Kdo. Nowotny markings : STOP THE MYTH !

[George Hopp]

If "jsf" is the Lw code for the company working on Me 262 tails, it describes "Pollmann, Franz, Moebelfabrik, Steinheim i/Westf." And, what better than a furniture company to make wooden parts for an aircraft.

[Nick Beale]

So have we established that there was no camouflage scheme common to all Kdo. Nowotny aircraft?

[O.Menu]

Hi Nick, it's pretty sure that there was different camouflages since the airplanes came from different factories.
What is pretty sure also is that none of them got any yellow fuselage band and that the famous wooden tail fin with "snake" camouflage was not the rule but the exception if not absent.

I just found a good picture from one of this wooden tail fin and rudder, and strangely there is not any navigation light visible. Could this be the explanation to why it was mostly, if not only, delivered to training or experimental units but not to combat units, last few weeks of war excepted?

[O.Menu]

Me 262 Rudder Evolution:

Except prototypes, three kinds of rudders are found.

- The earlier type got the navigation light enclosed inside a transparent cap. Probably because of its light catching properties it usually appear more white than clear on photos.
…

- The late type got the navigation light fixed on the bottom rudder tips, which was the usual emplacement on German fighters.


- The intermediate and experimental wooden fin which seems to have the navigation light fixed under the rudder as visible here from shots from “white7” 110376, left side only, “white 1+S” possibly 170047, left & right and “9K+FH” 111685, left & right. I guess this last one got a change from its rudder only, not the fin, and that its “snake” pattern was then over-painted which could be the explanation for its unusual black rudder. Actually I m not able to see any ampoule, only its supposed emplacement which I first thought to be some damage.
… …

NOTE: I would be pleased for any help about navigation light on the wooden tail-plane.

Sources:
Photo1 > French mag, “Ciel de Guerre” No.04, 2005.
Photo2 > widely published (Me 262 towing a gliding bomb)
Photo3 > Burindo “Famous Airplanes of the World” No.115.
Photo4 > Luftwaffe Warbirds Photo Album Vol.3, Delta Pub., 1993.
Photo5 > French mag, “Aéro Journal” N°1, 1998.
Photo6 > French mag, “Aéro Journal” N°1, 1998.
Photo7 > French mag, “Le Fanatique de l’Aviation” Hors Serie N°28H, 2005.
Photo8 > Luftwaffe Warbirds Photo Album Vol.1, Delta Pub., 1992.

[Dan O'Connell]

The first "stenciled tail" photo, of White 7, with the exposed interior, was taken at a dump in Neubiberg. The other two, of White 1, were taken at Innsbruck. I am greatly enjoying this conversation; I have tried for years and years to stop this "Kdo Nowotny" myth.

[O.Menu]

Ok, it definitely seems that this intermediate wooden experimental fin can be identified from its non flat under part. And it was not specific to the “snake” fins as you will see bellow with rudder from “17+S” 110956 left & right, “B3+CL” 110567 right side only (note missing cap) and finally one more from “9K+FH” showing that it was finally not so dark on her right side at least, probably some kind of red or yellow over-sprayed with a dark-green serpentine.

… …

Sources:
Photo1 > Burindo “Famous Airplanes of the World” No.115.
Photo2 > Luftwaffe Warbirds Photo Album Vol.3, Delta Pub., 1993.
Photo3 > “Wings of the Black Cross”, Nb 3, M.Proulx, 2005.
Photo4 > “JV44, The Galland Circus”, R.Forsyth, 1996.

[pstrany]

Hi;

Interesting theory about the alternative "underslung" tail nav light, but I think it would not be practical to locate the nav light UNDER the rudder. Also, as I look at the photos shown (and also scanning what I have) I note that the "opening" does not appear to be consistent, and has a rather "jagged" appearance.

May I suggest an alternative explanation? Overzealous pilots.

What I have noted in looking at these pictures, and many others, is that the shape of the bottom of the rudder in some aircraft is nicely rounded, while on others it is very flat. My hobby is "building" virtual aircraft for a flight sim, which tends to make one very aware of movement and function. For instance, note the Flettner tab on the rudder which virtually all 262s had (though it is rarely noted.)
I also include this screenshot:



Though I know it is a model (nobody would let me rotate a real 262 on its tail to illustrate my point, hence this shot) it illustrates clearly that when the 262 over-rotated, the first area of contact with the ground was the rudder. I would submit that the big problem with the early tail light arrangement was that the plexi "globe" was shattered too often by pilots over-rotating, either on take-off or landing, and could explain why the nav light was relocated. I also submit that while metal may dent, the wooden rudders would be more prone to shattering, hence the rather jagged nature of the bottom of the wooden rudders illustrated.

Certainly, on the photo of “white7” 110376, it would appear that the entire bottom of the rudder is gone! This may be why the wooden tails were not used more, because the wood would shatter where the metal tails would usually just dent, making them more resilient. Again, the fact that a lot of aircraft with metal tails seem to have a flattened "bottom" to the rudder (albeit at an angle, similar to that illustrated by my example above) indicates to me that this is a very real possibility, and indeed may have been a quite common occurance.

Paul