New Messerschmitt Bf109E release includes future Rafwaffe aircraft scheme

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Michael.Clegg2 days ago

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Welcome to this latest edition of our Workbench blog and all the news, updates, and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.

Flushed with the success of our latest double blog update posting last weekend, we’re back with another pair of blogs this time, with a similar combination of releases, one a new kit addition to the standard range, with the other being the latest heritage model induction into the Vintage Classics range.

In this first update, we’re in the company of Messerschmitts and the latest impending release from our unbelievably popular 1/48th scale Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3/E-4 tooling, a beautiful model which is our tribute to one of the most famous fighter aircraft of all time. Always making for a compelling build subject, the sinister looking ‘Emil’ variant of the Bf 109 series really does look just like you would expect a fighter aircraft to look, a no frills, almost matter of fact design, and one bred solely to dominate the skies. During the early part of the war, that’s exactly what these aircraft did, and the three fascinating schemes included with this kit represent aircraft which all took part in the Battle of France, arguably the high-water mark of the Bf 109’s aerial domination.

We will be following this up with a look at a really unusual British aircraft type and the forerunner to the mighty Boeing Chinook, the Bristol Type 192 Belvedere. A really elegant looking large tandem rotor helicopter, the Belvedere was the only indigenously designed and produced aircraft of its type to enter Royal Air Force service and as it has links to the Westland Sea King HC.4 Commando we featured last week, it’s rather fitting that the aircraft features in this next dual new model release posting.

With classic artwork and details behind all the available scheme options included with each kit, it’s double trouble yet again in this latest Workbench weekend, as we showcase two new models which would both make for compelling build projects over the coming weeks and months.

A sky full of Messerschmitts

Nothing tells the story of aviation as engagingly as Airfix box artwork and this one shows an early skirmish between a marauding Messerschmitt and RAF Hurricanes during the summer of 1940.

Mankind has held a fascination with flight since the dawn of time, with the ability to soar like a bird and dance amongst the clouds being something which has captured our imagination for millennia. Even though the Wright brothers only made their historic first 
manned heavier-than-air powered and controlled flight in 1903, the pace at which aviation technology advanced during the Great War ensured that by its end, such ruthlessly effective fighting aeroplanes as the Fokker D.VII and Sopwith Snipe had snatched the aviation baton from the Wright Flyer, and there was no going back.

With the victorious powers of the Great War counting the cost of that victory in the years which followed and the world seemingly desperate to put as much distance as possible between a hard-fought peace and the horrors of war, it didn’t take long for influential people in Germany to start thinking about the injustice of the Treaty of Versailles, and what they were going to do about it. As plans started to take shape, a powerful new military force started to take shape and aviation would be at the heart of this rebuilding of their military capability.

During the early 1930s, the technical department of the Reich Aviation Ministry conducted a series of studies into the future of aerial combat, with their conclusions resulting in requirements for the development four very specific types of military aircraft, one of which was for a new single seat fighter. This new aircraft was to possess exceptional performance, far in advance of anything currently flying, being fast, light and heavily armed and powered by the latest engine technology – this was a short-range interceptor designed to dominate the skies. 

Although it was reputed that they were initially not invited to submit proposals, the Bayerische Flugzeugwerke Company did eventually join the competition and what they proposed would go on to become arguably the most famous fighting aeroplane of the Second World War, an aircraft which would dictate the very future of world fighter technology, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 series.

Adopting a similar design philosophy to their existing Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun sports/touring aircraft which made its own first flight in 1934 and introduced the following year, the new fighter utilised lightweight construction principles and was always intended to be mass produced. The design incorporated the use of large and robust brackets at the firewall bulkhead, serving as anchor points for the lower engine mounts and main undercarriage pivot points. Whilst this did allow the wings to be removed with a minimum of fuss for whatever reason, it did give the fighter its characteristic narrow track undercarriage, something which always made ground handling somewhat challenging.

As the prototype aircraft neared the date of its first flight, the project was in danger of suffering significant delay, as the new Junkers Jumo engine was still some way off being available forcing a radical solution to be sought. That solution proved to be a deal struck with the Rolls Royce Company in the UK, whereby four Kestrel VI engines were secured in exchange for a Heinkel He 70 Blitz aircraft, which the British company used as an engine testbed for future development programs. Powered by the Rolls Royce engine, the prototype Bf 109 made its first flight in May 1935, but it would be a further twelve months before the Junkers Jumo powered prototype took to the air.

