Originally known as; "Black 2" of II Gruppe JG 52. The werk number 610824 suggests that this aircraft was produced by Wiener Neustadter Flugzeugwerke. Unfortunately, no werk number block in the 610800 range has turned up in any known listings or in Quartermaster’s loss records. As the original data plates of this machine have been missing for some time, It is this writers opinion that this werk number is unconfirmed. However, plates were found in the fuselage’s interior that suggest that this aircraft was manufactured from a reclaimed G-6 fuselage and upgraded to G-10 standards.

Black 2 was surrendered to American forces at Neubiberg Airfield near Munich, when the remnants of II/JG52 retreated en masse to escape the advancing Russians at the end of the war.

This machine was one of three Bf-109 G-10 aircraft that were taken over by Capt. Fred Macintosh. Capt. Macintosh was in charge of collecting examples of piston engined aircraft for Watson’s Wizzers, during Operation Lusty.

As to whether or not this aircraft was test flown during this time can not be verified, but it is known that the airframe was transported to the port of Cherbourg by truck. It was then loaded aboard the aircraft carrier; HMS Reaper and left port on July 19, 1945, arriving at pier 14 in New York Harbor 12 days later.

The aircraft was then off loaded onto a barge and taken to Newark AAF, where it was stored and eventually crated for shipment in Sept. 1945. Black 2 was shipped by rail to Freeman Field, where it arrived in May 1946. At some point the aircraft was given a spurious coat of paint and the code; FE-124. This was later changed to T2-124 when reorganization of the Air Material Command’s Technical Data Laboratory, became part of T-2 Air Intelligence.

T2-124 was stored at Freeman Field, but was reported loaned to Dobbins AAF near Marietta Georgia, to be in a display along with a Focke-Wulf FW-109D-13, coded T2-118.

When it was time to return the aircraft, Freeman Field did not want them back. Officials stated that they would only be scrapped.

The scrap yard would have been the eventual fate for these two machines had it not been for Professor Donnell Dutton, director of the Guggenheim School of Aeronautics at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Professor Dutton was a member of the institute’s flying club and thought that the two aircraft would be interesting additions to the club’s collection of airplane relics. The two airframes were never officially part of any university program, but were placed in storage by the school’s flying club who planned to use them for display.

Around the mid 1950s, the flying club traded T2-124 and T2-118 to Mr. Bud Weaver, an FAA Inspector in Atlanta, for a working aero engine. They were then stored out in the open at various rental properties owned by Mr. Weaver and soon became derelict due to vandals and exposure to the elements. It was at this time that T2-124 lost it’s original wings. Someone had the aircraft hauled away to the local dump! Mr. Weaver arrived in time to save the fuselage, but not the wings. If anything good can be said about this time, at least the elements had worn off the spurious paint scheme and revealed the original markings on what was left of the airframe.

In the mid 1960s ill health had forced Mr. Weaver to sell his Luftwaffe aircraft. T2-124 was sold to publisher John Caler of Sun Valley, CA. By this time the remains of T2-124 consisted of the fuselage and engine, minus the spinner and tail group. According to Mr. Caler’s 1972 newsletter, some of the missing components were supposed to have been stored in a disused old church in the Atlanta area. The missing components were never located.

Mr. Caler had brought the plane to his garage in Encino CA and planned to restore the aircraft to flying condition. For this, he had purchased wings from an Avia S-199 in Czechoslovakia and set about trying to restore the airframe with the help of friends and volunteers. They had managed to collect some parts, including some of the missing instruments and a propeller hub. The cockpit was restored along with some fuselage re-skinning.

After years of work the restoration of T2-124 was still unfinished and Mr. Caler had run out of funds. The aircraft was then sold to an unknown private collector who held it in storage for some time.

In the mid 1980s the airframe was sold to Doug Arnold’s Warbird’s of Great Britain Collection and stored at his Biggin Hill facility along with an ex-Yugoslavian Air Force Bf-109 G-10, W.Nr. 610937. Some restoration work may have been carried out but can not be confirmed.

In 1989, both G-10 airframes were sold to Evergreen Ventures of McMinnville, Oregon. Evergreen had contracted Vintage Aircraft Restorations Ltd. of Ft. Collins Co. to restore both aircraft. The restoration of T2-124 to static display condition was completed in the mid 1990s and then traded to the USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio. Since April 1, 1999 it has been on display there as "Blue 4" of JG 300.

An interesting side note here; Since Freeman Field was a subsidiary of what was then known as Wright Field, it would seem that T2-124 has traveled full circle since its arrival at Freeman in 1946.