Warbird Information Exchange

In the early 70s my Boy Scout Troop visited Washington DC to visit the forerunner of the Air & Space museum.
There below their ME-262 I met retired Gen. J Steinhoff WWII Famous German Ace.
At first I did not know much about the ME-262 or who he in fact was !
As I was looking at at planes a voice in German accented English asked me what I knew of the ME-262.
turning around I was stunned to see his severly burn sarred face.
He told me who he was~ and the fact that he flew and crashed & burned in a ME-262!
He then began to educate me on the ME-262 for about a half hour.
I knew little about the aircraft at that time.
He was very intereting indeed!
I was stunned at all the info about this fighter jet.
He explained that the engines would only last about 200 hrs.
We have a restored ME-262 nearby in Willow Grove NAS PA.
I will never forget that museum visit!.
Has anyone here on this site ever met Gen Steinhoff ?

I got to meet him in Washington DC in the mid '80's along with General Galland, Pete Brothers, Geoffrey Page, Gunther Rall and Johnnie Johnson. An evening I will never forget.

I have never met him, but I did help restore Vera.

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" excuse me stewardess I speak jive"

I heard him speak at a seminar, didn't really meet him individually.
I think his nickname was "Mackie" sp?
He had a good sense of humor, he referred to himself as having a NATO face, as he had been operated on by surgeons from several of the Allied powers.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Met him in 76 a cool guy! Have xome pictures somewhere of him and his wrecked 262.

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Don't touch my junk!!

I was there too! what a great event! I went witha a friend and former 353rd P-51 pilot.
Those were the days!
jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

I met Gen Steinhof while I was stationed in Germany in the 1980s. A very nice man who politely answered all my questions (which he'd probably been asked thousands of times before). Certainly a privilege to meet him.

Back then, Wehrmacht vets were found everywhere. During my tour, I met Gunther Rall several times along with Walther Krupinski, Adolf Galland, and quite a few others. The small town I lived in had quite a few Luftwaffe vets that I saw on a semi-regular basis. Oddly enough my neighbor in CT was a former Luftwaffe navigator -- I knew him as the MD who lived down the street.

Interesting subject to be talking about. I spent some time with Jerry Crandall this weekend and he told many stories of hanging out with the big German Aces. Eric Hartmann really took a liking to Jerry's wife, Judy and would talk to her all the time. He said he wanted to sell his Iron Cross and wanted her to be the broker. The deal fell through but it was for 352,000 dollars. Anyone pick up on why that price?

But Jerry talked about Rall and what a nice guy he was. Still a ladies man at 84. He is missed by his friends and family. Galland was another. Anyway, Jerry talked to us for about 2 hours and still had stories of these guys.

Jerry himself is an interesting person.

http://www.eagle-editions.com/crandall.htm

A thousand for each kill?? Would have thought his Knights Cross would be more appealing -assuming he still had it.

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Dave, you are completely right. I was typing fast and meant Knights Cross not Iron Cross. And if I remember right, there were a few given out to him and he had a family friend hold on to one. The one he was wearing when captured was taken and never seen again. The 352,000 question was rhetorical since I know we have some very educated folks (such as yourself) on this site. I have griped before on this very site about being accurate in what you say and corrected when I say something wrong. I am very cool with that. There is a lot of brain power here. Thanks for keeping me honest.

Kel

I was assigned to the German Bundes Luftwaffe in the late 80s and they had their annual gathering of eagles at our base. Met a ton of them!!! To include Steinhoff. All were great guys and didn't mind that I was the lone American officer handing out at the O'Club with them. When they found out I was a pilot, all barriers were dropped.

When did Gunter Rall die? I had missed that. He is truly one of the best people I have met and exemplified the moniker of Officer & Gentleman. The world is worse off without him. I did an interview with Him and Shorty Rankin at the NASM next to the ME-262. The interview concerned the day that he was caught in the Zemke Fan and was shot down by the likes of Shorty, Zemke, Gabreski etc... Shorty got the credit though. The interview brought tears to my eyes as they recounted, in extreme detail, the events of over 50 years ago (Then) and how each were now the closest of friends -- A Band of Brothers so to speak.

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Cheers!

Lance Jones

Rall died 4th October last year. An officer, a gentleman and an exceptional airman by all accounts

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