Historically, the Germans used the summer Olympics of 1936 to reveal their capable new fighter aircraft to the watching world and whilst everyone marvelled at the achievements of the world’s greatest athletes, military officials across Europe watched in trepidation as this new fighter took to the skies, immediately stepping up their own regeneration programmes, as the threat of future conflict had just increased exponentially. 

The enduring aerial struggle between the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and Supermarine Spitfire has been well covered over the years by the Airfix kit range, across several scales.

Entering Luftwaffe service in February 1937, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter also equipped the German Expeditionary Air Force which took part in the Spanish Civil War, where the performance of the fighter was later evaluated, and improvements made after allowing service pilots to make their recommendations. In fact, with over 34,000 aircraft eventually produced, the Bf 109 was subjected to almost constant improvement and development throughout its service career.

The first four production variants of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 were all powered by the Junkers Jumo 210 engine, an advanced unit which was Germany's first truly modern engine design, however, front line fighter aircraft are always looking to benefit from ever greater speeds and this search would lead to the first major re-design of the Bf 109 with the introduction of the 'E' or 'Emil' variant, the aircraft which was in widespread service during the Battle of Britain. This mature version of the fighter adopted the more powerful Daimler Benz DB600 series powerplant, a 33-litre direct fuel injected inverted V12 unit which made the Luftwaffe's main fighter even more combat effective – the French and British air forces would have their hands full with this capable warbird.
 
The adoption of this new engine did require extensive design modifications to be adopted, not only around the areas of the mounting frame and engine cowling to shoehorn this larger, more powerful powerplant into what was actually a relatively small fighter aircraft, but also to add additional cooling ducting around the inner wing sections, to provide effective cooling for this beast of an engine. In fact, it's interesting to note that the development of both the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and its famous British adversary, the Spitfire, went hand in glove with engine development, ensuring that both could remain at the forefront of world fighter performance and more specifically, competitive with each other. 

Earlier variants of the lightweight Bf 109 had to be upgraded once the Germans learned that the new British Hurricane and Spitfire fighters would be equipped with eight machine guns each, forcing the Messerschmitt to take on greater firepower and the resultant increase in weight that brought with it. Forming the backbone of the Luftwaffe’s fighter force, around 200 Messerschmitt Bf109 fighters were committed to the attack against Poland, where around 60 would be lost, mostly to ground fire.

As the Wehrmacht turned its attention towards the west, the excellent close coordination between air and ground forces saw them roll through Europe to the French border in a frighteningly short period of time, however, with France being the next country to face the might of the modern German military, the Germans would surely be facing a much stiffer test. The two opposing forces were of a similar size and strength and in many respects, the French would have the upper hand when it came to ground forces and anti-aircraft defences.

Once the Bf 109s of the Luftwaffe were required to fight on the other side of the English Channel, Britain’s Fighter Command ensured not all these diminutive fighters made it home.

Unfortunately, the French had organised their military forces in line with outdated concepts and doctrines and a lack of radar effectively relegated their air force to mounting standing patrols and being on the back foot from the start. With around 1,000 Bf 109 fighters allocated for the coming offensive against France, the Luftwaffe was now a well-oiled fighting machine and in less than a week, they managed to deplete the French air force to 1/3rd of its fighting strength and in the month from 10th May 1940, the Allies had lost 1,850 aircraft, with 950 of these being French.

Operationally, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 was an impressive aeroplane indeed, with the ‘Emil’ being the first fully mass-produced variant of the fighter. The design of the fighter intentionally made ease of access to its systems a priority, so ground crews could easily work on the aircraft when they were deployed at forward operating airfields. Guns, cooling and electrical systems could all be accessed easily, and the engine cowling featured large removable panels, which were secured using robust toggle latches, which were incredibly simple to operate. Should an engine need to be changed completely, the design of the aircraft allowed the entire process to be completed by an experienced team in just a matter of minutes.

