Mid 1943 the FW190s from JG1 at Deelen received checker board cowls. This was done to to make the aircraft easier to recognise and would facilitate easier re-formation. These checker boards disappeared as fast as the were introduced.
Until recent unclear for me why, but I was reading a nice story about the (possible) reason.
A 1./JG 1 mechanic named August Michalski stated the following:
"one day our airfield at Deelen was raided by P-47s - their cowlings were also finished in the chequer board scheme. Because of this the airfield flak failed to open up on them - they thought they were our own aircraft- and the P-47s were able to strafe the field entirely unhampered...following this debacle our Fw 190s quickly had their checker cowls over-painted."
Now this could be a very plausible reason, however I have my doubts. Personally I can't recall a unit flying P47s in 1943 which has checker board cowlings. As far as I have seen the P47 flew in the standard scheme with the front end of the cowling painted white and a white strip on the tail unit late spring 1944, when the first deviation of this scheme started to appear.
But still it is a nice story and good reason to post some screenshots
Cheers,
Huub
Until recent unclear for me why, but I was reading a nice story about the (possible) reason.
A 1./JG 1 mechanic named August Michalski stated the following:
"one day our airfield at Deelen was raided by P-47s - their cowlings were also finished in the chequer board scheme. Because of this the airfield flak failed to open up on them - they thought they were our own aircraft- and the P-47s were able to strafe the field entirely unhampered...following this debacle our Fw 190s quickly had their checker cowls over-painted."
Now this could be a very plausible reason, however I have my doubts. Personally I can't recall a unit flying P47s in 1943 which has checker board cowlings. As far as I have seen the P47 flew in the standard scheme with the front end of the cowling painted white and a white strip on the tail unit late spring 1944, when the first deviation of this scheme started to appear.
But still it is a nice story and good reason to post some screenshots
Cheers,
Huub
