Captured Wings Wiki
Explore
Main Page
Discuss
All Pages
Community
Interactive Maps
Recent Blog Posts
Wiki Content
Recently Changed Pages
P9331
DK310
Main Page
MM.91975
C/n 5352
C/n 4340
116 (Gladiator)
World War 2
EN830
Werk Nr 4101
Werk Nr 2177
Werk Nr 10639
Werk Nr 701152
N3277
42-22490
Aircraft List
Hawker Hurricane
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
Junkers Ju 87
Junkers Ju 88
Heinkel He-111
Fiat CR.42
Messerschmitt Bf 109
Watson's Whizzers
Werk Nr 120077
Werk Nr 240102
Werk Nr 140489
Werk Nr 500491
Werk Nr 560049
Werk Nr 140312
Werk Nr 290202
Community
Recent blog posts
Forum
FANDOM
Fan Central
BETA
Games
Anime
Movies
TV
Video
Wikis
Explore Wikis
Community Central
Start a Wiki
Don't have an account?
Register
Sign In
Sign In
Register
Captured Wings Wiki
450
pages
Explore
Main Page
Discuss
All Pages
Community
Interactive Maps
Recent Blog Posts
Wiki Content
Recently Changed Pages
P9331
DK310
Main Page
MM.91975
C/n 5352
C/n 4340
116 (Gladiator)
World War 2
EN830
Werk Nr 4101
Werk Nr 2177
Werk Nr 10639
Werk Nr 701152
N3277
42-22490
Aircraft List
Hawker Hurricane
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
Junkers Ju 87
Junkers Ju 88
Heinkel He-111
Fiat CR.42
Messerschmitt Bf 109
Watson's Whizzers
Werk Nr 120077
Werk Nr 240102
Werk Nr 140489
Werk Nr 500491
Werk Nr 560049
Werk Nr 140312
Werk Nr 290202
Community
Recent blog posts
Forum
Editing
Werk Nr 560049
Back to page
Edit
Edit source
View history
Talk (0)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
{{Airframe info |name='''''{{PAGENAME}}''''' |image=[[File:Junkers_Ju388L-1_560049_FE-410_Wright_Field_1946.jpg|thumb|300px|]] |caption=560049 at Wright Field<ref>SDASM Photo via Luftwaffe Warplane Survivors</ref> |designation=Junkers Ju 388 |version=L-1 }} ==History== The eighth of the series manufactured at Weser Flugzeugbau's Nordenham plant, parts of the airframe were also built at ATG in Altenburg and at Niedersächsische Metallwerke Brinckmann & Mergell in Hamburg-Harburg. Completed early in 1945, it was captured by U.S. troops in May 1945 at the Junkers plant in Merseburg.<ref name="wikipedia Ju388">http://www.wikipedia.or.ke/index.php/Junkers_Ju_388#Survivors</ref> Members of the 9th Air Service Squadron of the 365th Fighter Group, belonging to the 9th US Air Force, were ordered to examine the aircraft and make it airworthy, if possible. Crew Chief Tommy Haworth and his men found the Ju 388 L fuelled up in a Hangar. As the men suspected the aircraft to be booby-trapped, it was inspected with utmost care. They looked for explosives behind all panels and in every corner of the airplane. After that, the Ju 388 was put on jacks, and the landing gear and the flaps were tested. Obviously, the aircraft had not been fully equipped yet, because no cameras were found in the bomb bay. In order to be able to operate the aircraft, Haworth climbed into the cockpit with an interpreter to figure out what each lever and switch was for. This job was complicated by the fact that his interpreter knew nothing about airplanes. When using the switches in the cockpit, Haworth always held his breath because he expected an explosion any time. Finally, it seemed safe enough to start the engines, and Haworth started them, still dreading an explosion. Because the cylinder temperature reached the critical value fairly quickly, the engines had always to be shut down after a five-minutes test run on the ground. After some test flights at Merseburg with US crews, it was decided to fly the aircraft to Kassel/Waldau on May 20, 1945. As the aircraft still bore German markings, it had to be escorted by three P-38s. The flight took place between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m.<ref name="JU388">http://www.ju388.de/560049US.html</ref> The aircraft was examined and test flown by "[[:Category:Watson's Whizzers|Watson's Whizzers]]", led by United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Colonel Harold E. Watson, as part of Operation Lusty and it is believed that Watson himself flew in the aircraft in preparation for flying it directly back to the U.S. Instead, on 17 June 1945 the aircraft was flown to Cherbourg, France where it was shipped to the United States, together with other captured German aircraft for detailed evaluation in the U.S. The aircraft was flown to Freeman Field in Indiana for evaluation, and in September 1945 made a flight demonstration for the press. The Ju 388 was flown for 10 hours of flight tests at Wright Field near Dayton, Ohio with the "foreign evaluation" registration '''FE-4010''' (later changed to '''T2-4010'''). Following these tests the aircraft was displayed at the Dayton Air Show in 1946 along with other captured German aircraft. <gallery> file:FE-410 Ju388L-1 560049 Wright-Field1946 victory-display 003920007.jpg|As FE-4010 file:FE-410 T2-4010-39983932 542252542869857 538297468207497216 n.jpg|As T2-4010 </gallery> On 26 September 1946, 560049 was transferred to Orchard Place Airport in Park Ridge, Illinois, near the present O'Hare International Airport. This temporary storage facility was a vacant U.S. Government-owned factory previously used by the Chrysler Corporation to build the Douglas C-54. 560049 was donated to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air Museum on 3 January 1949. The aircraft arrived at Silver Hill, Maryland, for storage in November 1954.<ref name="wikipedia Ju388" /> Eventually, the Ju 388 was moved to the National Air and Space Museum's Paul E. Garber facility in Silver Hill. As the aircraft is still in a rather good condition, it will be displayed at NASM's new Dulles International Airport facility in 2003 without prior restoration. Unfortunately, the NASM does not plan to reassemble the aircraft.<ref name="JU388" /> ==Sources== <references /> [[Category:Junkers Ju 388]] [[Category:Watson's Whizzers]] [[Category:FE Coded Aircraft]] [[Category:T2 Coded Aircraft]]
Summary:
Please note that all contributions to the Captured Wings Wiki are considered to be released under the CC-BY-SA
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)
Template used on this page:
Template:Airframe info
(
view source
)
Follow on IG
TikTok
Join Fan Lab