Messerschmitt BF-108. Taifun en Espaņa y otros paises (Parte 3)

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GREAT BRITAIN:

The RAF had four on hand in the UK during the war; three were impressed from the German Embassy, and one from the UK dealers, A.F.N. Ltd. They served as communications and light transport aircraft with No. 24 Squadron at Hendon, where they were known as the Messerschmitt Aldon, a contraction of the name of the UK dealer Mr. Harold John ALDingtON. And what about irony they were the fastest liaison aircraft the RAF had in its inventory in those days.

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HUNGARY:

Already in 1936 six Taifuns were delivered to the Hungarian Air Force and it had a total of 8 different BF 108Bs in its inventory that served most of the time at the Eastern Front throughout WW II, at the end of the war one managed to escape to Switzerland:

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JAPAN (and Manchukuo Air Lines):

Manchukuo National Airways was established on 1931-09-26 in Fengtian by order of the Japanese Kwantung Army, out of the Manchurian branch office of Japan Air Transport, the forerunner of Imperial Japanese Airways. It officially adopted the name Manchukuo National Airways on the proclamation of the independence of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.
From the beginning, the Manchukuo National Airways was a paramilitary airline, whose primary purpose was to provide transport and logistical support for the military, and for the transport of mail. Civilian passengers were carried and charter operations undertaken on a lower priority.
The airline had a total of 15 Bf 108s in its inventory. The Manchukuo National Airways ceased operations in August 1945 during the Soviet invasion of Manchuria.

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POLAND:

Directly after WW II the Polish Air Force took three Taifuns in its inventory until 1948, serving with the 9th Independent Liaison Squadron, one of them flew from 1947 under the civil code SP-AIO:

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ROUMANIA:

Some 13 Bf 108s were incorporated into the Fortele Aeriene Regale ale Romaniei. After the Roumanians choose the side of the Allies these were filled up by another 5 ex-Luftwaffe Taifuns.
The remarks under the third picture are not completely correct. The red serial does not represent the aircrafts wrknr but is an identification for the 111th Liaison Squadron just as indicated on the accompanying profile.

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SPAIN:

Special thanks to Vladimir Nikiforov for sharing his collection of to me unknown (mostly E-bay) pictures.

According to Gerald Howson four Taifuns were serving with the Condor Legion, while three more arrived directly after the end of hostilities. Despite some minor crashes all seven were still flying in 1940. In 1945 the type code changed from 44 to L.15.
Enough blablabla.. Any Spanish aviation addict knows more about these aircraft than I do.

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A question: Is there somebody who wants to share some decent pictures of 44-2, 44-6 and/or 44-7 with me? Thanks in advance.

44-1 with white numerals:

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44-2:

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44-3:

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44-4:

Most of these pictures clearly show the original Azul Blue outfit of these Taifuns, exept for the last one. This one either shows a badly weathered Azul Blue one or a repainted aircraft in RLM 63 light grey such as the profile from REVI magazine suggests. One thing is clear, the artist based the profile on this picture. Any suggestions from the color specialists among us?

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44-5 plus its salvage after a minor crash landing :

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44-5 alias L.15-5 alias 91-12:

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44-8:

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L.15-9 alias 23-2:

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????

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SOVIET UNION:

Before the outbreak of hostilities between Germany and the Soviet Union in WW II, one Taifun was delivered and tested by the Soviet Air Force:

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SWEDEN:

SE-BZN flew for some 14 years in Sweden. In fact it was the ex-Luftwaffe Taifun A2+GA that served in Finland. Due to a navigational mistake in bad weather it landed at Limhamn, Sweden on the 29th of March 1945. The aircraft was bought 07-08-1946 and became LN-DAT (a Norwegian registration) till 1955 until it was sold to Sweden. In 1969 the aircraft was sold again to Germany where it flew as D-EFPT from 1975 till 9-9-1995 when it crashed fatally at Johannistal.

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SWITZERLAND:

One of the big customers of the Taifun was the Swiss Air Force, that bought 15 aircraft which were delivered from the end of 1938 till august 1939. During WW II one civil Taifun was taken in charge and two more were obtained by interning 2 Luftwaffe Bf 108s in 1945. Most of these aircraft served until the late fifties.
Three other Taifuns received civil registrations in the fifties:

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And the ex-Luftwaffe Taifuns L5+HB and CL+CE that became A-217 & A-218 in the Swiss Air Force:

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

For one reason or another the Taifun was not as popular in the States as the Cessnas or the Pipers, but there were a few interesting examples that spread their wings over North America. And nowadays there are still 3 officially certificated examples to be found over there:

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And two pictures that prove the well known American high standards of representing famous aircraft in their true historical appearance:

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YUGOSLAVIA:

As a part of deliveries of large quantities of aviation material from Germany, the RYAF received 12 Bf 108B-1s till the end of 1939. At the same time one example purchased by the Yugoslav Royal Aeroclub in 1938 was requisitioned. They were used as transition trainers for Bf 109E-3a fighters, and for courier duties. The Italians captured three aircraft which they immediately incorporated into operational service. The Germans captured a single operational and at least one severely damaged example.