Despite many people believing that the Battle of France was an easy victory for the Germans, from an aviation perspective at least, the Luftwaffe didn’t have it all their own way. Although a great many Allied aircraft were lost, the Luftwaffe would also lose a significant number of aircraft, including large numbers of Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters. Indeed, those Allied airmen who fought so valiantly during the Battle of France believed that their efforts in weakening the Luftwaffe proved to be a major factor in their subsequent inability to overcome Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain.

Ultimately, around 53 Luftwaffe pilots would attain ‘Ace’ status during the Battle of France, with Wilhelm Balthasar of JG.1 being the most successful, with 23 victories to his name. As the Luftwaffe’s Jagdgeschwaders moved to new bases in Northern France in advance of operations against Britain, their pilots may have been supremely confident in their abilities, however, things would be very different when fighting over the English Channel.

An Airfix kit worth getting excited about

Stunning new box artwork supporting the impending release of this new 1/48th scale Bf 109E kit, with three fascinating scheme options presenting aircraft from the Luftwaffe’s strike west in 1939/1940.

For an aircraft of this notoriety and pedigree, it may come as some surprise to learn that the Messerschmitt Bf 109 ‘Emil’ variant only appeared in the Airfix range in 1/48th scale in 2010, but from that date, it has gone on to be a perennial favourite. It was preceded by a Messerschmitt Bf 109F ‘Friedrich’ in the late 1970s, a kit which did much to highlight the appeal of model kits of classic single engined fighters from the Second World War in this scale, where the additional size of the model really did represent the power and imposing appearance of these aircraft much more effectively.

This latest impending release follows in the wake of some genuinely spectacular Messerschmitt kit releases, which include an exclusive Airfix Club offering from 2012 and a scheme option which has links to a scheme offered in this latest kit release, but in an unusual later guise (more on that later). The previous release from this tooling included scheme options to build an example of the famous Messerschmitt flown by Luftwaffe ace Franz von Werra and brought down by Spitfires over Kent during the Battle of Britain, and if ever a wartime story could inspire a model build project, then that kit possessed it by the truckload.

With early war Messerschmitt Bf 109s holding particular fascination for many people across our hobby, we hope this latest release will appeal as much as the von Werra kit did, as all three of the schemes offered this time have fascinating stories behind them, with two representing aircraft taking part in the Battle of France and one having the distinction of being the first Luftwaffe Bf 109 to crash land on English soil. The third scheme option also marks a machine which would end up in Britain, but again, we will have more on this a little later.

Let’s take a closer look at the details behind each of the three appealing new scheme options available with this fabulous new kit.

Scheme A – Messerschmitt Bf109E-4 Red 1, Hauptmann Rolf Pingel, 2./Jagdgeschwader 53, Rennes, France, Late May 1940.

Having not been involved during the attack against Poland, the declaration of war by Britain and France on 3rd September 1939 saw the Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighters of JG53 now being on the potential front line with the Allies, with their base at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim being only a few miles from the French border. As Europe settled into an uneasy period referred to as the Phoney War, pilot Rolf Pingel is thought to have claimed the distinction of scoring his unit’s first victory over a Royal Air Force aircraft, when he destroyed a No.150 Squadron Fairey Battle which was engaged in a reconnaissance mission over the Saarbrücken-Merzig sector on 30th September.

Later that same month, in a development which emulated many other fighter units and, in an attempt to bolster Jagdgeschwader morale for the coming struggles, the unit adopted the famous ‘Ace of Spades’ (Pik-As) emblem as their crest and from October onwards, this famous marking started to appear on the cowling of JG53 Messerschmitts.

During April 1940, preparations for the coming invasion of France were at an advanced stage, something which was underlined by JG53 taking delivery of their new, more powerful E-4 variant fighters. These aircraft featured a modified cockpit canopy and greater armour protection for the pilot, modified guns which were capable of firing the destructive new ‘mine shells’, with some machines also benefitting from a more powerful variant of the Daimler Benz DB601 engine.

With their position on the eastern flank of the coming invasion, other than during the first skirmishes, JG53 weren’t exactly in the thick of the action, however, that didn’t stop several of the unit’s pilots attaining ‘Ace’ status, including Rolf Pingel, who by the surrender of France, had managed to amass six aerial victories. 

