c/n (WkNr.) 3523. When it was in operation, it was marked Red 6. While operating as Red 6 with JG5, this 109E was shot down by Soviet Hurricanes on 4th April 1942. It force landed on a frozen lake near Pestamo, Eastern Finland, and later sunk when the ice thawed. Raised and recovered in November 2002, it was found to be in excellent and complete condition and in 2008 it joined Tom Friedkin’s Chino Warbirds Inc. It will eventually be restored to fly, which in my opinion is a complete waste of one of the most original and historic WW2 German aircraft in existence. So much original paint survives on this machine that I believe it should be preserved ‘as is’. However, it isn’t my aeroplane, I didn’t pay to raise it and I am not the one paying to restore it, so I guess I should keep my opinions to myself!! It will certainly be a fantastic sight back in the air.
Currently, the unrestored airframe is on display at Planes of Fame Air Museum, Chino, California, USA. 20th September 2019
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:%E5%85%88%E5%BE%93%E9%9A%97%E5%A7%8B&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" class="new" title="User:先従隗始 (page does not exist)">先従隗始</a>
<span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>