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S-02: Staff plane of the 6th Fighter Regiment, temporarily based in Srem, summer 1940 and crashed near Zemun in the spring of 1941.

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S-07: Bf 108B-1 from the 704th Liaison Squadron, Zagreb, 1940. Destroyed in mid-air collision with a Yugoslav Hurricane Mk I in the same year.

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So far the pictorial overview of the trendsetting Taifun for civil aircraft in the late thirties and far beyond. And well-known of course because it was the basic lay-out for one of the most famous German fighters of the Spanish Civil War and WW II: the Messerschmitt Bf 109.
If there are some enthusiasts among us who are still not fed up with this beauty, please let me know and Ill compile a kind of walkaround for the Aeronet Modelismo Statico section of this site, showing some details as cockpit lay-out, landing gear etc. etc.

Last but not least: below you will find an overview of the sources I used to compile this overview.
And remember, all kinds of comment, corrections or additions are very welcome.

Abrazotes, Peter.

SOURCES:

1000aircraftphotos.com website - Ron Dupas Collection ()
Aeronet GCE - Iberonet website http://www.network54.com/Forum/394728/)
Airliners.net website http://www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/)
AJ-Press - Malowanie I Oznakowanie no. 1 - Luftwaffe 1935-1940 by Adam Jarski - ISBN 83-86208-01-5
AVIONES DE LA GUERRA CIVIL ESPAŅOLA website http://usuarios.lycos.es/mrval/index.htm )
Bundesarchiv Deutschland
Cockpit Profile no. 3 - Deutsche Flugzeugcockpits und Instrumenbretter Dreiziger Jahre Teil 3 by Gerhard Lang - ISBN 4-394418-219953
Ebay website http://shop.ebay.de/items/)
Hikoki - Condor - The Luftwaffe in Spain 1936-1939 by Patrick Laureau (2000) - ISBN 1902109-10-4
HPM no. 2007-07 magazine - Slovak Republic
Ilustrowana Encyklopedia Techniki Wojskowej Samoloty Luftwaffe 1933-1945 part 2 by Marek Murawski
IPMS Bern website http://www.ipms-bern.ch/messerschmitt_bf_108b_taifun.html )
Kookaburra Technical Publications - Luftwaffe Camouflage 1935-1940 by Alain Fleuret (1981) - ISBN 0-85880-040-3
Lotnictwo z Szachownica no. 23 magazine (2007-03) - Poland
Luftwaffe Colours Voume 1 Section 4 Jagdwaffe Attack in the West May 1940 by Eric Mombeek (2000) - ISBN 0-9526867-8-3
Luftwaffe im Focus no. 11 (2007-11) ISBN 978-3-9811012-3-3 - Germany
Luftwaffe im Focus no. 6 (2006-06) ISBN 3-9808468-6-5 - Germany
Luftwaffen Story 1935-1939 by Karl Ries (1974) - ISBN 3-87341-017-6
Model Photo Monograph no. 4 by Adam Skupiewski - ISBN 83-916229-2-3
Monogram Close-up no. 5 Taifun by Kendall Printing Inc. (1979) - ISBN 0-914144-05-7
My scrapbooks
Putnam - Aircraft of the Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 by Gerald Howson (1990) - ISBN 0-85177-842-9
Replic Magazine no 129 (2002-05) - France
Replic Magazine no 153 (2004-05) - France
REVI no 17 magazine (1997) - Czech Republic
REVI no 42 magazine (2002) - Czech Republic
Scale Aircraft Modelling magazine volume 25 no. 1 (2003-03) - Great Britain
Schiffer Military History - The Legion Condor by Karl Ries (1992) - ISBN0-88740-339-5
Squadron Signal Publications - Aircraft no. 1004 Luftwaffe in action part 3 (1972)
Squadron Signal Publications no. 6080 - Rumanian Air Force - The Prime Decade 1938-1947 by Denes Bernad
Vladimir Nikiforov - Personal collection of pictures
Wings Palette website http://wp.scn.ru/)
Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej - Polskie Samoloty Wojskowe 1939-45 by Andrezj Morgala (1976)
Wysawnictwo Militaria no. 88 - Sojusznicy Luftwaffe Bulgaria (1999) by Arkadiusz Wrobel - ISBN 83-7219-038-0