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Info Eduard - August 2010
Info Eduard - August 2010
Hannes Trautloft gained a total of five aerial
victories in Spain up to December, 1936. It was already
becoming evident what his strong and weak points were.
He was a capable leader with good organizational skills,
commanded excellent understanding of the technical
aspects of aircraft, and was a superb pilot. However,
he suffered from a lack of something that was generally
common to pilots that achieved a greater number of kills
in the Second World War; good eyesight. In his memoirs
from Spain, Trautloft wrote of his tendency to spot enemy
aircraft later than his colleagues, his tendency to confuse
enemy aircraft with Italian ones, and so on.
His last kill was a Polikarpov I-16 Rata, which,
for an He 51 would have been an annoying enemy.
At this time, the Germans had decided to combat test
their new fighter, the Messerschmitt Bf 109, and one of
the pilots to conduct the testing was to be Trautloft. Three
prototypes were sent to Spain: V3, V4 and V5 (possibly
V6). The situation was somewhat an improvisation,
as there was no factory pilot available for any schooling
or advice. Additionally, there were still teething
troubles with the type, to say nothing of specific Bf 109
characteristics. So, it comes as no surprise that one of
the prototypes crashed immediately during a failed take-
off. Hannes Trautloft concentrated on fine tuning the use
of the other prototypes, which took about a month (from
mid December, 1936 to the middle of January). By that
time, even Trautloft had several forced landings behind
him, and each flight with the new Messerschmitts brought
new challenges. During the first combat flight on January
20th, 1937 out of Villa del Prado, with Hannes Trautloft
at the controls, another problem was encountered
when the tail wheel failed to lower, and the rudder was
damaged on landing.
Hannes Trautloft, however, did a great service
to Messerschmitt and the Luftwaffe. He helped to
uncover provisional problems and other shortcomings of
the type under combat conditions. The prototype with the
call numbers ‘6-1’ carried Trautloft’s personal emblem,
the green heart as a reminder of his ancestral Thuringia.
Trautloft returned to Germany in March, 1937, and in the
same month, the Legion Condor received its first series
Messerschmitt Bf 109s.
AIR RACES IN ZURICH
After his return from Spain, Trautloft began to share his
combat experiences. First, he served as CO of 1. Staffel
u.l./JG 135 (later I./JG 51) in the Bavarian town of Bad
Aibling, until the Luftwaffe decided to utilize him for more
representative purposes.
The first task was to participate in the opening
ceremonies for an airfield at Budapest. An aerobatic
group of Messerschmitt Bf 109s went through their
paces at this event in June, 1937. A more significant
event for Trautloft came at the end of July, 1937, with his
participation in the 4th International Air Meet in Zurich,
Switzerland (IV. Internationales Flugmeeting Zürich).
This included large air races that were organized every
five years. Civil as well as military aircraft took part.
The German team was composed of people like Ernst
Udet, Major Seidemann
(NOTE 1), and even General der
Flieger Erhard Milch.
Much attention was garnered by the five Messerschmitt
Bf 109s, four prototypes and one series production Bf 109 B.
Three of the aircraft were powered by the Jumo 210 G
(730 hp), and two with the significantly uprated Daimler-
Benz DB 601 (1565 and 1658 hp).
The main opposition to the Germans at these races
were the Czechoslovaks with four Avia B-534s and eight
aerobatic Avia Ba-122. Unfortunately, the British did not
attend with their Hurricanes and Spitfires.
Ernst Udet had remarkably bad luck, crashing twice
with Bf 109 V-14 (with a DB 601). The Germans, except
for one occasion, were pressured to continue racing with
only the Messerschmitts powered by the lower rated
Jumo 210G, and as such, during one event, the aircraft
were outpaced by a Dornier 17M V-1.
Probably the most intense races were the Alp circuits
with three member formations on July 27 (Alpenrundflug
Kategorie C: Ein-oder Mehrsitzer in Dreierkette),
which came to do a battle between the Germans
and the Czechoslovaks. The course was in three
sections: Dübendorf – Thun, Thun – Bellinzona, and
Bellinzona – Dübendorf. The German effort was flown
by Hptm. Restemeier, Oblt. Trautloft and Oblt. Schleif.
The Czech B-534s were flown by Jaroslav Hlaďo,
Frantisek Peřina and Jaroslav Šnobl
(NOTE 2). Both sides
endured technical problems, and the Germans prevailed
with a time of 58:52.7 with an average speed of 374.8
km/h. The Czechoslovaks came in about 2 minutes later
with an average speed of 361.2 km/h. In third place were
the French, with Dewoitine 510s with an average speed
of 336.0 km/h.
The same course was flown by individuals, where
the best time was submitted by Major Seidemann
(56:47.1), while Jaroslav Hlaďo was second at 63:32.8.
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HISTORY
NOTE 1. Hans Seidemann also underwent aerial training in
Lipetsk, Russia. After serving some time with Legion Condor,
he gained the function of Staff Chief. At air races Challenge
International de Tourisme 1934, he finished third of all with
a Fieseler Fi-97 (D-IPUS). Over the Second World War,
he led III./LG 1, led aerial operations in Africa, and later
became head of VIII. Fliegerkorps. He was awarded
the Knight’s Cross with Oak Leave.
NOTE 2. Jaroslav Hlaďo, during the war in Great Britain and
after service with several British squadrons, took command
of No.312 Squadron (Czechoslovak) RAF and later the Czecho-
slovak Fighter Wing. Frantisek Peřina gained eleven confirmed
victories with the French Air Force. He later also served with
No.312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF, where gained one more
victory. After the war, he emigrated out of Czechoslovakia
to avoid imprisonment by the communists. He moved to the
United States where he worked for Weber Aircraft Co. in San
Fernando Valley where he was involved with the manufacture
of components for the Gemini Program and the Boeing 747.
After 1989, he and his wife Ann returned to the Czech Republic,
where he was actively involved with the Veteran’s Organization
of Czechoslovak Airmen RAF. He died in 2006.