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No. 1426 Flight RAF No. 1426 (Photographic Reconnaissance) Flight
A Focke-Wulf Fw 190 and a Junkers Ju 88 of 1426 Flight undergoing maintenance by RAF ground crew at RAF Collyweston (February 1945)
Active	21 November 1941 – 17 January 1945 1 January 1956 – 31 December 1956
Role	Enemy aircraft evaluation and demonstration
Based	RAF Duxford RAF Collyweston RAF Khormaksar
Equipment	Messerschmitt Bf 109 Messerschmitt Bf 110 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Heinkel He 111 Junkers Ju 88 Henschel Hs 129 Avro Anson Airspeed Oxford General Aircraft Monospar ST-25 Avro Lincoln

No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight RAF, nicknamed the Rafwaffe, was a Royal Air Force (RAF) independent aircraft flight formed during the Second World War to evaluate captured enemy aircraft and demonstrate their characteristics to other allied units. Several aircraft on charge with the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAF) at Farnborough were also used by this unit. The RAE facilities at Farnborough were used for the flight testing of German and Italian aircraft during the war.

Many crash-landed aircraft were brought to Farnborough for examination, testing, and cannibalisation of spare parts to keep other aircraft in serviceable condition. The main flight testing work was carried out by the Aerodynamics Flight of the Experimental Flying Department and the Wireless & Electrical Flight (W&EF), the latter responsible for evaluation and examination of radar-equipped aircraft later in the war.

History

No. 1426 (Enemy Aircraft) Flight

The Royal Air Force unit was established on 21 November 1941 at RAF Duxford, made up of a small group of pilots who had previously been maintenance test pilots with No. 41 Group RAF. Attached at first to 12 Group, its mission was to demonstrate captured types to allied personnel and expose them to "the appearance, performance, and even the sound" of hostile types. Initially, it operated a Heinkel He 111H (RAF aircraft registration AW177) shot down in Scotland in February 1940, a Messerschmitt Bf 109 captured during the Battle of France (AE479) (handed over from the Air Fighting Development Unit, AFDU), and a Junkers Ju 88A-5 (HM509). The Ju 88 was a more recent British acquisition, after the pilot landed at night at RAF Chivenor in the belief it was an airfield in France; the crew had made a navigational error after being deceived by a Meacon. A General Aircraft Monospar was also assigned to the unit for general communication tasks and collecting spare parts.

The aircraft in the unit changed as later marques came into the RAF's hands in various ways; including capture by allied troops, forced or mistaken landings by German pilots, and defections. The flight cooperated with the RAF Film Unit, for which the usual British markings were removed and original German restored. Aircraft were then assigned to the AFDU at (RAF Duxford 1940-1943), where they were extensively tested before passing them on to the flight. Several aircraft were lost to crashes or damaged, and then cannibalised for spare parts. Others were shipped to America for further evaluation. In March 1943, the unit moved to RAF Collyweston in Northamptonshire. Beginning in early 1944, the flight made a round of U.S. Army Air Forces bases in Britain. After the invasion of Normandy, the perceived need for the flight declined.

The flight ceased operations at Collyweston on 17 January 1945, reforming at RAF Tangmere on the same date, with unit codes EA, as the 'Enemy Aircraft Flight' (EAF) of the Central Fighter Establishment (CFE), which finally disbanded 31 December 1945.

No. 1426 (Photographic Reconnaissance) Flight

Following disbandment of No. 7 Squadron RAF in December 1955, four crews and their aircraft were detached and sent to the Aden during the 'troubles', to carry out patrols as No. 1426 (Photographic Reconnaissance) Flight (1426 (PR) Flt) at RAF Khormaksar in Aden on 1 January 1956, and disbanded at Khormaksar on 31 December 1956, being the last time the Avro Lincoln flew operationally as a bomber.

Aircraft operated, 1941–1945

Axis aircraft

This list may be incomplete, and not all axis aircraft captured and allocated RAF aircraft registrations were flown by 1426 Flight. Others were flown by the Air Fighting Development Unit (AFDU) and the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE).