Historically, JG53 would be given the significant task of flying fighter cover over the Forest of Compiègne on 20th June 1940, a location where German and French officials were meeting to discuss the terms of an armistice. With the Battle of France now over and the next phase of combat being over the English Channel, JG53 pilots would have been frustrated when they were reassigned to bases at Rennes and Dinan, a location which was quite far to the west of the country, below Jersey and facing the stretch of English Channel which was the widest between England and France. Pilots of the ‘Ace of Spades’ unit would have been hoping to see much more action in the fighting over Britain, but their new bases must have left them more than a little frustrated.

The markings on this aircraft are particularly noteworthy, as they show how fighter units in France were given some latitude when it came to the presentation their aircraft. Although the RLM were all about standardisation and the reassurance of uniformity, it seems that in order to keep morale high in advance of the coming Battle over Britain, most units were granted autonomy when it came to making changes to how their aircraft were camouflaged at field level. Indeed, it appears that JG53 were particularly creative when it came to the presentation of their aircraft, with Pingel’s fighter displaying a mottled/blotchy pattern on its wings and horizontal stabilisers, as opposed to the more usual splinter camouflage. This is topped off by the red cowling band, which was such a distinctive feature of JG53 Messerschmitts. 

With many of their pilots having already secured aerial victories during previous operations over France, the pilots of Jagdgeschwader 53 ‘Pik-As’ (Ace of Spades) were supremely confident as they headed for a new base at Rennes in advance of the onslaught against Britain. Operating one of the most capable fighter aircraft in service at that time and having perfected their air combat tactics over France, they were swept along on the wave of confidence articulated by Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief, Herman Göring, who believed the RAF were in disarray and already perilously close to becoming ineffective as a fighting unit. If his pilots were ready and hungry for victory, they could all run up their individual victory tallies before the seaborne invasion of Britain commenced.

As the Luftwaffe concentrated their forces in Northern France for operations against Britain, the pilots of JG 53 moved to their forward operating airfields situated between Cherbourg on the Cotentin Peninsula and Calais, part of a mighty force of nine Jagdgeschwaders allocated to operations against Britain, each one made up of nine Staffels, or Squadrons. Although he was the figurehead of this aerial armada, Göring would actually have a detrimental impact on the morale of JG53 pilots during the coming conflict, as he ordered the unit to remove the famous Ace of Spades emblem they were so fiercely proud of.

The mount of an ace. The new box artwork was inspired by the Messerschmitt flown by ace Luftwaffe pilot Hauptmann Rolf Pingel.

The unit was commanded by Major Hans-Jürgen von Cramon-Taubadel, a man who came to Göring’s attention during the Battle of France. Göring was informed that the Major’s wife was ‘not wholly Aryan’ something which apparently enraged him, and he issued immediate orders that the unit remove their beloved unit badge by painting a red stripe around the cowling, wide enough to completely cover the Ace of Spades emblem. This was apparently to serve as a mark of shame for the unit, something many of the pilots didn’t take too kindly to, especially as this was done whilst they were still heavily engaged in the fighting over Britain.

During the Autumn of 1940, von Cramon-Taubadel was replaced as Geschwader Kommodore and Göring allowed the unit to reinstate its emblem, however, the situation had created a rift between the Commander-in-Chief and some JG 53 pilots and many chose to make their own protests. As a consequence of this, many of the unit’s aircraft displayed unusual presentation features during this period, with some being more dramatic than others. One was said to have painted a large question mark on his fighter’s cowling, over the red stripe where the unit emblem used to be, whilst the majority painted out the swastika insignia on both sides of their aircraft’s tails, the latter being a real distinguishing feature of late Battle of Britain JG 53 Messerschmitts.

Even though Göring insisted that his fighters should remain close to his bombers once the Luftwaffe’s attentions had turned to attacking London, there were still opportunities for fighter units to mount their popular Freie Jagd or free hunting missions over southern England, where Bf 109s were allowed to roam the skies in the hope of tempting RAF fighters into combat. These missions were often timed to coincide with large raids sent against London in the hope of splitting the RAF’s defensive response, thus continually draining the effectiveness of Fighter Command as a force.

