The Aerospace History Blog - Page 18
The absolute last airplane of the Luftwaffe A friend visited me in 1991 and stood in front of my shelf with many books about the Luftwaffe and said: "I played in a Stuka as a boy". When I showed him the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" in a type book, he shook his head. Leafing through the book, he then pointed to a photo: "That was the Stuka" - it was a photo of a Messerschmitt Bf 109.    The story goes like this: A few days before the end of the war, a Luftwaffe pilot landed his plane in the evening in a meadow near his parents' farm in the Brunswick area. He was a deserter and was afraid of losing his life senselessly in a last suicide mission for the nazis. His father pulled the plane into his large barn with two horses and covered the Bf 109 with lots of hay. He hid his son in the cowshed. The matter was forgotten after the war.    In the early 1970s, the children of the village discovered the plane and used it as a playground. The ammunition was handed over to the Bundeswehr under a cover story and the fuel was drained. In the mid- 1980s, the former pilot wanted to sell his farm and move into a retirement home. However, he was afraid that if his desertion became known, and because he had stolen the plane from the state, he would lose his pension. So, together with a scrap dealer, he dismantled the Messerschmitt Bf 109 with chainsaws and pressed the parts in a car press. Only the engine caused problems. The two men smashed it into small pieces with large hammers.
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Photo: Uwe W. Jack collection Contact
Posted by Uwe W. Jack
Lufthansa stewardess 1944/45 While searching for documents, I found an envelope with the inscription "Do not publish in lifetime". In the mid-1980s, an airplane enthusiast had given me copies of a family member's Lufthansa ID card. After 40 years, I looked inside the envelope. Unfortunately, the color copy of the front is badly faded, but the inside is in good condition. But it is a rare historic document. The stewardess flew with Lufthansa until the last days of the war and survived.    The document contains the signature of the commander of Tempelhof Airport, Lieutenant Colonel Rudolf Böttger. He refused the order to blow up the airport buildings. Many civilians were staying there, and a hospital had been set up. Böttger died at the end of April 1945 shortly before Soviet troops captured the Tempelhof building. Either he was shot by the SS or he committed suicide,    As it is difficult to read, I am reproducing the German text plus the English translation here.
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2 illustrations: Uwe W. Jack collection Contact
Posted by Uwe W. Jack
4 centimeters a year! An adult's fingernails grow by four centimeters every year. That doesn't seem particularly remarkable. But there are two strange similarities with processes that have nothing to do with humans.    In the middle of the Atlantic, new seabed is emerging from the liquid interior of the Earth. This mass is pushing America and Europe away from each other. So the Atlantic is getting wider: By four centimeters every year.    Tides are caused by the moon. This has repercussions on its orbit, the moon slowly drifts away from the earth: by four centimeters every year. Since Apollo 11 carried out the first moon landing in 1969, the moon has moved away from us by more than two meters (about 7 feet).    So the next time you cut your fingernails, look at the width of the section to see how far America and Europe and the Earth and the Moon have moved away from each other again...
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3 graphics: Uwe W. Jack using public domain illustrations Contact
Posted by Uwe W. Jack
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4 centimeters a year
4 centimeters a year
4 centimeters a year
The holder undertakes to comply with the relevant airport regulations and to follow the instructions of the supervisory staff. The airport management is not liable for accidents and damage during the stay at the airport. This pass is non-transferable and must be presented to the gatekeeper without being asked. Only valid for the holder identified by photograph and personal signature. ************************** Identity card no. 14972 The holder identified by this identity card: Miss Ursula Schiemenz is a member of our company. Berlin, March 29, 1944 Deutche Lufthansa Joint Stock Company
Inhaber verpflichtet sich, die für den Flughafen maßgeblichen Bestimmungen zu beachten und den Anweisungen der Aufsichtsbeamten Folge zu leisten. Haftung der Flughafenleitung für Unfälle und Schäden während des Auf- enthalts im Flughafen erfolgt nicht. Dieser Ausweis ist nicht übertragbar und ist dem Pförtner unaufgefordert  vorzuzeigen. Nur gültig für den durch Lichtbild und eigenhändige Unterschrift aus- gewiesenen Inhaber. *************************** Ausweiskarte Nr. 14972 Der durch diese Ausweiskarte aus- gewiesene Inhaber: Fräulein Ursula Schiemenz gehört unserer Gesellschaft an. Berlin, den 29. März 1944 Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft
Ursula Schiemenz handwritten signature This pass authorizes the holder to enter the following parts of the airport Tempelhof on which he has official business. According to decree. R.L.M. B II L No. 2202/35 of July 19, 1935 Signature: Böttger (Colonel Rudolf) Airport management Stamp: Air base commander - Tempelhof Stamp: Lieutenant Colonel and airbase commander
Ursula Schiemenz eigenhändige Unterschrift Dieser Ausweis berechtigt den Inhaber zum Betreten der Teile des Flughafens Tempelhof auf denen er dienstlich zu tun hat. Gem. Erlaß. R.L.M. B II L Nr. 2202/35 v. 19.7.35 Unterschrift: Böttger Flughafenleitung Stamp:  Fliegerhorstkommandant - Tempelhof Stamp:  Oberstleutnant und Fliegerhorstkommandant
I visited my friend in his home village in 1992. Inspired by this story, we looked under the hay in his own barn - and discovered not an airplane, but a horse carriage over 100 years old. I naturally looked for the scrap dealer. The former pilot had died in the meantime and the scrap dealer was not very talkative. But he showed me the cover of the Daimler-Benz engine gearbox. He had kept it as a souvenir. This was a remnant of what was probably the last Luftwaffe aircraft that had never been decommissioned.
It was a photo of a Messerschmitt Bf 109 my friend pointed at.
The most ugly Messerschmitt At the beginning of the 1960s, Messerschmitt presented a transporter project. Similar to the Short Skyvan, but slightly larger, the Me P 141 was to be inexpensive to produce and operate. Large doors at the nose and tail were to make loading easy. The crew was to have four members. A passenger version was also proposed.
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2 illustrations: Messerschmitt Contact
Posted by Uwe W. Jack
Me P 141 Wingspan 22.0 m Length 15.1 m Height 4.5 m Wing area 44,0 m2 Empty mass 3360 kg Take-off mass 7800 kg Cruising speed 330 km/h Range max. 6000 km Range with 2000 kg payload 2000 km Take-off/landing distance 750 m Propulsion 2 x turboprop with 1000 hp each