Support aircraft

Support aircraft operated by no. 1426 Flight RAF, data from

Aircraft operated, 1956

Avro Lincoln B.1

Survivors

Four of the aircraft operated by the flight still survive: Bf 109 E-3 'DG200', Bf 109 G2 'RN228' (known as 'Black 6'), Fiat CR42 'BT474', and Ju 88R-1 'PJ876'. All are currently displayed at the Royal Air Force Museum London.

See also

• Kampfgeschwader 200
• Zirkus Rosarius, the Luftwaffe unit that test-flew captured Allied aircraft.
• Allied Technical Air Intelligence Unit, the Allied unit that evaluated Japanese aircraft
• Eric "Winkle" Brown, from the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy, the Commander of No. 1426 Flight, who flew most of the aircraft captured, and who holds the world record for having flown the greatest number of distinct aircraft types.
• Roland Falk
• List of Royal Air Force aircraft squadrons
• List of RAF Regiment units
• List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons
• List of Army Air Corps aircraft units
• List of Royal Air Force aircraft independent flights
• List of RAF Squadron Codes

References

Citations

1. ^ Lake (1999), p. 88.
2. ^ Bennett, Sally (10 January 2006). "WW2 Peoples' War – brief history of The Rafwaffe (Flight 1426)". BBC.co.uk. British Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 22 January 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
3. ^ Christopher, John (2013). The Race for Hitler's X-Planes. The History Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-0752464572.
4. ^ Weal (2000), p. 70.
5. Gosling, Peter (February 2003). "The Rafwaffe". Flight Journal. Archived from the original on 22 March 2006 – via FindArticles.com.
6. Christopher, p.174.
7. "Bf 109 E-3". www.Bf-109.com. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
8. ^ "Individual history Messerschmitt Bf109E-4/B W/NR.4101/DG200/8477M" (PDF). RAF Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
9. ^ Weal (1999), p. 31.
10. ^ "Individual history Messerschmitt Bf109G-2/TROP W/NR.10639" (PDF). RAF Museum. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
11. ^ Weal (1999), p. 75.
12. ^ Weal (1996), p. 25.
13. Weal (1996), p. 24.
14. ^ "CH 15610 (photograph)". Imperial War Museum collection search. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
15. "CH 15606 (photograph)". Imperial War Museum collection search. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
16. ^ "Report No. 8 / 151: Junkers Ju 88 G-1 Night Fighter" (PDF). Air Intelligence 2 (g) Inspection of Crashed or Captured Enemy Aircraft. 16 July 1944. Report Serial No. 242.
17. ^ "No. 9335. Junkers Ju 88 G-1 (TP190 c/n 712273) Royal Air Force". 1000Aircraftphotos.com. 31 October 2009. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
18. ^ "Individual history Ju 88 R-1, Werk Nr. 360043" (PDF). RAF Museum. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
19. "HU 93008 (photograph)". Imperial War Museum collection search. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
20. ^ "Individual history FIAT CR42 'FALCO' MM5701/8468M" (PDF). RAF Museum. Retrieved 4 December 2010.
21. "North East Diary 1939-45". bpears.org.uk. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
22. Powell, Hickman (July 1944). "The 'Rafwaffe' Flies for Us". Popular Science. 145 (1): 46A – via Google Books.
23. ^ "Aufkl. Gr. 122 Nov 1943". LuftwaffeData.co.uk. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
24. ^ "CH 15616 (photograph)". Imperial War Museum collection search. Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
25. Lake (1999), p. 175.

Bibliography

• Lake, Alan (1 February 1999). Flying Units of the RAF: The Ancestry, Formation and Disbandment of All Flying Units from 1912. Airlife Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84037-086-7.
• Weal, John (1 December 1999). Bf 109 F/G/K Aces of the Western Front. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-905-8.
• Weal, John (15 May 1996). Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Aces of the Western Front. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-595-1.
• Weal, John (25 June 2000). Ju 88 Kampfgeschwader on the Western Front. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-020-9.

External links

• Media related to No. 1426 Flight RAF at Wikimedia Commons

• United Kingdom
• Aviation
• History

• Royal Air Force independent flights
• Military units and formations established in 1941