Focke-Wulf Fw 56

Focke-Wulf Fw 56 A Stösser [Sparrowhawk] advanced fighter trainer ??+J27, operated by a Luftwaffe pilot school. Location and exact date currently unknown.

Reflecting the change from the earlier standard silver livery typical for the Fw 56, this aircraft is likely camouflaged in the colours 71/70/65, or perhaps even simply in 70/65. In the process of applying the new camouflage, the frequently seen Focke-Wulf company logo on the center fuselage and the usual data table on the rear fuselage have been overpainted. Upper and lower sections of the small auxilliary vertical tail surfaces are neatly divided into light blue and dark green. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection)

Messerschmitt/Lippisch Li P 13

On 2 January 1939, Professor Alexander Lippisch and 16 members of his development staff joined the Messerschmitt corporation in Augsburg, Bavaria. There, they formed Abteilung L [Department L], whose most significant design would be the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered high-speed interceptor. During their tenure at Messerschmitt, Lippisch and his team worked on a number of further aircraft concepts. Some of these concepts progressed to a relatively detailed design stage, such as the Messerschmitt Me 265 or the Messerschmitt Me 329. Others remained mere proposals, such as the Li P 13 fast bomber (not to be confused with the later Lippisch P 13 ramjet fighter project) presented here.

According to Alexander Lippisch and Fritz Trenkle 's book Ein Dreieck fliegt [A flying triangle], published in 1976, the drawing of the Li P 13 dates from 25 November 1942, and the work on this concept was conducted by Josef Hubert. The aircraft's twin engine push-pull layout resembles, to some extent, the Dornier Do 335, but the Li P 13 was to be a flying wing with a large vertical tail and a dorsal fin also containing the tail wheel. Hubert enviosioned the use of Daimler-Benz DB 605 B engines.

The drawing shows the Li P 13 to carry one pilot and to have a length of 9.4 meters, a height of 5.1 meters, and a span of 12.8 meters. The forward propeller was to have a diameter of 3 meters, the rear propeller a diameter of 2.9 meters. The aircraft was to have five fuel tanks, two each in the wings and one in the fuselage. (Drawing © by German Aviation 1919-1945 collection, 1992)

Arado Ar 76

Luftwaffe pilots and ground crew eagerly surveying the results of a hard landing of an Arado Ar 76 A light fighter/advanced trainer. The landing gear, cowling, and wooden propeller all have sustained substantial but repairable damage, but a more serious buckling of the fuslelage is also evident.

These pictures are part of a series of images showing various Ar 76s, all operational with Flieger-Ausbildungs-Regiment (FAR) 63 during autumn of 1941. A handwritten inscription on the reverse side of one of the two photos shown above poses a bit of a mystery, however. It unambiguously mentions the aircraft code DB+SV (also assigned to an Ar 76 A of FAR 63), but the top photo clearly shows an "A" forward of the fuselage Balkenkreuz, making this aircraft ??+A?.

A further, sarcastic handwritten inscription on the back of the second photo reads: Ernst Drückler baut Ziellandungen genau am Landekreuz [Ernst Drückler fabricates precision landings right at the landing marker]. Note open hangar visible in the distance in lower photo. (German Aviation 1919-1945 collection; with additional information by Gerhard Stemmer, via luftwaffe-research-group.org, in 2014)