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LF period ventral views of 109s with oil stains


Gazzas

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Great pictures Martin!

    I've got two Gustavs and one Emil to weather.  The one with English markings I've seen before.  I know they tested it a lot.  What I find interesting on the Emils is how much of the staining actually starts so far back on the fuselage.  I wonder if that was the extent of wiping done by the ground crew.

 

Thank you!

 

Gaz

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21 minutes ago, Gazzas said:

Ivan,

    Great photo!  Thank you!  I had to go to google translate to find out versifft meant.  I am, unfortunately, one of those single-language speakers.

 

Gaz

 

There are many translation apps available for smartphones (if you have one) that are quite handy when you come across situations such as that, and quicker than having to go through Google Translate. I highly recommend trying them. I use them at work with ESL students.

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One rule of thumb, if you didn't already know: Exhaust stains for German aircraft were always black or very dark brown-black due to their low quality fuel.

US and British stains are typically much lighter in color, tans and browns, as they used higher quality, and I think higher octane fuel. And it seems all WWII aircraft trailed quite a bit of oil, especially the radials which really threw it out. Even the Collingsworth B-17, which no doubt sees a lot of maintenance, had good sized puddles under some of the radials after flight ( I actually overheard a couple of Collingsworth staff looking at the puddle under one engine and comment how it might be time for another overhaul).

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34 minutes ago, Martinnfb said:

Also, I would like to point at the difference in the shape and coverage of the exhaust staines, a detail that is given by the asymmetry of the airframe and airflow and very often neglected.

WTF-103.jpgWTF-25.jpg

 

You sir, are a font of useful information.  I had never noticed this.  Thank you.

 

I know that in many cases, the Luftwaffe ground crews wiped the exhaust stains off fighters.  But I can't be certain it was universal.  For instance, Barkhorn's machines are all pretty clean in photos.  It would be interesting to see some pictures of this bird closely after capture before it was used as a squadron hack. 

 

Gaz

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