Location and date of Oesau picture required.

[Pilot]

Thank you Tony for this nice image in your first post. One question: if I am not wrong, on the first image can be seen something like yellow stripes over pale yellow rudder? Any idea?

Cheers

[tcolvin]

Ther are no yellow stripes over the rudder, Srecko, so they must be a consequence of the low-pixel 207kb scan. Since you provide an e-mail I will send you a 5 mb scan so you can see for yourself - and that goes for anyone else who wants one.

I attach here scans of two other prints in the same series that show pilots, but this time unidentified.
The caption under the picture of pilots in flying suits - one wearing a German leather flying jacket - is; "Jagdflieger an der Messerschmitt Me 109", "Foto Berger".
The caption under the picture of what looks like pilots in overalls, is "Jagdeinsitzer Messerschmitt Me 109 beim Einsatz"", "Foto von Perckhammer".
Doe anybody recognise the people and locations of these two pictures?
Again, 4MB scans of these can be e-mailed to anyone who wants them - my e-mail was provided in an earlier post.

Tony

[Don Pearson]

The pilot in the center of the first photo is Hans Philipp, JG 54.

Don

[tcolvin]

Thanks, Don.
You bring these old pictures to life.

Tony

[VtwinVince]

The man on the right in the second photo bears a resemblance to Guenther Luetzow, or maybe it's just my failing eyesight?

[Pilot]

Thank you Tony Your high resolution material answer everything! No stripes, just plain yellow.

Cheers

[ouidjat]

Originally Posted by tcolvin

How did it work when a Gruppenkommandeur had his own aircraft, on which he painted his score, and that aircraft became unserviceable because, say, it needed an engine change or repair to battle damage?

Tony

Hi Tony,

I thought about this many times, and not only this plane. I reached to the only possible conclusion, they took the rudder out to put it on another plane. I even gone further: was it possible to take it out from a Bf109E to put on Bf109F??? Of course, these are only speculations: Better ideas?

other commentaries:
- The first Oesau picture put in this thread have been Highly repainted.
- Yes, Oesau did put victories on rudders see his "White 13" for instance.
- And the guy on the picture (B&W one) IS Balthasar.

Last I've read this thread many times, I still don't know when, where, this picture have been taken; lot of mixture and confusion...

Regards,
Franck.

[thenelm]

This plane was initially flown by Balthasar, but Oesau took over the machine when he replaced as Gr.Kdr. of III./JG 3. As I recall WNr. 1559's camo changed over time, the fuselage being repainted with a fairly uniform dark green at some point. Photos of it from both 'owners' appear in the various Prien team publications, only one which purports to be of when it was actually Oesau's 'machine'. There are subtle differences in the markings in this this one picture.

[Don Pearson]

Having overlooked the obvious, Oesau is not yet wearing his Oak Leaves which he was awarded on 6 February, 1941. As Kutscha pointed out, the location then is more than likely Desvres, and the timeframe November 11 1940-February 5 1941.

Don

[tcolvin]

Originally Posted by ouidjat

Hi Tony,

I thought about this many times, and not only this plane. I reached to the only possible conclusion, they took the rudder out to put it on another plane. I even gone further: was it possible to take it out from a Bf109E to put on Bf109F??? Of course, these are only speculations: Better ideas?
Franck.

But Franck, Balthasar has painted the fin/vertical stabilizer, as well as the rudder.
AFAIK there is no way the fin could be changed in the field since it is one of the most important structural items of the entire airframe, and subject to tremendous leverage forces.
It always struck me as quaint that the original Me 109 had bracing struts on the horizontal stabilizer holding the elevator, showing there had been strength problems. The struts must have cost several mph.
Changing the rudder was more likely possible in the field.
But it's all speculation.

Tony