{"id":56925,"date":"2024-08-27T23:36:18","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T21:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=56925"},"modified":"2026-02-26T00:23:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T23:23:34","slug":"the-flight-of-a-german-messerschmitt-bf-109-fighter-that-was-missing-for-51-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/08\/27\/the-flight-of-a-german-messerschmitt-bf-109-fighter-that-was-missing-for-51-years\/","title":{"rendered":"The flight of a German Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighter that was missing for 51 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tested in the Spanish Civil War, the Messerschmitt Bf-109 is by far the most famous German fighter of World War II.<\/p>\n

The new life of a Spanish HA-1112 Buch\u00f3n fighter converted into a German Bf-109G<\/a><\/rel>
\nYe Olde Pub: The American B-17 bomber saved by a German Bf-109 fighter pilot<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

Nearly 34,000 Bf-109s were built until Germany was defeated. There are only a few original airworthy Bf-109s left today, but this select club was recently expanded by one more aircraft: 12 Red<\/strong>, bearing the German civil registration D-FEML. This aircraft was built in 1939 with the serial number 1983. It was originally a Bf-109E-4, but was later upgraded to the E-7 version. This aircraft flew with the 5th Squadron of the Luftwaffe\u2019s Jagdgeschwader 5,<\/strong> a fighter unit that was deployed in Norway and northern Finland.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The 12 Red after its restoration. Unlike the original aircraft, the Red 12 does not carry the swastika on its fin as this symbol is illegal in Germany (Image: HeliTech<\/a>).<\/div>\n

On 24 January 1942 this aircraft was shot down at Titovka<\/strong>, near Murmansk, USSR, in a combat against Soviet Hawker Hurricane fighters. The Red 12 was missing for 51 years, until its remains were found in 1993,<\/strong> and purchased by the German collector Eberhard Thiesen. The aircraft was restored in England by Charleston Aviation Services, being provisionally registered with the British civil registration G-EMIL. Its fuselage was once again complete in December 2012 in its initial design as a Bf-109E-4.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, after many delays, 12Red flew again on June 19, 2023, piloted by British pilot Charlie Brown<\/strong>, taking off from Bonn-Hangelar Airport in Germany. You can watch here a video of its Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine being started<\/strong>, with the panels removed, published today by the HeliTech<\/a> channel:<\/p>\n