Today a photograph, very much in the tradition of atmospheric art photos of the thirties.

This is of the leading edge slat on a Messerschmitt Bf 109, or ‘‘Zwei Hände eines Arbeiters beim Arbeiten am Flügel eines Flugzeugs Messerschmitt Me 109.’

From 1940, the photographer is only listed as ‘Höss’, but the Bundesarchive search under the name comes up with otherwise prosaic journalistic / propaganda images, although including other shots from the Messerschmitt factory.

The simplicity of the image is not reflected in the original caption: ‘Das große Plus der Me 109 Die Technik steht nie still. Sie ist in ununterbrochener jäher Aufwärtsentwicklung begriffen – Dies gilt gegenwärtig insbesondere für die Rüstungsindustrie und den Flugzeugbau. Jede neue Type weist wieder Vorteile gegenüber den alten auf. Die Me 109 hat Spaltflügel, die die Flugeigenschaft dieser Type besonders begünstigen.’ Or, roughly: ‘The big advantage of the Me 109 is that the technology never stops developing. It’s always making big steps up – this currently applies in particular to the defence industry and aircraft construction. Each new type has advantages over old ones. The Me 109 has leading edge slats, which particularly assist the flight characteristics of this type.’

Quite. Or maybe the photographer just wanted to contrast the very human hands against the plain shape of the wing and slat?

James Kightly, Vintage Aero Writer.

Image from the German Bundesarchiv via Wikipedia here.