Me262A1a Parts

[Matt L]

Hi guys,

I thought this might be interesting to some- it's a collection of Me262 fragments recovered from one of the Schwarzwald Waldwerke (forest assembly sites). The fellow who found them apparently just had a tire go flat on the Autobahn one day and as he fixed it, he noticed some bits of metal in the grass between him and the treeline- following the 'breadcrumbs' he found small bits of metal strewn about, most relatively small, but a little research and study of some of the pieces he picked up showed it was indeed one of the Kuno sites, and the pieces were from Me262s.

Apparently this particular site was attacked by the USAAF at the end of the war and destroyed, and the remains of the jets certainly show it.

I wasn't told just where this site was of course, but I was lucky enough to obtain a few very interesting pieces. The two best are the front canopy inner Panzerglas frame and the upper surface skin section that covered the rear edge of probably the number two (right) engine. Of course I picked up a number of smaller parts as well- a thick piece of aluminum engine component, a cockpit circuit breaker, the forward few centimetres of the pitot tube, several pieces of aluminum skin and ribbing, 4 Wartungsklappen (access panels), two instrument faces, the starboard formation light Plexiglas filter (green), a bit of 12mm thick Panzerglas, and a piece of 6mm thick Plexiglas canopy window.

Here are some photos:

First is the section of upper wing skin, covering the aft portion of the starboard engine nacelle- clearly showing the effects of the bombing as it's crumpled and torn like it was tissue paper; interestingly, it also has several bullet holes that appear to be of the .303 calibre size, so I wonder if the site was attacked by British/Commonwealth Jabos?

What's really great about this piece is it is a more-or-less intact panel, retaining a good portion of it's probably RLM 82 and 83 paint as well as the text 'Hier nicht scheiben' (don't push here), and the interior face has a data plate clearly marked with the part number '262601.002'. Interestingly it has handwritten markings as well- presumably done during construction and originally underneath the paint- '121', which may be the last three digits of the Werknummer? And 'R', which is what makes me think it's from the starboard, right, engine.

That it was blown off the aircraft violently is pretty obvious just from the torn rivets and significant crumpling and tears, but even moreso since it was originally bent in half, the bottom curved end actually touching the upper, straight edge; you can see on the interior shot how the axial rib is broken at its midline where the bend was. None of the possible bullet holes line up, suggesting it would have been shot up prior to being blown up.

[Matt L]

Here's the Panzerglas windscreen frame- made of heavy steel to house the 50mm (!)-worth of armour glass. Note the little 'dent' on the lower edge slightly to the left- the 2.2mm thick steek frame is bent forward suggesting something struck it quite hard from behind the airplane, and it just happens to be the perfect size for the impact strike of a 0.5" bullet. What's really interesting is that the angle of the frame in its normal position means this damage was caused by something that would have come from below and behind the airplane- possible if it were flipped over by a bomb blast and then shot up, or if it were actually shot down. Certainly one would think the flyable aircraft would take off once it was learned a bombing raid was on the way- perhaps this one tried to get away? The damage to the airframe parts I have from this site could just as easily have been the result of a crash as bomb blasts...

The Wartungsklappe and pressure gauge face are also from the site.

[Matt L]

And here are some of the small pieces- the large, round Wartungsklappe seems to be that from just forward of the large panel shown in my first post, the oval panel one of many on the bird; also shown are the pitot tube end, circuit breaker, the ground power connector, one of the engine rpm instrument faces, a bit of surface skin, a rib or stringer section, and a chunk of engine component (It has a tiny plate marked 'änderungen')

[Matt L]

Forgot to attach the image- and here's an intact 262 with the large panel I have outlined

[big ned]

Many 262's were shot down as they were on 'finals' to land. Allied aircraft would stooge around known 262 bases waiting for them, as it was the easiest way to shoot them down. I wonder if your aircraft was one of these victims? Very interesting, i wonder if you could research that werknummer?

Regards, Ned.

[Matt L]

Possibly- although as I wrote, the angle of the shot to the front armour glass frame is definitely far below and behind, not exactly a shot expected from a swift attack on a landing airplane. And I wish I could research it but I don't actually have the Werknummer- only potentially the last three digits and that's only a guess since the writing could be anything. The plate on the panel has a possible serial number, but there are too many digits to be an airplane Werknummer...

There is a book I just heard about detailling Me262 production records, but I don't have a copy. If anyone does and feels like checking it might be interesting at least to know if it's possible '121' is the end of a Werknummer...

[VERSUCH]

Hi Matt ,the instrument face is one of the electric tachos,possibly
FL.20266, 2000-12000,OR 2000-15000 RPM,also It is worth
remembering ,that a lot of these me262s were destroyed by the
retreating troops.The .303 holes could be passing troops,having a
bit of target practice.
Very Nice Items,thanks for showing.
Regards Mike

[Matt L]

Yup- it doesn't match the layout of the 15, but the intact markings go right up to 12, just a small amount is torn after that so my bet has been for that one.

Pot-shots could account for the holes, but that would mean Allied troops blew the planes up later since the bullet holes predate the explosion(s) that tore it apart.

[mad_ideas]

very nice collection you have there, you are very lucky, thanks for sharing

regards Mad_ideas

[wingco]

Hi Matt L, have just bought a copy of the book you are talking about, had a quick glance as it is getting late. there is a 262 with 121 wn, but also an aircraft with 601 wn. plus 004 could mean jumo 004 engine. will get back to you on this as soon as possible, regards Willie.