Me262 found at Deelen

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear All,

I just got off the phone with my friend Manfred Boehme. It does, indeed, seem likely that the "L" was the last letter of the unit code for this aircraft.

According to Manfred, W.Nr. 130026 was assigned to Erprobungskommando Schenk on 5.7.44. The Kdo. initially used large letters, with W.Nr. 130026 being black "A". At the end of Aug. 1944, Kdo. Schenk was absorbed into KG 51 and the aircraft's code was changed to 9K+AL. It was assigned to 3./KG 51 and the unit was working up at Lechfeld. During the first week, the unit moved to its operational base at Rheine. On 12.9.44 W.Nr. 130026 was shot down by German flak. A few parts from it were found at Elden, which was 3.1 km southwest of Arnheim.

Regards,
Richard

[edNorth]

Good catch to find that part with the W.Nr. painted. Having "L" (painted after W.Nr.) has many similar instances in Ju 88´s. These W.Nr. usually were painted on detachable parts, where R or L stood for right or left, as I understand it, as aid to mark the (detachiable) part, and its proper place on the airframe. Finding W.Nr. matching loss reports usually nails down correct plane wreck.
Best
Ed

[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 ...)

[Don Pearson]

Is it possible that the rivets on a data plate, or the plate itself, would present an aerodynamic issue? Or be torn off at speed?

Don

[ouidjat]

Originally Posted by Don Pearson

Is it possible that the rivets on a data plate, or the plate itself, would present an aerodynamic issue? Or be torn off at speed?

Don

Hello Don,

No doubt about that specially when we look at late machine being puttying on these area to make them smooth.
Another reason:
During the sixties and 70s the aerodynamic lessons given at SUPAERO Toulouse used a book (I had, or maybe I still have) in which full chapter was dedicated to Bernoulli number and surface effect using ... Me262 example were riveted skin and puttyied skins were both studied!


Regards, Franck.

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Stephen,

I can help you with the 3 ID plates that you show:

Baugruppe
262.601 Triebwerksverkleidung am Flügel rechts
262.307 Tragflügel links, Querruder links
262.514 Landeklappe außen rechts

Regards,
Richard

[Jaap Woortman]

In Luftwaffe over Czech territory - 1945 IV, I have found this picture.

Jaap

[Vince Malfara]

Nice conversation here. Regarding Stephens post about data plates, I'll continue to search until I find something more definitive, until then I found a listing on eBay, I hope this is allowed, showing the smaller version of plates.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/WW2-German-Lu...item35df3291ab

[Richard T. Eger]

Dear Jaap,

The various Baugruppe for the Me 262 were, themselves, grouped via "F" numbers. Here are the major breakdowns according to a table in the first manual for the Oct. 1943 Ersatzteil-Liste published by Hafner Archiv:

Rumpfwerk F 105
--Rumpf F 100
----Rumpfmittelteil F 103
----Rumpfhinterteil F 104
----Führerraum F 101
Rumpfspitze F 106
Leitwerk F 300
Tragwerk F 500
--Tragflügel links F 501
--Tragflügel rechts F 502
Triebwerk links F 600
Triebwerk rechts F 601

Regards,
Richard

[stephen f. polyak]

Richard,

Thank you for those details.

Steve

Originally Posted by Richard T. Eger

Dear Stephen,

I can help you with the 3 ID plates that you show:

Baugruppe
262.601 Triebwerksverkleidung am Flügel rechts
262.307 Tragflügel links, Querruder links
262.514 Landeklappe außen rechts

Regards,
Richard