Scheme B – Messerschmitt Bf109E-3 W.Nr.1162 ‘White 4’, Lt. Johann Böhm, 4./Jagdgeschwader 51, Desvres, France, July 1940.

When 20 year old Austrian pilot Leutnant Johann Böhm climbed into the cockpit of his 4./JG Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 fighter at Desvres airfield on the afternoon of 8th July 1940, he surely wouldn’t have been thinking that he and his aeroplane were about to claim a dubious position within the history of WWII, just an hour or so later. Led by their celebrated Staffelkapitän Josef Fözö, the fighters were scrambled to intercept RAF fighters reported to be heading for France over the English Channel, with such contacts now becoming much more frequent.

Intercepting Spitfires of No.65 Squadron over the sea, Fözö shot down one of the RAF fighters which crashed into the sea, however, his own flight was bounced by Spitfires of No.74 Squadron from Hornchurch who were also patrolling in the area. Sgt Tony ‘Boy’ Mould led a firing attack which saw the enemy fighters scattering, with two heading down to low level and employing evasion tactics. He followed one of the Luftwaffe fighters low down over the Kent countryside, attempting to manoeuvre his fighter to get off a deflection burst from above.

Aiming slightly ahead of the Messerschmitt, he fired off a couple of well placed bursts which he saw striking the wings and fuselage of the enemy aircraft, which immediately began to trail smoke. At such low altitude, the fighter had no chance of getting back home, or indeed making a normal landing and appeared to be looking for a suitable field in which to make a crash landing. It came down in a relatively controlled manner in a field at Hillhouse Farm, Bladbean, near the village of Elham, not far from the RAF airfield at Hawkinge. 

In his combat report, Boy Mould described how he circled the crash site for a couple of minutes, until he was sure the German pilot was in captivity, before heading back to his home airfield at Hornchurch. He later found out that other than some superficial injuries to his forehead and left eye, pilot Johann Böhm managed to escape the incident unharmed.

Full scheme details for this first Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter to crash land relatively intact on British soil during the Second World War.

He also discovered that when Böhm was detained in a tent in Brome Park before he could be handed over to the authorities for interrogation, he was reported to have been rather indignant at the situation, telling his captors that this was all futile and how the Luftwaffe was going to bring about the defeat of Britain in just a matter of days. Unfortunately for him, that would prove not to be the case and he would have the distinction of being the pilot of the first intact Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter to land on English soil. He would spend the rest of the war in captivity and his bullet riddled fighter would be dismantled by a specialist team and taken away, the first of many Messerschmitts to rain down on Kent that summer.

Interestingly, this location would become a familiar one for fallen Luftwaffe aircraft over the coming months, so much so that a temporary holding depot was created for aircraft wreckage on land behind the Post Office in the main street of Elham. It was referred to locally as the ‘Messerschmitt Dump, or the ‘Messerschmitt Graveyard’, however, we have yet to determine whether Böhm’s Messerschmitt ended up in the Elham graveyard. From there, aircraft wrecks would have been taken to a processing centre at RAF Faygate and ultimately onwards to the Northern Aluminium Company smelting facility in Banbury.

Looking a little more closely at the scheme details of this fascinating Messerschmitt, it also features the application of non-standard camouflage and the port wing from a different Messerschmitt, obviously the result of earlier damage suffered. For that reason, the port side Balkenkreuz is aligned slightly differently to the starboard one, being positioned slightly further forward. 
   
Scheme C – Messerschmitt Bf109E-3 W.Nr.1304 ‘White 1’, Aircraft Equipment Test Centre (CEMA), Orléans-Bricy, France, December 1939.

  
One of the first Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighters to come into the hands of the Allies intact after the start of the Second World War was presented to them by Oberfeldwebel Karl Hier on 22nd November 1939. Following a frenetic combat engagement with French Morane-Saulnier MS406 fighters of Groupe de Chasse III/7, the Luftwaffe pilot from I./JG76 pilot became disorientated, and mistakenly landed his fighter at the French airfield at Strasbourg-Woerth, in the Bas-Rhin Department of France.

