Black or Red?!

[5./JG27.Farber]

For a long time I searched for the answer to the question - Is the horizontal bar on 5./JG27 aircraft black or red?! I could'nt find an answer and just left it untill EZ made some skins for 5./JG27 which made me think of the problem again. Now I just cant let it go....

In the game, its black and black...

So can you help? Is it black or red?


Could it be?

• Did any other regular day fighter squadron use a number and bar that was a different colour from each other?
• Often in Illustrations its red but have they just copied each other?
• Could it indeed have been black number and red bar but they changed after a certain date?
• Could the aircraft be "hand me downs" from another squadron that had red numbers and bar and they only repainted the number? - 5./JG27 were outfitted with brand new F's before going to North Africa...
• The bar always looks lighter on black and white pictures because of the curviture of the fusalage? Paint doesnt stick as well or is different kind of paint? Less paint? Only need painting on once but aircraft numbers change regulary and are fresher?!
• Short on black paint so used the next best thing which was red? - but again and again?

I think what would just really solve it is one colour photograph that was deffinatley 5./JG27...




Bf-109E-5JG27-B2--belly-landed-1940-01




Bf-109E1-5JG27-B13--Erwin-Daig-crash-landed-Storrington-1940-02


http://i1020.photobucket.com/albums/...on-1940-01.jpg

Bf-109E1-5JG27-B13--Erwin-Daig-crash-landed-Storrington-1940-01




Bf-109E-5JG27-B11--1940-01.jpg




Bf-109E1-5.jpg




1-Bf-109F4Trop-5JG27-Red-5--abandoned-North-Africa-Nov-1942-01.jpg


Seems the illustrators arnt sure either?





Black-9_JG27_600.jpg




Bf-109F4Trop-5JG27-B5--Tmimi-1942-0A.jpg

This last picture is really rare, most illustrations have a black number and red bar... In fact this is the only one I know of that has a black bar...