Fokker

[Snautzer01]

Some aces here Buddeke, Immelmann, Von Althaus

 

[Snautzer01]

The Red Baron in person. Notice bandage

And his travel plane Elli

 

[Wurger]

 

[mikewint]

The bandage would put this picture sometime between 25 July 1917 and 5 Sept 1917

It was on 6 July 1917, during an aerial combat that Richthofen sustained a serious head wound, causing instant disorientation and temporary partial blindness. A British bullet had creased and partially splintered his skull. He regained his vision in time to ease the aircraft out of a spin and executed a forced landing in a field in friendly territory. The injury required multiple operations to remove bone splinters from the impact area. The air victory was credited to Captain Donald Cunnel. Despite the best treatment available for the national hero, the wound never properly healed; the scar tissue, bone splinters and even thorns continued to cause Richthofen maddeningly painful headaches

Richthofen then returned to active service (against doctor's orders) on 25 July, but went on convalescent leave from 5 September to 23 October. When he returned, his skills were off. He went two weeks without a kill.

His wound is thought to have caused lasting damage as he later often suffered from post-flight nausea and headaches as well as a change in temperament. There is even a theory linking this injury with his eventual death.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Classic pics, thanks for posting.

 

[Gnomey]

Good shots!

 

[Snautzer01]

Fokker DR1

 

[Wurger]

 

[mikewint]

Yup one of my favorite aircraft of all time. When I made my 1/48 model I was VERY surprised at how small it was. I kept checking to see if a 1/72 had crept in somehow

 

[tyrodtom]

You don't realize how insubstantial those interplane struts are on a Dr-I until you see them from straight ahead,
I've seen pictures of the pre-production prototype of the Fokker Dr-I, it had no interplane struts at all.

 

[Capt. Vick]

Recently picked up the Squadron - Signal In Action book and found out a couple of interesting things: One was, you were right, Anthony Fokker felt the Dr. 1 didn't need the inter-plane struts at all, but the German test pilots were a bit concerned about what they felt was excessive wing flex so it was imstated.

Also, there was a pilot named "Kempf", who had his name writ large on the top wing, with something like "Do you know me now?" written on the middle wings. Oh, and he also had a large "K" on both sides of the fuselage. Pretty ballsy if you ask me because he only had a few kills to his name and it was late in the war.

 

[javlin]

Recently picked up the Squadron - Signal In Action book and found out a couple of interesting things: One was, you were right, Anthony Fokker felt the Dr. 1 didn't need the inter-plane struts at all, but the German test pilots were a bit concerned about what they felt was excessive wing flex so it was imstated.

I saw a show were a fella built one from scratch a doctor over in England he had a pic of about 15 men standing abreast on the upper wing on cinder blocks or something of the sort.That is like 2000lbs probably
if each man weighed 150lbs and wing from the way it was assembled did not budge it looked like.The series is on YouTube "Aircraft Restorations" 6 episodes P-51,Havard,DR1,Hurricane,one I never heard of and the forgotten one ATTM a really neat series.

 

[Snautzer01]

One of Immelmanns airplanes.

 

[mikewint]

Nuff said:

View: https://youtu.be/AXT4pgW_UGk

 

[Graeme]

I remember seeing a clip like the one above on a Walt Disney episode as a kid and assumed back then they were attempts at flight before the Wright brothers - not so. Some of those comical attempts are well after the First World War and into the late twenties. One failed ornithopter you see at 1:49 is this..

It belongs to Gustav Lilienthal - brother of Otto, Circa 1925...he just couldn't move on from flapping wings. It was incapable of flight.

 

[nuuumannn]

Very nice images; the bottom two pictures in post one with speh-ltd on them is a Pfalz E I, which was based on the Morane Saulnier G (duly corrected)

One of Immelmanns airplanes.

I'm wondering if that first pic was taken at the Deutsches Luftfarht Sammlung in Berlin. R.A.F. B.E.2 type fuselage in the foreground.

 

[Snautzer01]

1. RARE NEGATIF +PHOTO AVION FOKKER 20/10/1916 WWI 14/18 GUERRE | eBay

 

[Milosh]

 

[Wurger]

 

[Gnomey]

Good stuff!