New paint for the 108

Go on, post the shot of the camera ship pointing the lens at you!

Oh go on then. My comments again are Ugly bloke in the (rear) passenger seat. 🙂

Looked OK to me!

Go on, post the shot of the camera ship pointing the lens at you!

A great sortie – looked fine to me over Old Warden on that glorious day. I vote you keep it as is and spend the paint money on fuel and beeeeeer (some for me..).

VBR

HP

Ugly bloke in the passenger seat.

One of DamienB’s, I think, and one of my favourite photos of this aircraft! 🙂

Hi guys.
sorry, i didn’t know what scheme she wore. my Grandad was with the LRDG for a while and was still with them when they formed the 1st SAS unit for which he vounteered, succesfully) and may even have seen this aircraft at some time. i think that its current scheme suits the type. just m,h,o,. hope to see the Taifun some time. nice looking aircraft.
Greg

G-ETME looks good in the current scheme – have even sold a piccy of it to the owners 😉

Thanks for all your positive comments guys. We hope to be involved in lots more airshows next season in whatever paint she wears..

Taifun

I agree with Daz de Man and MOTF, I think the present scheme looks very authentic and very distinctive. It hasn’t been actually seen by too many people to get tired of it in this scheme. In fact I only saw you for the first time at Popham last year and at Abingdon GVFWE and Old Warden this year. I think you need to try and offer it to more air show organisers, so it gets more exposure before you decide to repaint her.
It’s not even as though the paint is flaking or chipped – looked pretty good to me!

Sorry guys I should have explained that KG+EM is what it currently wears. This is what we know about this aircraft:-

The aircraft is finished in desert camouflage to represent KG+EM, one of only two aircraft operated by Sonderkommando Blaich in North Africa in spring 1942.

The other aircraft was an Heinkel He 111 bomber.

This tiny unit was set up specifically to counter the British Long-Range Desert Group and SAS in the desert.

During 1940 and 1941, the British special forces had been causing havoc behind Axis lines by raiding airfields and carrying out vital reconnaissance missions which helped the British commanders to both plan their defences and attack Axis supply lines.

Theo Blaich, the commander of the unit which carried his name, was a wealthy plantation owner and adventurer living in Africa before the war. At the outbreak of the war he joined the Luftwaffe, bringing his own personal aircraft with him (the only man to do so).

He was aware that the Free French held the outpost of Fort Lamy (nowadays known as N’Djamena) in Chad. This was of major strategic importance to the Allies as it was the main supply point inland from the African west coast ports and oilfields. It was also a vital supply depot for the Allied special forces.

Shortly before General Rommel launched a major offensive with his Afrika Korps in January 1942, Blaich persuaded Rommel to allow him to attack the fort. However, this attack would require a round trip of some 2,500 km, well outside the usual range of German or Italian aircraft based in North Africa and beyond the resources of the normal Luftwaffe units in the Western Desert.

Sonderkommando Blaich was therefore set up specifically for this mission. The journey was planned in stages, with the Heinkel bomber being supplied with fuel brought by Italian aircraft to landing grounds along the route. On 21 January 1942 the unit set off, the Messerschmitt Bf 108 accompanying the Heinkel from their base in Libya.

The aircraft achieved total surprise and successfully bombed Fort Lamy, destroying all oil supplies and 10 aircraft on the ground.

On the way back, however, the aircraft got lost and was forced to land, undamaged, in the desert wastes. After a search lasting nearly a week the aircraft and crew were finally located and enabled to refuel their aircraft before returning to their base in Libya.

The unit was thereupon disbanded.

The aircraft is finished in the colour scheme carried by the original aircraft, which probably used Italian colours applied during a stay in Sicily, the Luftwaffe then being chronically short of appropriate desert camouflage paint.

More titbits…

About 50 108s were exported to Bulgaria, Hungary, Japan, Romania, Switzerland, Russia, and Yugoslavia. 2 German Embassy a/c were impressed into service with the RAF in Sep 39 as ES955 and AW617. The BF108 ex G-AFRN became DK280.

Taifun,

In my book ‘Messershmitt – An Aircraft Album (J Richard Smith, Ian Allan, 1971, £2.25!), is a photo of a BF108B of Geschwader Stab, JG2 Richthofen. Only the forward part of the aircraft is visible, the engine is being externaly turned -over by engineer with hand-crank. Visible is what appears to be the JG2 crest, just forward of the port wing forward root, and forward of the cross are the codes ‘GH’. The photo is quite over exposed but the camo appears to be splinter.

I know, a picture speaks a thousand words – scanner down!

Regards,

I know the KG+EM-marked aircraft. along with a Heinkel 111, raided Fort Lamy in 1942(?), but was it actually armed? I’ve never ever found that out… 🙁

Perhaps you could get Red Bull to chuck a few quid your way, and come up with a scheme that would really turn heads ( and stomachs ! ).

Landyman

I believe the top one is how she is painted at the moment.

Taifun i’m not a historical expert on old schemes but I do think that she looks wonderful the way she is. That said if she needs new paint it may as well be different new paint.

Have you tried a modelling forum, such as hyperscale.com or the appropriate English-language subforum in the forum in my signature? Modellers alway seem to me to awfully well informed about painschemes. Can’t come up with any interesting proposals myself, but I do know that “D-IOIO” is already “taken” by a static Bf108 owned by the Messerschmitt-Foundation. Good luck!

here’s a couple i found whilst surfing the net.
personaly i prefer the second one, the tail markings will probably cause you problems if you ever fly it over to Germany though.
Greg

How about this Taifun, this could be an interesting option.

Septic.

That’s the one they captured and took to the USA for Flight Evaluation..

Not sure about that paint. Its different, and got a story attached, so I gues I shouldn’t turn my nose up but..

Daz, the 109 looks great but I’m not sure if the CAA will accept it as authentic enough to allow the “no civvie reg” dispensation. Maybe I should ask the question..

Thanks for everything so far guys..

Taifun

For a little something different maybe this?

http://p069.ezboard.com/fluftwaffeexperten71774frm80.showMessage?topicID=29.topic

Dunno if a ‘108 wore this scheme, but if this unit had one as a hack, then it could have been….

Anyway, this one please! 😀