109 Relics to identify

Relics To Identify

The following pics have been sent in with queries as to their origin.

Any ideas on subtype or time period on this Hakenkreuz taken from a 109? Paint scheme? (Looks like 75/76 to me...)

Here's a G-2 with a double set of Trop filter mounting holes... did they just get it wrong when installing the brackets the first time?

Here's a good puzzle... we know it's an F (probably an F-4/trop, given the locale) based on the fuel filler door, it's in the Med because of the white stripe and wingtips, and it's been rather heavily stripped and souvenired. What unit did it come from? My guess is III./JG53 or III./JG77, and I lean towards JG53 based on the locale, the camo, and the style of the "yellow 9" (which appears to be in 27 instead of 04). Comments welcomed on the forum... also, if anyone has a loss record listed for a "yellow 9" in mid to late 1942 for III./JG53, that might be useful as well.

"A little rough on the landing there, Fritz..." This pic was taken at Chartres in 1944, but no other information was provided. Looks like bomb-blast damage has done it in... note the interior color of the wells matches the upper wing skinning visible through the missing lower wing panels, and that this bird was fitted with FuG16zy at one time. Any guesses on subtype or unit?

This is a pic I got from Jim Crow at the Nationals this year... this is one fascinating Berta (Why a Berta? You'll see in a second). Not only does it have the gargantuan oversized crosses applied during the Sitzkrieg as well as the overpainted red band behind the Hakenkreuz (that's why I think it's a Berta- most Cs and all Ds I've seen have just the Hakenkreuz painted right on the camouflage), the paint scheme is also terribly interesting in that only the fuselage sides appeared to get repainted from the old earlier style of small Balkankreuz. Note how the tone of the original paint on the wings is a close match to that on the upper fuselage... another question to be answered is "what color is the rumpfband"? Other similarly-marked JFS aircraft show an orange-ish or red band; Jerry Crandall has conclusively demonstrated that some filters show red as a very light tone, so is this perhaps another instance of that?