Bf 109F-4/Trop flown by Horst Carganico, commander of II/JG 5 in the summer of 1942.
Based in northern Finland, JG 5 was the last unit fighter unit to upgrade to the Bf 109F, receiving them in mid 1942. At this time, the Messerschmitt factory in Regensburg was beginning to produce the G series, leaving JG 5 to equip "Tropical" 109F's with desert equipment and camouflage produced at the Erla and Weiner-Neustadt factories. The desert sand paint was supplemented with locally sourced paints to better camouflage them against the Finnish tundra. Carganico's mount used a medium green, leaving much of the factory paint untouched. Yellow rudder, lower cowl and wing tips were used as IFF. The rudder shows 53 victory marks. Carganico's mersonal emblem of Mickey Mouse was painted on the engine cowl. He also had the canopy retrofitted with the one from his 109E-3, preferring the early style canopy frame arrangement.
Carganico trained as pilot before the war started and flew combat sorties from very beginning of hostilities, but his first kill came in June 1940 when he downed a RAF Hampden bomber over Norway. Most of his 60 official victories came against the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1943. He was transferred to Germany in March 1944 to defend against American bomber raids. Carganico was killed on May 27, 1944 when he clipped power lines while trying to ditch his damaged 109 in Northern France.
