The Bf 109 G-6 WNr. 441059 was initially manufactured by the Wiener Neust‰dter Flugzeugwerke in April 1944. The aircraft got delivered to a Reichs defense unit. It was shot down by U.S. fighters during May or June 1944 and crashed near lake Attersee in Austria.
During the mid-1990s the remains of the W Nr. 441059 got recovered by a team of private aircraft collectors. Some years later the parts were purchased by an Austrian aircraft recovery and restoration company. This company restored the W Nr. 441059 by using original German WWII Messerschmitt spare parts. Parts of the rest of the aircraft were rebuilt from scratch. No Spanish parts were used. The remains of W Nr. 441059 were integrated in the rebuilt airframe. Among these parts was the original serial number plate, which was still riveted to the aft fuselage.
The aircraft was then painted extremely accurate in the standard Luftwaffe camouflage patterns. One can consider this paint job the best and most authentic paint Luftwaffe paint job worldwide. Since the W Nr. 441059 could not be tracked back to its original unit, the crest and tactical numbers along with the white fuselage band of the famous JG 3 ìUdetî were applied. The JG 3 lost several Bf 109s over Austria during the time period when W Nr. 441059 had been shot down.
Compared to the few others Bf 109¥s which exist worldwide, this W Nr. 441059 is among the very few which does not consist of Spanish built airframes. Additionally, this ìWerknummerî had seen actual combat!
This auction will take place April 16, 2010 in Munich, Germany. For more information please go to www.hermann-historica.com
