During the war, the Air Technical Service Command (ATSC) at first maintained a loose inventory system over the trickle of enemy aircraft that had come to them. Some aircraft had been assigned an "EB" (Evaluation Branch) prefix number, at first starting with EB-1 and EB-2 (ie, EB-1 Bf 109F, EB-2 A6M2) and later a system that allowed more distinction, German aircraft given a number in the 100-sequence (ie, Bf 109G EB-102, Fw 190G EB-104), Japanese aircraft a number in the 200-sequence (ie, A6M2 EB-200, A6M3 EB-201) and Italian a number in the 300-sequence (ie, Macchi C.202 EB-300). Others received no known designation (ie, Bf 109G-2/Trop Irmgard, Black "14" of 2(H)/14, used for static tests at Wright Field and tested to destruction).[1] The EB-code system was superceded by the FE-code system, some aircraft taking their number with them.
Known Aircraft[]
| Type | Model | Serial number | Tail code | Notes | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Messerschmitt Bf 109 | Bf 109F-4 | 7640 | EB-100 | Arrived at Eglin AFB, Florida on 21 March 1944, tested by the evaluation Branch of the USAAF, at first coded as EB-1. | 9th Staffel of the III./JG3 Yellow 9, via the Red Army Air Force Research Institute NII-VVS. |
| Focke-Wulf Fw 190 | Fw 190 | 140750? | EB-101 | At Wright Field on 20th August 1943 after shipment from North Africa. First test flight after overhaul in February 1944. | Captured in North Africa. |
| Messerschmitt Bf 109 | Bf 109G-6/Trop | 16416 | EB-102 | Scrapped in Oct 1944. | ex-4th Staffel of II/JG77 White 9. Captured at Soliman airfield in Tunesia. |
| Messerschmitt Me 410 | Me 410A-2/U1 | 10018 | EB-103 | 7 October 1944 at Wright Field. Scrapped in Oct 1944. | F6+WK from 2.(F)/122, captured at Trapani, Sicily. |
| Focke-Wulf Fw 190 | Fw 190G-3 | 160016 | EB-104 | Took over from EB-101 as Focke-Wulf Fw 190 test aircraft as FE-499, which later changed to T2-499. | ex DN+FP of III/SG10, Captured at Montecorvino in Italy. |
| Henschel Hs 129 | Hs 129B-2 | 0385 | EB-105 | Tested as FE-103, later FE-4600 and then T2-4600. | ex Blue 8 of 1(Pz)/SG2, captured at Toubakeur in Tunesia. |
| Mitsubishi A6M | A6M2 'Zeke' | 3372 | EB-200 | Rebuilt by Curtiss aircraft over a period of six months, first flown by Evaluation branch September 1943 as EB-2. | V-172 of the 22nd Koku Sentai Shireibu Fuzoku Sentokitai via TAIU-China, where it was tested as P-5016. |
| Mitsubishi A6M | A6M3 'Hamp' | ? | EB-201 | via ATAIU, where it was tested as XJ-001. | |
| Macchi C.202 | C.202 Serie XIII | MM.91975 | EB-300 | To the Evaluation Branch of the USAAF as EB-300, later renumbered to FE-300 , when it went to Wright Field, Ohio for flight trials. It got renumbered again at Freeman Field, Indiana, as FE-498 in 1945 and later T2-498 in 1946 | Found abandoned at Sciacca airfield, Sicily. |
Sources[]
All items (9)
