Fw 190A-4 flown by Hannes Trautloft, Geschwader Kommodore of Jg 54, in February 1943. An ace in the Spanish Civil war and with another five victories by the Battle of Britain, Trautloft was given command of Jg 54 in August 1940. He would lead Jg 54 from then until June 1943 when he was appointed to the position of Inspector of Fighter Units, East and later promoted to Inspector of all fighter units in the Luftwaffe. While flying combat missions, he totaled 58 victories. He would hold that position until being sacked for taking part in the plot to remove Herman Goering as head of the Luftwaffe, the so-called "Fighter Pilots Mutiny". The iconic green heart emblem of Jg 54 began use as Trautloft's personal emblem while in Spain and began being painted on all Jg 54 aircraft in December 1941. The green heart itself is a reference to Trautloft's home region of Thuringia, which is known as the "green heart of Germany" because of it's lush forests.
This aircraft was Trautloft's spare mount in the winter of 1942-43. I chose the spare because every photo of his primary aircraft shows a cowl panel without the winter whitewash, and it looks odd to me.
This aircraft features all upper surfaces covered with white paint. The Green Heart emblem has the badges of Jg 54's three gruppen painted inside of it. Black chevrons and bars denote it's ownership by the geschwader command staff. Yellow markings on the fuselage, lower cowling, lower wing tips and lower rudder served as IFF in northwest Russia. At the time, JG 54 was the sole fighter unit between Leningrad and Velikiye-Luki.
