IWM "Mintech" USAAF Air Material Command German R & D microfilm collection

[Richard T Eger]

From 12 O'Clock High!:

Richard T. Eger
German aircraft equipment drawings/photos
Mon Dec 13, 2024 01:41
69.72.5.170


Dear Fellow Luftwaffe Researchers,

About a month ago I requested some direction as to where I might be able to find drawings of German aircraft equipment, such as the Fl. numbered equipment. I'm trying to get this information for the numerous components on the Me 262. I was directed to Udo Hafner and his Fl. books, which I now have on my shelf. These provided drawings of about 16 cockpit instruments, but lacked quite a few of the others. In addition, I asked of Herr Hafner whether he had anything on parts identified with Ln. numbers or simply numbers such as 19-5836 A-1 and 19-5843, as called out in Peter Cohausz' "German Aircraft Cockpits 1911-1970". Sadly, he does not.

I seem to recall that Dr. Peter Aichner put out a number of equipment books, but he seems to have withdrawn from selling them, as I can't find him anymore. It was suggested that these are frequently for sale on eBay, but I haven't seen them there.

Anyway, at this point, my well is running a bit dry, so I come to you all for any guidance that you might be able to offer. Let me make it clear that I don't want to buy the equipment, itself (I'd have no place to put it in my apartment), but rather would like to get dimensioned drawings or, lacking that, at least photos. And, I'm not restricting my search to just the cockpit, but all the equipment that was added to the basic aircraft structure, for example, hydraulic system components.

Any leads along these lines or to copies of Aichner's books would be most appreciated.

Regards,
Richard

[Richard T Eger]

From further within the thread on TOCH!:

Mike Shilton
Manuals
Thu Dec 16, 2024 19:22
62.255.32.9


Hello Richard,

I have at times spent many a happy hour or so at Duxford going through the manuals, this was a few years ago, however since then I believe the archivist has retired and a new one has been employed, unfortunately this one has been on long term sick which means there is no access to the archives at Duxford. Things may have changed but each time I've phoned I haven't been able to get in, however if you go to the Imperial War Museum at Lambeth (or phone them) they have a book containing references to all the manuals in store at Duxford, which you can order to peruse at Lambeth. They also have a catalogue for the "GDC" collection, also held at Duxford, this is a quite large collection of documents amongst which are test reports on equipment for various aircraft etc.

One collection they won't tell you about is the microfilm collection, the record cards are kept in a series of metal filing cabinets in a dilapidated building away from the archive. There are literally thousands of cards that cover every aspect of the German aero industry during the war. This collection is a microfilm copy of every document, manual etc. that the RAF captured in 1945, the originals being returned to Germany sometime later. The collection is virtually identical to the one in the NASM, I hth.

Regards,
Mike.

[Richard T Eger]

From TOCH!:

Richard T. Eger
Re. IWM holdings
Thu Dec 16, 2024 19:44
69.72.5.156


Dear Mike,

Ah, so what might have been is no longer and we must go to the Lambeth castle. For foreign visitors, this can add an extra day into the research, as it takes a day to get the requested documents from Duxford.

I am aware of the Mintech series and, yes, it is the same series as at the NASM Garber. Because of limitations at the IWM, some researchers have requested their document from Garber. Also, from what I can tell, the microfilm series at Duxford is not as complete as at Garber, although there are a very few exceptions where Duxford has a microfilm not held by Garber.

Regards,
Richard

I have recently been in contact with the archivist at Duxford and can confirm that access is once again available, however if you wish to visit, please give as much notice as possible.