Me 262 plate, assembly nos.

[Horst Kube]

Dear friends,

I have an original plate from a Me 262 in the size 45 x 32 cm. On the reverse side of the plate are printed numbers 31165, see attached scan.

History of the plate: It was a present from a museum in the USA to Walter Schuck about 10 years ago. They explained that the captured and damaged Me 262 was brougt to the US after the war and should be restored. But due to lack of their budget, the restoring was never done.

My questions:

Does anyone know to which part of the aircraft the panel belonged? I presume it was assembled as a side panel?

Was the typing of the numbers 31165 originally for German production, or were they brought on later in the US to remember how to assemble the parts again after the planned restoring?

Thanks for any help,
Horst

[jim norton]

hi,
i think these numbers say something about the material of the piece. then they are german.
regards
jim

[phil]

hello Its indeed 100% the marcation of composition of the metal.
its standart
phil

[vzlion]

I agree with Phil and Jim. However, I would be interested in which musum it came from. All museum Me 262s are very well known so it should be easy to identify.

Walt

[Me 109 K-4]

Hello Horst,

I also guess that the stamps refer to the material.
See attached the inside of the wing of the Me 262 in the "Deutsches Museum" in munich.

Regards,

Matthias

[RolandF]

3116.5 significates the quality of the metal sheets, in this case Duraluminium. Between the figures you can faintly see the manufacturer´s logo.
3 = Light metal
1 = copper-magnesium Duraluminium
1 = ?
6 = ?
.
5 = externally hardened and treated

Hope this helps

Regards

Roland

[Horst Kube]

Thank you guys,
all of you were a great help!!!

Best regards, Horst