[hworth18]

Here is the quote from Jason @ Admiral Toys regarding their next scheme..

Well here is the first one on the list. I'll add 1 or 2 more as I have time.

White 3, JV 44 Piloted by Franz Stigler.

Often misidentified as belonging to Adolf Galland, this was actually the personal mount of Oberleutnant Stigler. Stigler was recruited to JV 44 by Galland himself, the only stipulation being that Stigler bring his own plane. Stigler traveled to the Leipheim factory, which had only just been bombed earlier in the day. Fearing that the factory might be hit again, Stigler was allowed to take the aircraft without any papers. While with JV 44, White 3 gained a reputation for reliability and performance and Stigler refused to let anyone else fly it. It was unusual for anyone in JV 44 to have their own aircraft as the pilots usually flew what was available. Galland however did pull rank occasionally and flew several missions in the aircraft and by chance happened to be photographed next to it which is why it is often believed to be his. Stigler only allowed one other person to fly the aircraft who was subsequently killed when the plane crashed just after takeoff and was completely destroyed. The aircraft was mostly likely painted in the classic gray scheme of RLM 74/75/76. The profile view below was approved by Stigler himself.

Edit:

While doing some further research on this aircraft I came across this article about Stigler while he was flying 109's.

"...in December of 1943 when Charles Brown and the crew of "Ye Olde Pub" were nursing their badly damaged B-17 back home. They happened to fly directly over Oberleutnant Franz Stigler's fighter base. Stigler had already shot down two other B-17s that day and quickly took off and caught up with Ye Olde Pub to make it kill number three.

As Stigler moved in to fire, he noticed how badly damaged the B-17 was. There were gaping holes in the fuselage and half the rudder and horizontal stabilizer was shot off. The tail gunner did not fire, so he closed in and could see blood dripping off the .50 caliber tail guns. Inside, Stigler could see the crew members frantically tending to the wounded. At that point, he felt that shooting down the aircraft would be like shooting men in their parachutes.

Stigler pulled up along side the B-17 and motioned for Brown to land in Sweden. However, Brown continued towards home. When they reached the coast, Stigler saluted, pulled up and flew back to base. If his actions had become know, he would have been court-martialed and possibly shot for letting an enemy bomber escape.

Charles Brown and "Ye Olde Pub" made it back to their base in England. Much later, these two former enemies met again and became close friends."

Looks nice, I might go for this one or wait for the next 2 to be announced..