Saturday 11 September 2010

General der Jagdflieger Galland visiting Kurt Tank in Berlin




A Wochenschau newsreel sequence showing Galland, Streib and Trautloft as they inspect the latest Focke Wulf 190 developments as guests of the designer and his team. Alongside Prof. Tank can be seen his assistant Obering. Willi Kaether as well as chief test pilot Hans Sander and test pilot Alfred Thomas, who was later killed during the testing of the Ta 152 H.



According to Dietmar Hermann the time and location of this footage can be determined from the flight test reports of the Ta 154 A-0, Werknummer 0014, TQ+XD glimpsed briefly in the footage and the Fw 190 V17/U1, an airframe that served as a Fw 190 D-9 prototype – Galland made flights in both these aircraft on 2 June 1944 in Berlin-Staaken.

First aircraft to be seen in the footage is Fw 190 A-8, Werknummer 174 014, BH+RN. The camera pans to Galland pulling on his parachute pack in front of Fw 190 V17/U1, CF+OX – the ‘O’ of the code can be made out –and reveals for the first time elements of the changes made to the airframe in modifying it into Fw 190 D-9 configuration.






There then follows a short clip of the V17/U1 in the air. Galland´s flight appears in the flight testing log of the V17/U1. There are the briefest views of the Ta 154 in the clip showing the forward fuselage and the open canopy. Streib also flew the Ta 154 in Staaken.



Watch the clip here at criticalpast.com

General der Jagdflieger visiting Staaken