Messerschmitt Bf 109F-4 (WNr.10256)

History: This aircraft was built in 1942 in Leipzig, Germany. Records show that on July 22nd 1942, Stab II/JG5 had to undertake an emergency landing due to engine trouble, this time at Murowskij. Horst Carganico, Gruppenkommandeur of II/JG5 (he also crashed W.Nr.10132) was the pilot. Carganico was the son of Gen. Victor Carganico of WW-I fame. On 26 March 1944 Hauptmann Carganico was appointed Gruppenkommandeur of I./JG 5 participating in the Reichsverteidigung. Following aerial combat with USAAF B-17 four-engined bombers on 27 May 1944, he was killed when Bf 109 G-5 (W.Nr. 110087) crashed into the ground after hitting high tension cables while Carganico was attempting to make a forced landing near Chevry, France. Horst Carganico shot down 60 enemy aircraft in about 600 missions. He recorded six victories over the Western front.

The aircraft remained where it came to rest in Northern Russia until it was recovered by Warbird Recovery in the winter of 1994. It took a Jet engine on the back of a truck to melt the remains out of the ice of the frozen lake where the aircraft was found. All remaining pieces were shipped to the Warbird Recovery facility in Broomfield, Colorado