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Originally Posted by Nippelspanner
Roll my eyes every time as well.
I know this is common (naming) practice in the US, and maybe elsewhere, but it doesn't make much sense in the end I think.
I mean, we could also speak about Democrat m4 Shermans then... But we don't, because designating a military craft after the countries political course is just silly.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eddie
From what I understand from a friend in Germany who knows a lot of Luftwaffe history, that many pilots hated seeing the swastika on the tail of their aircraft. Including Galland. To them it was a political symbol, nothing more.
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I can understand their irritation I'd be bummed to have the Obama O or Hillary H painted on my tail section as I imagine you would be by being forced to fly a Trump symbol. But the difference is that those are not official symbols of our nation whereas the swastika was the official symbol of Germany during those years.
In the German marking custom tail markings indicate governmental ownership. The the nazi swastika replaced the WW1 Imperial cross (not sure if the Weimar Republic even had an Airforce) symbol of the Kaiser,
and it was replaced in turn by the modern German Goverments 3 color national flag marking.
Note that the wing and fuselage markings have remained more or less the same. A black cross in those places means that it's a German aircraft regardless of era. The markings on the tail however always indicate what German government owned it, same as the flag that flew from a U-boat conning tower so in a sense it's a kindness to the Germans that we refer to the machines used to try and dominate the world by those who sent them rather than the nationality of the soldiers and sailors that manned them.
Sorry for rambling, it's a subject that has always interested me.