Before he had chance to rectify his error, he was placed under arrest and his Messerschmitt secured, an unexpected prize for the French Air Force. Once the machine had been checked over, all German markings were crudely overpainted using whatever French paint stocks were available and full Armée de l’Air identification markings were applied. The fighter was flown to the French Air Force ‘Centre d’Essais du Matériel Aérien’ (Air Equipment Test Centre), a test and evaluation centre located at Orleans-Bricy airfield. 

Once there, the Messerschmitt, which retained its ‘White 1’ fuselage markings, was flown against all current French Air Force fighter types and most likely the single Spitfire Mk.I fighter this unit had on strength, in addition to being inspected by RAF officials, who were also handed all flight data obtained. The fighter was subsequently passed over to the RAF at Amiens on 2nd May 1940, where it was displayed to the Hurricane pilots based there. The following day, the aircraft was flown onwards to Britain, routing via Chartres and Tangmere, before finally arriving into the care of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down.

After the fighter was repainted in RAF evaluation colours, with a yellow underside, on 14th May, Britain’s new Messerschmitt left Boscombe Down bound for the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough and a further exhaustive period of trials and evaluation. In June, the aircraft was allocated the serial number AE479, with records at the time showing that the Messerschmitt was still the property of the French Government and only on loan to the British.

Over the next few months, the aircraft would be flown regularly in the hands of several British pilots and test pilots, but during September, was flown to Northolt to be evaluated by the Air Fighting Development Unit, a unit which was engaged in the development of air fighting tactics. After once again undertaking many individual flights and spending many hours in the air, this hard-working captured Messerschmitt remained with the unit when it moved to its new operating base at RAF Duxford on 24th July 1941.

A Messerschmitt present. This aircraft was subsequently evaluated by the French, British and American air forces, which surely makes this one of the most famous of all the Bf 109s.

Six months later, AE479 was on the move once more, this time to join the newly formed No.1426 Enemy Aircraft Flight, a unit which was charged with demonstrating captured airworthy Axis aircraft to RAF and USAAF pilots at their home airfields, allowing them to familiarise themselves with enemy aircraft at close quarters and under operational conditions. The Messerschmitt was joined by a Heinkel He-III and a Junkers Ju-88, with this unit attracting the colloquial title of the ‘Rafwaffe’.

The flight embarked on a tour of RAF and USAAF stations in early 1942, but by then, Messerschmitt AE479, otherwise known as WNr.1304 ‘White 1’, was on her way to another assignment. Flown to RAF Sealand in North Wales, she was dismantled and crated in preparation for travel overseas. Loaded aboard the SS Drammesfjord, she left London for America on 7th April 1942, subsequently arriving at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio by the middle of the following month.

Once reassembled, she again embarked on a programme of test and evaluation flights, but would suffer irreparable damage following a forced landing in early November and was scrapped. This well-travelled Messerschmitt became well known to Allied pilots after inadvertently landing at a French airfield in 1939.

We mentioned earlier that this aircraft had previously appeared as an Airfix kit release in a different presentation, that of AE479 wearing the RAF markings she wore during her time serving with the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment at Boscombe Down, when she was flown to discover every secret of her construction and flight capabilities. If you have this kit, you now have the opportunity to model this famous aircraft in her original captured French Armée de l’Air configuration, as well as her Rafwaffe scheme in the same scale.

To complete the fascinating story of this famous Messerschmitt, if you really wanted to do so, you could even finish her in a third configuration, the original Luftwaffe markings in which Oberfeldwebel Karl Hier delivered the aircraft to the French at Strasbourg-Woerth airfield on 22nd November 1939.

Full box artwork presentation for this spectacular addition to the current Airfix range.

This fantastic new addition to the current Airfix range is scheduled to be in our warehouse by the end of the month, and we apologise in advance for presenting you with such a difficult build scheme decision – we have absolutely no idea which of these three fascinating scheme options will prove the most popular.

We are afraid that's all we have for you in this latest edition, but we will be back next Friday with more project development updates and the very latest Airfix kit exclusives. In the meantime, we are always keen to hear your views on all things Airfix and in particular, any thoughts and opinions you may have regarding our Workbench blog. If you would like to drop us a quick line, could we please ask that you use our workbench@airfix.com email for all correspondence.