Description
You are bidding on an EXCEPTIONAL and EXCEEDINGLY RARE example of a WW2 German Luftwaffe Trimmungs-Anzeigeuhr (Trim Indicator), 109.42-0207, as ONLY installed in the Messerschmitt Me109 fighter aircraft! This specialized mechanical cockpit indicator displayed the position of the aircraft’s adjustable horizontal stabilizer.
The Messerschmitt Me109 utilized an adjustable horizontal stabilizer rather than a conventional pilot-controlled elevator trim tab, with the stabilizer position controlled through the large trim wheel located on the port side of the cockpit. The Trimmungs-Anzeigeuhr was mounted immediately adjacent to this system and mechanically displayed the stabilizer setting to the pilot, allowing the correct trim position to be monitored during takeoff, climb, cruise, combat, and landing. The instrument was used throughout the wartime development of the Me109 and represents one of the distinctive mechanical cockpit components associated with the type. This particular example originated as unused wartime surplus from WNF/DIANA, the late-war dispersed production operation of the Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerke, where the Me109 production continued underground in three former railway tunnels in Moravia during the closing months of the war.
Made of cast magnesium and steel, this Trimmungs-Anzeigeuhr is in STUNNING NEW OLD STOCK condition! There is NO corrosion, pitting, structural damage, or repairs anywhere on the housing…with approximately 70% of the original RLM66 cockpit paint remaining! ALL the original wartime part numbers and identification markings remain clearly cast on the outside. These indicators are EXTREMELY RARE today, largely because their magnesium housings are highly susceptible to oxidation, corrosion, and eventual deterioration. In approximately 25 years of collecting and dealing in original German aircraft components, I have encountered only a handful of examples at all, and most showed substantial pitting and deterioration to the magnesium housing. This example is by FAR the finest I have personally encountered! The internal gearing, indicator mechanism, and drive assembly remain complete and are 100% FUNCTIONAL in every respect. This instrument was NEVER INSTALLED and remained as unused wartime stock from WNF/DIANA at the end of the war. Everything present is 100% ORIGINAL wartime manufacture. Due to the scarcity of surviving magnesium examples and the virtually untouched condition of this one, it would be extraordinarily difficult to ever upgrade. I have shown its location in the last image. An EXCEPTIONAL museum-quality piece for the advanced Me109, Luftwaffe, cockpit instrument, or aviation collection!
