Luftwaffe FW190 discovered in forest near St Petersburg
dav19...@nowhere.com
Looks like the pilot could have survived this wreck. Escaping and
evading behind Soviet lines might not have worked out too well though.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=066_1232643827
Dave
David E. Powell
If the Germans were surrounding St. Petersburg at that point he might
have been able to rejoin them...
That's just surreal, canopy still slid back and everything, like the
guy just left it.
Gauges, name plates etc. stil there, apparently never taken by
souvenier hunters.
Could the open compartment have contained survival gear? It looks like
someone got in there after the plane came down.
Spooky. From the sound of the footsteps it sounds like a swampy area.
sdfsd sdffsdf
It seems like this was found some years back and it is now restored and
belongs to Paul Allen of Microsoft fame. The following is an excerpt
from the forum at
http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/armour-weapons-aircraft/4754-fw-190-a.html :
..
The loss of Fw190 A5/U3 W.Nr 1227.
On Monday 19th July 1943 Fw190 A-5 W.Nr 1227 'White A' went on a mission
carrying a SC250 (550Ib) bomb. Taking off from Siwerskaja, on what was
probably a hot summer day, 'White A' headed for the Front line which was
only fifteen or so minutes flight time away. Crossing the front line
over the Dvina River, the Fw190, flying with another crossed it and
headed East. Whilst behind enemy lines, in an area called Voibakala, the
'Rotte' attacked an armoured train and reportedly suffered damage from
flak. The loss report indicates the Fw190 crash landed due to this
damage, although none was located on the airframe. It Fw190 suffered a
catastrophic failure of the BMW801, caused by a rag -sabotage is
suspeced as it was a new engine was fitted a few days before). The Fw190
was recorded as being 100% lost in the map reference co-ordinates of
Pl.Qu.20124. This grid system based on 1:200,000 maps was used to
identify crash sites, possibly for salvage, recovery of missing pilots
or as the best way of identifying an area consisting of unpronounceable
Russian towns, villages and large areas of forests and lakes. The more
numbers the Pl.Qu. reference gives, the smaller the area of the
location. A key to this 'code', would help identify literally dozens of
possible recoveries within Russia!!
The pilot Feldwebel Paul Rätz survived the crash landed behind enemy
lines. He removed his leather flying helmet and retrieved the first air
kit from the rear fuselage and is thought to have headed West back to
the front line only a dozen or so miles from the crash site. He was
undoubtedly captured by the Russians and interned although the Luftwaffe
loss report still class him as 'Vermißt' (missing) in action.
Notes
The fourth Staffeln of Jagdgeschwader 54 'Grunherz' only seemed to have
carried this unusual white letter combination for a few months through
the summer and autumn of 1943. On returning to join the II Gruppe again,
the staffel reverted to the number system again. There are only two
other known 4/JG54 loses where Fw190's have been recorded as lost with
these distinctive markings.
• On 8th July 1943 the relatively new Fw190 A-5, W.Nr 1520 'White D' was
100% crashed whilst taking off with the pilot killed.
• On 23rd August 1943 Fw190 A-4, W.Nr 5808 'White B' was classed as 100%
lost when it crash landed due to flak damage at location Pl.Qu.18212.
The pilot was injured but returned safely to his unit.
Found in silver birch forest 1989. Recovered 1991. Doug/David Arnold and
now Paul Allen.
..
sdfsd sdffsdf
It seems like this was found some years back and it is now restored and
dav19...@nowhere.com
<us...@domain.invalid> wrote:
>It seems like this was found some years back and it is now restored and
>belongs to Paul Allen of Microsoft fame. The following is an excerpt
>from the forum at
>http://www.warrelics.eu/forum/armour-weapons-aircraft/4754-fw-190-a.html :
Hey thanks for the additional information. Very interesting.
Dave
guy
The odd thing is ***discovered in a forest*** - force landing in a
forest would be a bit dodgy! Maybe on a wide forest track or an area
tha had been cleard and naturally re grew?
Guy
Scott M. Kozel
>
> The odd thing is ***discovered in a forest*** - force landing in a
> forest would be a bit dodgy! Maybe on a wide forest track or an area
> tha had been cleard and naturally re grew?
The latter? After all, it's been over 60 years, plenty of time to
grow a thick forest in a previously un-treed area. Could have been un-
treed by a fire caused by lightning ...
T.L. Davis
Wow. For a wreck, it's pristine. Shows you what happens in Russia,
Alaska, Greenland, etc., vs. a place like New Guinea as far as rust
and corrosion. Cold is like gold.
There should be some P-38s in salvageable condition in Alaska or the
Aleutians, there was a large contingent of them there after the
Japanese "invasion" feint there.
T. Davis
Ron
There was/is a B-24 south of Fairbanks, that was in really good
condition, but in an area of tundra miles away from anything in a hard
to access place. It was only a few years ago that it got severely
damaged, from a wildfire in the tundra. Until then, it was mostly
intact. Now it is just aluminum in the shape of a B-24.
David E. Powell
> David E. Powell wrote:
> > On Jan 22, 11:06 pm, dav1936...@nowhere.com wrote:
> >> Looks like the pilot could have survived this wreck. Escaping and
> >> evading behind Soviet lines might not have worked out too well though.
>
> >>http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=066_1232643827
>
> >> Dave
>
> > If the Germans were surrounding St. Petersburg at that point he might
> > have been able to rejoin them...
>
> > That's just surreal, canopy still slid back and everything, like the
> > guy just left it.
>
> > Gauges, name plates etc. stil there, apparently never taken by
> > souvenier hunters.
>
> > Could the open compartment have contained survival gear? It looks like
> > someone got in there after the plane came down.
>
> > Spooky. From the sound of the footsteps it sounds like a swampy area.
>
> It seems like this was found some years back and it is now restored and
> belongs to Paul Allen of Microsoft fame. The following is an excerpt
>
> ..
> The loss of Fw190 A5/U3 W.Nr 1227.
> On Monday 19th July 1943 Fw190 A-5 W.Nr 1227 'White A' went on a mission
> carrying a SC250 (550Ib) bomb. Taking off from Siwerskaja, on what was
> probably a hot summer day, 'White A' headed for the Front line which was
> only fifteen or so minutes flight time away. Crossing the front line
> over the Dvina River, the Fw190, flying with another crossed it and
> headed East. Whilst behind enemy lines, in an area called Voibakala, the
> 'Rotte' attacked an armoured train and reportedly suffered damage from
> flak.
SNIP (Thank you, BTW, for a great followup report man.)
> The pilot Feldwebel Paul Rätz survived the crash landed behind enemy
> lines. He removed his leather flying helmet and retrieved the first air
> kit from the rear fuselage and is thought to have headed West back to
> the front line only a dozen or so miles from the crash site. He was
> undoubtedly captured by the Russians and interned although the Luftwaffe
> loss report still class him as 'Vermißt' (missing) in action.
For what it's worth, I'm sorry the guy didn't make it home.