Photograph by Paul Cremin on 27 June 2026 at the Shuttleworth Festival of Flight Air Show, taken with a Canon EOS 7D Mk II and a Canon 100–400mm zoom lens, f7, 1/200 sec, ISO 100.
The history of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 E-4 "Red 12" (Werknummer 1983) is one of the most remarkable survival and restoration stories in modern aviation history. Built originally in 1939 by Erla Maschinenwerk, it is currently the only fully airworthy "Emil" (E-model variant) flying in Europe.
During the Second World War, the aircraft served on the Arctic front with the Luftwaffe’s 5. Staffel of Jagdgeschwaders 5 (5./JG 5) "Eismeer", operating out of bases in Norway and northern Finland.
On 24 January 1942, the fighter engaged in aerial combat with Soviet Hawker Hurricanes near Murmansk. Sustaining heavy combat damage, its pilot was forced to execute an emergency crash-landing at Titovka, near the Soviet border.
The pilot survived, but the aircraft was abandoned and left completely exposed to the harsh Arctic elements. It remained missing, frozen in time, for 51 years.
In 1993, the well-preserved wreckage was salvaged from the Russian tundra. It was purchased by historic car collector Eberhard Thiesen, who initiated a meticulous, decades-long restoration process across Europe: The fuselage, tail, and cockpit sections were masterfully rebuilt by Charleston Aviation Services in Essex, UK. The wings were structurally restored by Hartmair Leichtbau in Bavaria, Germany. Dirk Bende and his team at MotoBende in Bonn-Hangelar completed the aircraft. They meticulously overhauled its ultra-rare Daimler-Benz DB 601 N engine—a high-compression version of the standard inverted V12 that produces 1,175 hp. Though constructed as an E-4, it retains elements of its historical mid-war upgrade to the E-7 standard, featuring provisions for a centerline drop tank or bomb rack.
After roughly 30 years of painstaking restoration work, the fighter officially returned to the sky. Legendary British warbird pilot Charlie Brown successfully took off in the newly registered aircraft (D-FEML) from Bonn-Hangelar Airport in Germany. In June 2026, "Red 12" crossed the English Channel to make its highly anticipated UK public debut at the Shuttleworth Collection's Festival of Flight in Old Warden, Bedfordshire.
Today, finished in its authentic dark green camouflage with a yellow nose section, tactical "Red 12" fuselage markings, and the JG 5 "Polar Bear" cockpit emblem, it stands as a fully certified, living monument to WWII aviation engineering.
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