I found this fantastic news reel footage showing Hitler arriving in Finland aboard his personal FW200, what is quite fascinating is the very early sequence showing the plane taxiing onto hard standing. It appears that there are flames coming from the main under carriage resulting in quite a bit of smoke?.
Although there seems to be no panic or attempt by ground crew to deal with it? [unless off camera]. Was this a normal occurrence with this type?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw9wK5WdbuM
By: Ant.H - 18th November 2013 at 19:44
The fighters appear to be Fiat G.50’s, and the bomber in the background is a He111- there’s someone standing near the end of the tailplane, making it look twin-finned.
By: farnboroughrob - 18th November 2013 at 18:22
Any ideas on the 3 fighters and a twin engined bomber in the background? Fighters appear radial engined so probably Fokker DXXI or Curtiss Hawk? Bomber might be a Dornier 17?
By: Creaking Door - 18th November 2013 at 17:59
The brake fire was probably caused by the aircraft trying to stop with all that armour plate on board!
Yes, exactly; that was the story I’d heard. Not sure how much truth there was in it. 😀
By: Arabella-Cox - 18th November 2013 at 17:34
The brake fire was probably caused by the aircraft trying to stop with all that armour plate on board!:D
A brake fire on any aircraft is a serious cause for concern. Perhaps they just didn’t want to be seen in a flap on camera – or didn’t want to let Hitler know that he nearly went up in smoke?
Anon.
By: PanzerJohn - 18th November 2013 at 00:07
irc Condors were rather prone to overheating their brakes.
By: robdd1 - 17th November 2013 at 23:34
You can see foam/water on the ground around the wheel as hitler walks away. No one seems overly concerned though!
By: Creaking Door - 17th November 2013 at 19:37
It was the brakes overheating on a short runway (I seem to remember from somewhere).
Didn’t Hitler’s personal aircraft carry a lot of armour-plate to protect the Führer? I seem to recall something about an armoured (parachute equipped) ‘arm-chair’ onboard for his personal use…
…or maybe I’ve been watching too many crappy documentaries on Yesterday!
By: Arabella-Cox - 17th November 2013 at 18:14
A nice shot of Hans Bauer, Hitler’s personal pilot, at 6.45.
I think the fire must have been dealt with off-camera, but you do see a concerned officer rushing towards the burning brake drum just as Hitler leaves the aircraft!
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November 17, 2013 at 5:51 pm