Hans von Hahn (7 August 1914 – 5 November 1957) was a German Luftwaffe ace and recipient of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross during World War II. The Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. During his career he was credited with 34 aerial victories, 15 on the Western Front and 19 on the Eastern Front.
Hans von Hahn was born on 7 August 1914 at Frankurt am Main. He joined the navy as a sea-cadet in 1934 but transferred to the Luftwaffe in 1935. On 16 September 1939, von Hahn was appointed Staffelkapitän of 8./JG 53. He served under the command of Hauptmann Werner Mölders (115 victories, RK-Br, killed in action 22 November 1941), Gruppenkommandeur of III./JG 53. He recorded his first victory on 22 December 1939, when he shot down a RAF Hurricane fighter of 73 Squadron northwest of Metz in France. Von Hahn recorded five confirmed victories during the French campaign. Von Hahn was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 3 on 27 August 1940. During the Battle of Britain, von Hahn added a further six victories to his tally, including two Hurricanes on 7 October to record his 10th and 11th. victories.
Operating over the Eastern front, von Hahn raised his victory total to 31. He claimed three Russian twin-engine bombers shot down near Brody on 26 June 1941 to record his 14th through 16th victories. Von Hahn recorded his 20th victory on 6 July, when he shot down two Russian DB-3 twin-engine bombers near Shepetowka. Hauptmann von Hahn was awarded the Ritterkreuz on 9 July 1941 for 21 victories.He recorded nine victories in July, including three Russian SB-2 twin-engine bombers shot down near Berdichev on 14 July (25-27).
Rudder of Hans von Hahn`s Bf 109F shows twenty-four victories, three balloons and three aircraft destroyed on the ground.
In September 1941, von Hahn led I./JG 3 back to the Western front. On 15 January 1942, I./JG 3 was redesignated II./JG 1. Von Hahn retained leadership of II./JG 1. Reputedly, he was later relieved of this command and confined to quarters in June 1942 under somewhat mysterious circumstances relating to the shooting of a sentry. In October 1942, von Hahn was transferred to the Geschwaderstab of JG 5. On 1 January 1943, he transferred to the staff of the General der Jagflieger. He was appointed Kommodore of JG 103 on 21 July 1943. From April 1945, he held the post of Kommandeur of Jagdfliegerführer Oberitalien based at Verona in Italy.Von Hahn survived the war. He died on 5 November 1957 at Frankfurt am Main.
The first German mass produced 109 fighter was the Bf-109E that has been mistakenly referred to as the Me-109. The Bf is the designator for the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW) (Bavarian Aircraft Works) that produced the original aircraft. In 1938 Messerschmitt took over BFW but throughout WWII German handbooks and documents referred to the aircraft as the Bf-109. By the end of 1939 the Bf-109E (Emil) had replaced all other 109 variants and equipped 13 Gruppens with 40 aircraft each. The Bf-109 was the main single-engine aircraft until the Fw-190 came along.
When the Bf 109 was designed in 1934, by a team led by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser, its primary role was that of a high-speed, short range interceptor. It utilized the most advanced aerodynamics of the time and embodied advanced structural design which was ahead of its contemporaries. In the years of the Blitzkrieg, the Bf 109 was the only single-engine fighter operated by the Luftwaffe, until the appearance of the Fw 190.
The 109 remained in production from 1937 through 1945 in many different variants and sub-variants. The primary engines used were the Daimler-Benz DB 601 and DB 605, though the Junkers Jumo 210 powered most of the pre-war variants. The most-produced Bf 109 model was the 109G series (more than a third of all 109s built were the G-6 series, some 12,000 units being manufactured from March 1943 until the end of the war).
The initial production models of the A, B, C and D series were powered by the relatively low-powered, 670–700 PS (660-690 HP) Junkers Jumo 210 series engines. A handful of prototypes of these early aircraft were converted to use the more powerful DB 600.
The first major redesign came with the E series. The Bf 109E, or “Emil”, introduced a number of structural changes in order to accommodate the heavier, but significantly more powerful 1,085 HP Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine, heavier armament and increased fuel capacity. Later variants of the E introduced a fuselage bomb rack or provision for a long-range, standardized 300 litre (79 US gallon) drop-tank, and used the DB 601N engine of higher power output. The 109E first saw service with the “Condor Legion” during the last phase of the Spanish Civil War and was the main variant from the beginning of World War II until mid-1941 when the 109F replaced it in the pure fighter role.
Hobbymaster New Tooling release !
Hobbymaster 1/48th scale HA8701 Hobbymaster BF 109E-4 “Hans Von Hahn” I./JG3, Grandvillers, France late 1940. RRP £72.00 Flying Tigers only £59.99 ( No deposit necessary , payment not taken until model dispatched, Model due for dispatch end June).
Please click here or on the image above to go straight to the model details.
Latest Hobbymaster releases available to Pre-order now.
In addition to the model above, Hobbymaster have released the following models for June release. Pre-orders are coming in steadily for these already in particular for the second release of the S3-A Viking . The first Viking release is now sold out at Hobbymaster and no more are available for distribution in the U.K. Please click on the link HERE to go straight to all the models or on each image below.
Additions , Re-stocks and this weeks’ special offers !
I have picked out a few of the latest offers that have been added to the Flying Tigers Website shown here. Some of these are in limited numbers and most likely will sell out over the weekend and next few days. Get in early if you missed out on a few of these the first time round. Many are already completely SOLD OUT and are hard to find. Some of these will not be in stock until the end of this month, so treat them as a Pre-order for delivery. Details on delivery can be found in the product descriptions on each model.
Hobbymaster 1/72nd scale HA1945. Sorry sold out already !
Hobbymaster 1/72nd scale HA3016 F-111F Aardvark 70-2413, Salena, 492nd TFS, 1991 RRP £74.00 Flying Tigers Only £49.99. Only 4 left !
Website News
Just a quick update on the latest 1/48th scale BF109E-4 release by Hobbymaster this week. Earlier this week Flying Tigers, along with a few other retailers, announced the release of this model as an “Adolf Galland” version and not the Hans von Hahn model as featured in this week’s Newsletter. Actually the first and intended model release was the “Galland” and this was only substituted by Hobbymaster at the last moment. Unfortunately this news did not reach us in time. The reason for the last minute change of subject matter was the realization of the lack of a telescopic gun-sight on the proposed model. (see below).
This necessitated a tooling change and the subsequent delay of this model release.
I am sorry this confusion has caused some aggravation. I rectified things ASAP. The vast majority of you have continued to keep your order on the “von Hahn”model, which I am sure will be a beauty ! Thank you for your support on this model.
Based on early indications it looks likely that the Hans von Hahn model will be a sell out.
For those of you specially waiting for the “Galland” release, I do not have a date yet but I hope it will not be too long and am sure it will be well worth the wait !
Well that’s it for this week… what a busy week !
Thank you for taking time in reading this week’s Newsletter and your continued support, it is much appreciated.
Richard.
Flying Tigers.
