I'm a big fan of aircraft and anything aviation related, and my biggest interest is old war planes.
Fascinating aircrafts like the Spitfire, Hurricane on one side of the front and the Messerschmitt,
Stuka on the other. Occasionally I manage to buy some parts from these aircraft, so I have a small
collection of cockpit instruments and other parts.
Some time ago I happened to come across an auction site offering parts from the wreckage of Messerschmitt
BF109 marked "White 10", shot down near Brno (former Czechoslovakia) at the end of the war.
I contacted the seller and it turned out that he was offering parts of the shot-down Messerschmitt
stored by his grandfather, who had witnessed an air duel between a German Messerschmitt and ally
fighters and after the Messerschmitt was shot down, he and other villagers disassembled the
wreckage into parts, partly as souvenirs, partly for some constructions.
He then stored the rest of the parts in his attic as a small "treasure" and now his
ghrandson was offering them for sale in auction.
The idea of holding in my hands genuine parts from the wreckage of a wartime Messerschmitt BF109 was
so exciting and appealing that I decided to buy the parts,
even though the price was high at the end of auction.
It was really strange feeling when the shipment arrived and I was going through nuts and bolts,
holding a cooling pipe flange, a sheet of aluminum and other parts.
As I make jewellry in my atelier near Prague, I thought of making a ring for me, out of some
of the small parts. I have cut the bottom of larger screw and created a ring. The ring turned out
awesome - it was a perfect match for the type of metalworking I use.
Then I made some rings and pendants for my friends,also old plane lovers who loved my ring.
Since there seemed to be interest in my jewelry, I decided to make a small collection of rings
and pendants and offer it in this little e-shop of mine to
other war history enthusiasts..
Selling of the jewelry brings me also opportunity to acquaint with interesting people tuned
on the same wave - e.g.
a retired pilot of RAF bought the ring made of corrugated nut and
checked with British museum who identified, that the nut was on one of the control lights of the
cockpit - we had nice chat. Great bonus for me...
I believe that wearing a piece of aviation history in my jewelry will make the lovers of historical war planes happy.
Once all the parts are used up, there will be nothing left of the "White 10" forever.
Vito
About the plane
Messerschmitt BF 109 marked with "White 10" belonged probably to II/JG 52.
This unit had the airfield in Horsching with operating area Brno and Passau.
On April 25,1945 "White 10" was shot down near Brno, former Czechoslovakia.
The pilot had parachooted himself in time - there are no known records about his fate.I am trying
to find out who was the pilot.
Jewelry made from fragments of 1945 shot-down Messerschmitt BF109
