Ju 87D on its nose (photo)

[Nick Beale]

If (according to www2.dk) Stab/SG 151 had no aircraft in November or December 1944, it's at least possible that continued to function purely as an HQ and not as a flying formation up to the end of the war.

It's not a "classic" NSG 2 machine (white D3 unit codes + coloured letter and black Staffel letter) but by the end of the war, who knows? That Gruppe left Bayreuth for Straubing in mid-April, incidentally.

I agree with the suggestion that it's a repossessed Hungarian aircraft and it has a yellow fuselage band, so I wonder whether it was taken over by Luftflotte 4. That in turn might point to NSG 10.

[ChristianK]

The longer I look into this, the more I'm inclined to believe the Hungarian theory too (i.e. that this is a former Hungarian machine).
At first I had my doubts because of the exact same shade of the color on the fuselage/wings and the inside of the Balkenkreuze (no sings of overpainting of the white Hungarian centres), but this bird might have featured the low-viz Hungarian markings originally, not the ones with the white inlay. This adaption also explains the unusually narrow application of the fuselage Balkenkreuz. Excellently spotted, guys!

By the way - Nick (or anyone else), do you have a better shot of the attached NSGr. 2-Stuka? I am trying to decypher its markings for some years now...

[Graham Boak]

The combination of Luftwaffe and Hungarian markings on the same airframe has also been seen on the widely-copied photos of Ar96 trainers in Austria.

[Nick Beale]

Originally Posted by ChristianK

Nick (or anyone else), do you have a better shot of the attached NSGr. 2-Stuka?

No such luck, unfortunately.

[ChristianK]

In case anyone is still interested, I just browsed through my photos and found another good shot of this plane (see attachment). You can see a unit emblem and the name "Maxi". A quick Google search for Hungarian Stukas revealed this very same emblem in at least one color profile (sadly, no information about the unit was given and I am not firm enough in Hungarian aviation history to identify it by myself)

I also checked one of the older photos again and discovered the code "B-7" in front of the fuselage cross - which was the Hungarian aircraft code for Ju 87 D-5s. According to the book "Hungarian Eagles" by Punka et al (Hikoki) codes from "B-7+01" up to "B-7+20" had been in use by the Hungarian Air Force. I guess this clears up some questions. "Maxi" seems to be a "re-germanized" Hungarian plane indeed.

Cheers,
Christian

[Dénes Bernád]

Thanks, Christian for the attachments.
I am still very much interested in this intriguing topic.
Do you own the copy of the photo?
I am asking it, because I also saved these screenshots from the net a while ago.
Can I ask you if you actually see the B7 code on the fuselage? Because all I see is a Black 1, aft the fuselage cross.

[ChristianK]

Hi Dénes, and no, I don't own the original - but I can indeed see the code "B-" to the left of the fuselage band, "7" between it and the Balkenkreuz. There also is another number right next to the "1", but it is not readable.


Do you know anything about the emblem?