they converted.

Regards,
Richard

[stephen f. polyak]

Guys,

I'll be honest, I too am enjoying the discussions here, and thanks to all contributors.

While some of the photos offer tempting possibilities, I still have not seen indisputable proof of a 262 main plate on a fuselage. It could be that main plates were the rare exception not the rule, or that main plates were for some reason not fitted. If main plates were on 262s, even a small number, sooner or later hard evidence will come out. Really strange, but for that matter has anyone ever seen a main plate on a Me163, Ar234, He162, etc?

I can say with some certainty that, perhaps without exception, main data plates on German WW2 airplanes (one per plane) were located on the left side of the fuselage or on the leading edge of the left wing near the fuselage (i.e., wing root). Also, the main plate was fitted to the outside of the airframe.

Plate features changed later in the war: For example - zinc replaced aluminum, hand-made plates (small pieces of blank metal without acid etching/screen printing) were used more often, manufactured etched/printed plates became smaller, manufactured plates were trimmed or reversed for reuse. Entries were added by basic hand stamping, whereas, earlier, entries were sometimes added carefully by mechanical engraving with a rotary bit, acceptance/inspector stamp marks were less frequent.

Airframe part and assembly plates were on 262s. Here are some examples.

Best regards,
Steve

Originally Posted by Nick Beale

Also possible are an economy measure or a shortage of plates (lack of metal, disrupted delivery of the finished item, bomb damage to the workshop that made them ...)