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In July 1944 Germany introduced the Messerschmitt Me 262, the first jet aircraft in combat. Allied pilots were astonished by its speed—lOOmph faster than the best Allied fighters—and quick to find its weakness—it was vulnerable at take-off and particularly at landing. So the Luftwaffe arranged for conventional fighters to cover the jets over their air bases, because during 1945 German skies were blanketed by American, British, and Soviet aircraft. Adolf Galland was dismissed from his position as General of Fighters because Germany was overwhelmed by Allied air attacks and Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring needed a scapegoat. In February 1945, Goring authorized Galland to form a Jagdverband (Special Fighter Squadron) of experienced pilots to fly the Me 262. Retraining took time, and they did not become operational until 5 April 1945. Galland recruited Leutnant Heinz Sachsenberg (104 victories) from Jagd Geschwader (Hunting Wing) 26, to lead a Platzschutzstaffel (Airfield Defense Flight). Four Fwl90D's were acquired: three D-9's and one D-ll. They painted these airplanes red underneath with white stripes on the undersides of the wings, horizontal tailplanes and forward fuselage to prevent German flak from confusing their 'Doras' with American Mustangs. When jets took off and landed, the 190D's were to circle the vicinity of the Munich-Reim airfield at an altitude of 500 meters and never to pursue Allied fighters. They used the radio call signal Pagagei (Parrot), but this was not a name for their unit. Sachsenberg flew "Red 1," Hptm. Waldemar Wubke flew "Red 3," and Obit. Klaus Faber flew "Red 13," (all D-9's). Lt. Karl-Heinz Hofmann flew "Red 4,'' a D-ll. Previously this Dora-11 aircraft was thought a prototype, but the latest information confirms that it was a production aircraft with standard two-tone green camouflage. Hofmann was one of the few members of JV 44 who had not earned the Knight's Cross award. Like Sachsenberg, Hofmann came from JG 26, which also flew 190D's. All of the JV 44 Doras bore slogans, and Hofmann's was, "Der ndchste Herr deiselbe Dame!" (The next Guy same Dame!) His rare Dora-11 had 30mm cannons mounted outboard of the landing gear instead of the Dora-9's cowling-mounted 12.9mm machine guns (both also had 20mm cannons in the wing roots). Although the D-ll had much greater firepower, outboard cannons were prone to jam, and many pilots preferred the D-9's concentrated firing pattern.

Focke-Wulf 190D 'Dora-11' JV 44 "Galland Zircus" Munich, April 1945 Pilot : Lt. Karl-Heinz HOFMANN (2 Victories)

Focke-Wulf 190D 'Dora-11' JV 44 "Galland Zircus"
Munich, April 1945
Pilot : Lt. Karl-Heinz HOFMANN (2 Victories)