Credited with 104 aerial victories by the end of WW2, all of them on the Western Front, Adolf Galland was one of the highest scoring aces of the war. A true gentleman, as well as warrior, Galland seemed to have a sincere mutual respect for his adversaries, as well as his own peers.
One story tells of an instance concerning the capture of RAF Ace Douglas Bader after he was forced to bail out of his stricken Spitfire over St.Omer, France. Bader and Galland were both well known to each other, each of them high scoring pilots in there respective air forces. Bader was taken into custody by none other than the men of JG26, and entertained by Galland and his comrades for several days afterward.
Gallands recognition of the elevated status of his "guest" prompted him to allow Bader to check out in the cockpit of one of the Geschwader's Bf 109s, under escort of course.
Bader somewhat cheekily asked if Galland wouldn't mind him taking the plane for a short flight around the airfield, to which Galland kindly replied that he feared that Bader might try to escape, and that he would have to give chase, and they would just have to start shooting at each other again.
Bader and Galland would go on to become good friends after the war.
Of all of the different planes that Adolf Galland flew during the war, the one that comes to mind most readily, for me anyway, is the Bf 109E-4 that he used while serving as the leader of JG26 in 1941.
The Emil, as it came to be known, was probably the most elegant fighter plane in the Luftwaffe. It's lines and graceful styling made it as beautiful as it was deadly, and many RAF pilots would attest to both.
Armed with two Rheinmetall MG17 7.9mm machine guns under the nose cowl, and two Oerlikon MG/FF 20mm cannons in the wing roots, the Emil was a hard hitting weapon against the Spitfires and Hurricanes during the Battle of Britain.
The Bf 109E-4 was powered by a Daimler-Benz 1175hp DB601A inverted V-12 liquid cooled engine, and could reach a top speed of 348mph. The rather narrow landing gear mounting and resulting wheel track however made the 109 quite a handful on the ground, and a deft touch on the rudder pedals was essential for smooth and stable maneuvering when taking off and landing. Quite a few 109s were lost in ground accidents, and pilots killed because of this one shortcoming in the plane's design.
Yellow cowls, tails, and sometimes wingtips became the order of the day for many Luftwaffe Fighters as a recognition aid for AA crews, that they might not shoot there own airplanes down. The planes of JG26 were almost famously known for their yellow noses in particular. The Jagdgeschwader known unofficially as the Abbyville Boys by allied pilots; JG26 being based for a time near Abbyville, France, was to prove itself as a deadly efficient fighter group. After establishing itself among the other squadrons, and deep in the psyche of the allied bomber and fighter crews as a team of top guns, any German Fighter encountered afterward sporting a yellow nose would be considered to be one of the Abbyville Boys, whether it belonged to JG26 or not!
The plane depicted here is a Bf 109E-4, flown by Oberstleutnant Adolf Galland, during cross channel operations in 1941. Replete in it's bright yellow nose and rudder, and Gallands personal emblem, a Mickey Mouse like character packing a pistol and an axe just below the cockpit, this Emil made for a very colorful mount indeed. Ahead of the mouse is the scroll with the stylized "S" denoting the official name of the Jagdgescwader, Schlageter. 57 kill marks are painted on the rudder.
This model was built from a 1/48 scale Pegasus kit.
The Luftwaffe was certainly on the cutting edge of technology during the Second World War, and the same holds true today. After many post war years of using primarily U.S. military aircraft designs, many built in Germany under licence, the Luftwaffe acquired the Panavia Tornado, an excellent fighter/bomber platform, produced by no less than three countries; Great Britain, Italy, and Germany. Tornado has served them well for more than thirty years, however, nothing lasts forever, and the need to sharpen their already razor edge has come.
Enter the Eurofighter Typhoon, an aircraft also built by three different companies in as many countries; EADS in Germany, BAE Systems in Great Britain, and Alenia Aeronautica in Italy.
The Typhoon uses the most current state of the art technology for everything from flight management to weapons guidance. The plane is extremely maneuverable, and not due to thrust vectoring, as with the F-22 Raptor for instance, but the computerized "fly-by-wire' flight management system. Large area delta wings, forward canards, and two powerful Eurojet EJ200 turbofan engines, each capable of producing 13,000-20,000 pounds of thrust, combine to make an airplane so fast and maneuverable that adversaries will struggle greatly to get the edge over it in combat. The Typhoon is also more economical to operate than most of it's contemporaries, incorporating a feature in the engine management called super cruise. This allows the Typhoon to cruise at super sonic speeds without having to use it's after burners.
