The pungent scent of burning nylon and warped metal permeates the air as you stare at the flame-engulfed wreckage of a crashed Messerschmitt 109.

It’s a strange scene: sun high and bright above a field of rolling green. In the foreground is the burning plane positioned in the likeness of a rip in the canvas of a beautiful German landscape painting.

There’s a disheveled young man laying near the debris; uniform partially charred and helmet abandoned nearby. It’s the pilot.