Hello atb1943
Now we're really motoring
A post from a subscriber in Germany, who has been to South Africa, to see the Me262 apparently responsible for the Ju88 being at Heston in the first place!
My rhetorical question "...how like a Meteor NF11 did that look!", was really just a throw away line with particular reference to the Me262's heavily framed two-in-line cockpit canopy. From the low angle of the "War Prizes" (page 66) monochrome photo of Air Min 50, the Me262 B-1a/U1's "office windows" were very reminiscent (from memory, when I wrote - but this confirms it:
Meteor NF11 photo - Gareth Horne photos at pbase.com) of an NF11's "greenhouse".
Otherwise, similarities are, of course, few. Performance of the Me262 - with its swept wings, underslung engines, triangular section fuselage and even longer nose, to visually differentiate it - was in some respects superior, although not in those of reliability or general handling. According to "Winkle" Brown, based on tests at RAE Farnborough, the Me262 had a Mach limit of 0.86 against the Meteor Mark One's 0.82 - although, somewhat incredibly, Spitfires could be dived to Mach 0.88 by very brave pilots, who had hopefully written their wills.
The Saxonwold information, for which thanks, adds new thoughts. As Air Min 50 had been fitted with some British instrumentation, were original German instruments the spares Air Min 32 had been to Germany for? If so, and if fitted instead with British instruments, did the Messerschmidt fly at all from Ford, either before or after CFE's September 1945 departure to West Raynham? I confess that I assumed it had never flown again after the Ju88 crash, based on the statement on page 87 of "War Prizes" that its "..active life ceased after the CFE moved to West Raynham in September 1945.." - but, on reflection, it might have been test flown again at Ford, using either British instruments, or the German ones, then perhaps grounded, as "snagged" and marked for disposal. However, the "War Prizes" page 66 photograph shows it languishing at Ford on 14 June 1946, surrounded by long grass, so it was clearly not flying by that date.
That has generated some more thoughts. Based on my own RAF experience, wherever possible a technician NCO would accompany a pilot collecting aircraft spares, to ensure correct receipt and handling. A CFE technician would probably also have been responsible to fit and/or oversee the installation of the Me262's spare parts. Also, who was going to test fly the Me262, the Ju88 pilot or another, Me262-experienced, CFE pilot? If the latter, had the Ju88 called at West Raynham, before landing for Customs clearance or whatever at Heston - delivering schnapps and some nice Franconian wine to the West Raynham officers' mess, and picking up another pilot?
I'll ask "norimacie", the Yahoo! Heston Airport Group subscriber (the baby who was asleep in the Fern Lane house at the time of the crash!) if he ever heard whether other crew and/or passengers were on board the Ju88?
Also, we don't know the Ju88's point of departure in Germany, to the UK, nor where the spares were collected from. My guess is Schleswig, as that's where Air Min 50 and a number of other Me262's were captured - but was that their operating base, where spares might still have been located, or just a Luftwaffe assembly point, away from the Soviets, at the end of hostilities? Any info, atb1943?
Final point: I had misread the Me262's history relating to its removal from Ford, and transfer to Saxonwold. It was removed from Ford by 71 MU, Bicester in October 1946, transported to 47 MU Sealand, packed there and shipped to Cape Town from Birkenhead via the SS Clan McCree, on 23 February 1947 - arriving Capetown 17 March 1947. SAAF Central Flying School, Dunottar, then held it until late 1971, when it moved to No. 15 Air Depot, Snake Valley for restoration to display standard, moving to Saxonwold in 1972.
Meanwhile, what was left of the Fern Lane Ju88 presumably went straight to the 71 MU Bicester scrap heap in 1945 - anybody know for sure?