The weapons system of Typhoon uses GPS guidance to put a multitude of different ordinance accurately on the target, assuring that the aircraft will not have to fly over the target area more than one time, if at all. Several stand off weapons are available to the Typhoon that allow for strikes on targets many miles away from the aircraft's actual position. As a result, the target can be eliminated without the enemy ever knowing that the shot was coming.
Last, but surely not least, the Typhoon also incorporates the Mauser BK27 27mm cannon as secondary armament, used primarily in the air to air role.
The plane depicted here is a Typhoon two-seat trainer variant, belonging to Jagdgeschwader 73 "Steinhoff". at Laage-Rostok, May 2004.
It's interesting to note that the Luftwaffe to this very day still has a penchant for painting it's fighter aircraft in an overall light blue-grey color, not too dissimilar to the light blue used on WW2 era Luftwaffe planes. If it works, don't change it!
This example is void of any under wing stores, only the weapons pylons and a center mount belly tank are fitted. The Luftwaffe has stated that their two-seaters will only be used in the training role, and the single seat variants reserved for combat.
This model was built from the 1/72 scale Revell kit.
By far the Messerschmitt 109 was the premier workhorse of the Luftwaffe fighter units, hands down. Produced in such huge numbers, and variants as it was, the 109 in all of it's forms could be relied upon to get the job done, no problems at all. Well, it seems that way at least.
The Bf-109G-6 was an up-gunned, up-powered, up and in your face flavor of the venerable fighter that saw extensive service in the Mediterranean, Western and Eastern fronts.
Armed with two MG131 13mm machine guns in the nose, and two MG151 20mm cannons under the wings, the G-6 was particularly effective against the larger multi-engined bombers.
This model represents a Bf-109G-6 flown by Emil Clade, Greece 1944. The small diorama setting depicts Hauptmann Clade being assisted by a ground crewman into his parachute prior to a sortie as a mechanic finishes up work on guns or engine, and buttons up the cowl.
The model was built to 1/48 scale from an Academy kit.
My real passion, when it comes to building Luftwaffe aircraft, is by far the Focke Wulf Fw-190. Of all the great airplanes of the Luftwaffe, the Fw-190 has a special line of purpose and aggression that just can't be beat.
Designed by Kurt Tank, technical director at Focke Wulf, the Fw-190 was introduced into service in the summer of 1941. The plane showed great promise from the start, however, severe engine over-heating problems threatened to shut the project down. Kurt Tank would have none of it. Changes were made with haste to solve the problems, and keep the "Butcher Bird" alive, and as a result, the 190 would go on to be one of the best and most feared fighter planes of the war.
This replica represents an Fw-190A-6, as flown by Oberfeldwebel Anton Rudolf Piffer, with 2/JG1, in Deelen, Netherlands, summer 1943.
Piffer was credited with 35 kills, including 26 4-engined bombers on the Western Front by the end of the war.
Sadly, he was killed in action over Normandy, in a dogfight with P-51 Mustangs, June, 17th, 1944.
The paint scheme on this plane is rather unique, even a bit rare. Few Fw-190s had such colorful noses as this one does. As a result, it stands out rather strikingly against others of it's type, and, in my collection.
This example was built to 1/48 scale from a Hasegawa kit.
With all of the really great options out there, when it comes to Luftwaffe planes, for modelers and collectors to choose from, it seems to me that the bombers and transports take a bit of a back seat to the fighters. That's why this very first post here will feature the good ol' Dornier Do-17E.
Designed originally as a passenger liner, the Do-17 was turned down by the airlines of the day due to the small diameter of the fuselage, and the very awkward entry/exit accommodations. As such, the plane would come to be known by the men who flew it as the flying pencil.
Pressed into military service, the Do-17, and it's future derivatives, would go on to prove themselves over and again as very capable bombers, recon platforms, and even heavy and night fighters right up to the end of the Second World War.
This particular replica was built from an old Airfix kit in 1/72 scale. It represents an aircraft that flew and fought in the Polish campaign, September, 1939. Unit information on this particular plane however is lacking.
Nonetheless, this model represents a very important part of WW2 Luftwaffe history, and is a welcome addition to my collection.
