1/48 Eduard, Bf 109G-14/U4, flown by Hptm. E. Hartmann, 4./ JG 52, Csór, Hungary, October 1944.
Erich Hartmann, the most successful fighter plane pilot of all times, first joined the 7. Staffel of JG 52 on October 10 , 1942. He remained with Jagdgeschwader 52 till the end of World War Two; in fact he became the commander of its I. Gruppe. The total count of his shot down aircraft was 352. For his exceptional success he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. After WWII he was transferred to the POW camp in the Ural Mountains in Soviet Union and was not released until 1955. The following year he joined the ranks of Western German Luftwaffe.
He became the commander of JG 71, the first fighter plane Luftwaffe squadron equipped with jet-powered fighter aircraft. He retired in 1970 and died on September 20 , 1993. Standard camouflage of Hartmann’s “white 1” Luftwaffe fighter plane was complemented by black tulip with white outline situated at
the nose of the aircraft; this was in the time of his command of 4. Staffel. On the left side, underneath the cockpit, there was a heart with Hartmann’s wife’s name written over it. The yellow bottom parts of the wing tip and the yellow stripe around the back part of the fuselage marked the aircraft serving on the
Eastern Front. The photograph of the nose of this aircraft shows that the engine cover is identical to those produced in Erla factory in Leipzig.
