Late war Bf 109 pictures source

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Steve, you're welcome!

Jörn,

Thanks for your informations. One thing which should be considered is that the Bayreuth machine is actually W.Nr. 465 196. The small portion of the third digit to be seen does not exclude this option. I won't be in front of my laptop before Monday; I will have a closer look by then.

Cheers
Marc

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Franck, Nick,

Thanks for your informations!

Much appreciated!
Marc

[ouidjat]

You're welcome Marc,

Infortunately there's nothing readable before 196.

[RolandF]

Salut Marc,
Is 465196 a proven WNr? According to my ref this Erla block commences with 465200, my lowest WNr being 465253

Servus

Roland

[Rasmussen]

No --- the W.Nr.465916 didn't exist.

Regards
Rasmussen

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Jörn,

Typo for 465196?

Marc

[Rasmussen]

yes - 465196 didn't exist.

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Danke Jörn!

So what options do we have? W.Nr. xxx196 position on the rudder is consistent either for Erla or for WNF.

In my opinion, WNF is a cold case because I never came across a single WNF built Bf 109 G-14 or G-10 with a long tail wheel leg.

This leaves us with Erla produced Bf109 G-10's and rarer seen G-14's. Considering the oil filler cap high position, plainly visible on the inner side of the engine cowling won't help us out: if I understand things correctly, Erla did use the 56 liters oil tank on their AS engines planes as well (Jörn, please correct me if I'm wrong).

I won't argue now about the tiny part of the third digit to be seen as I'm still off computer. Options left now are:
- either Bf 109 G-14/AS W.Nr. 464 196 (right W.Nr. position on the rudder and documented planes in that batch having a tall tail wheel leg).
- or an Erla Bf 109 G-10 in the 150xxx-152xxx or the 490xxx-491xxx batch.

Hopefully more arguments will show up;-))

Cheers
Marc

[Rasmussen]

Originally Posted by Marc-André Haldimann

- either Bf 109 G-14/AS W.Nr. 464 196 (right W.Nr. position on the rudder and documented planes in that batch having a tall tail wheel leg).

Not an option --- the W.Nr.464196 wasn't an G-14/AS but an normal G-14, the position of the W.Nr. is wrong and the a/c had in all probability not an long tail wheel leg.

Regards
Rasmussen

[Marc-André Haldimann]

Ok Jörn,

So this is after all an Erla G-10; I'll tackle the third digit by Monday;-)).

Many thanks!
Marc