Me 109E-1, 9./JG 26 "Feldwebel Artur Beese" 1940 (1:72)

Me 109E-1, 9./JG 26 "Feldwebel Artur Beese" 1940
This model highlights the colorful markings of the famous 9/JG 26, one of the best German fighter units in Europe in the early 40's. It was flown by the skilled pilot Artur Beese.

Main Features:
- accurately-tooled Me 109E-1
- engraved panel lines
- accurate camouflage painting
- precisely molded armament
- moving wing flaps
- moveable rudder
- opening/closing canopy
- Approximate dimensions: 4.89"L x 5.42"W x 1.33"H

About Feldwebel Artur Beese:
Artur Beese was born on 11 March 1916 at Hrselgau. Beese joined JG 26 in October or November 1939. Unteroffizier Beese was assigned to the Stabstaffel of III./JG 26. He was shot down in aerial combat with French Morane 406 fighters near Lille in France and taken prisoner on 1 June 1940. He was released when France fell. Beese participated in the Battle of Britain. On 24 August 1940, Feldwebel Beese, shot down into the Channel by RAF fighters, was rescued unharmed by the German rescue service. Leutnant Beese claimed his first victory, a RAF Spitfire fighter, shot down on 24 July 1941. At the end of January 1943, I./JG 26 was transferred to Russia in an exchange with III./JG 54, who replaced them on the Channel Front. By the time the Gruppe was returned to the Channel front in June, Oberleutnant Beese had 13 victories to his credit. On 20 June 1943, Beese was appointed Staffelkapitn of 1./JG 26. He recorded his first victories over the increasing number of Allied four-engine bombers raiding German occupied territory on 17 August 1943, when he shot down two USAAF B-17s for his 16th and 17th victories. On 8 September, shot down by RAF Spitfire fighters, he baled out of his Fw 190 A-5 (W.Nr. 550 474) ?White 2? west of Cambrai. He suffered only minor injuries. Oberleutnant Beese was shot down in aerial combat with USAAF P-47 fighters near Melun in France on 6 February 1944. He attempted to bale out of his Fw 190 A-6 (W.Nr. 531 060) ?White 7? but hit the tail and was killed. He was posthumously awarded the Deutsches Kreuz in Gold on 29 March 1944.

Artur Beese was credited with 22 victories in 285 missions. He recorded seven victories over the Eastern front, including three Il-2 Sturmovik ground-attack aircraft. Of his 15 Western front victories, six were four-engine bombers.
Source: www.luftwaffe.cz

About the Me 109E-1:
The Messerschmitt Me 109 (Bf 109 was the official Reichsluftfahrtministerium designation, though some late-war aircraft actually carried the Me 109 designation stamped onto their aircraft type plates. Me 109 was the name used officially by the Luftwaffe propaganda publications as well as by the Luftwaffe personnel) was a World War II fighter aircraft designed in the early 1930s, the first truly modern fighter of the era combining the features of all-metal monocoque construction, a closed canopy and a retractable landing gear.
The Me 109E-1 was the first production model of the Me 109E version. The first E-1 was produced in the summer of 1938 after the tests of prototypes Me109 V13 and V14. Compared with the early versions, the E-1 had its radiators under the wings. Its armament consisted of two wing-mounted MG-17 machine guns and an optional 250kg bomb. It was powered by a DB-601A engine and had a top speed of about 350mph with a ceiling of 34500 feet.
The first operational debut of the E-1 was the Spanish Civil War in early 1939, serving in the famous "Condor Legion". The E-1 was also a mainstay of the Luftwaffe's fighter forces at the outbreak of WWII and in many other battles including the well-known Battle of Britain in summer 1940.