Touch and Go? In a Real Fokker Triplane?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.ย. 2024
- OK, so it was a pretty short touch and go! The Dr.1 is back in the air and running great after maintenance on 1917 LeRhone rotary engine.
The triplane will be ready for our Nov. 10 Fly-In at Old Kingsbury Aerodrome in Kingsbury, Texas. See web site at end of video.
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Outstanding original Fokker with original engine. It flies absolutely perfect and would love to fly one of these any time. Another person who is living the dream. Thanks so much for sharing your passion.
One of the most beautiful birds to ever take to the sky
Incredible, looks as though it is barely strong enough to do a simple 0 gravity baroll roll. Imagine watching Werner Voss fight that historic day Sept 26 1917. To this day every fighter pilot around the world worth their salt knows of this dog fight. They still study it to this day! Notice the eye brows and mustache on the cowling....Werner Voss.
Exactly 100 years ago TODAY this was state of the art technology.
Wonderful job and dedication to put this one together. Thank you so very much.
The RED Barron.....
The study of Voss's, Sept. 26th dogfight, might not be as revealing and worth while as you believe: It was first presented in 'Fighting Fury' MCudden's mid war autobiography.
In 'Fighting Triplanes' by Evan Hadingham, a terrific study of the design and use of all varieties of triplanes, you will read that one of the 56 Sqdn. flyers commented that McCudden had left the fight well before it's termination.
Regardless of whether or not McC. witnessed the culmination of the combat or not, there remains the possibility that Voss flew away and was shot down by another English flyer from another English patrol: The report by a German pilot, a Lt. Wendelmuth, in Bodenschatz's (Richtofen's adjutant) official group diary never mentions any SE-5's as he reported being at the scene of Voss' downing in English territory. (here McCudden errs, completely, BTW, as he reports Voss crashed in German lines!) W. furthermore claimed and is credited with the downing the Brit , a Lt. Baynton, who he had seen come in behind Voss and send him to his death. W. reported the pair of Brits in the melee were flying Nieuports. W. was (and still is!) credited in official German records, with downing a 32 Sqdn. DH-5. That DeHavilland A/C , as flown by Baynton, certainly looks very much like a Nieuport with the 9N LeRhone rotary up front and a vertical tail gracefully curved a la the N-28. Baynton became a POW but died a few years after the war, in an automobile accident.
A paroled German aviator took a copy of McC's 'Fighting Fury' back to Germany in the latter months of the war and the Germans preferred the 'outnumbered Voss dies battling great odds' scenario to the rather undramatic death of Voss as described by Wendelmuth. W., soon KIA, did not survive the war. The conflict in accounts of the incident was first discovered by Raymond Collishaw , the WWI 'Naval Eight' Sopwith Triplane ace from Canada. After WWII, Collishaw visited Germany and the Canadian and German WWI aviators ('Alte Adler'/ 'OldEagles') were yet in their mid-60's and shared many recollections of their aerial conflict of some 35 years earlier. The presence of Wendelmuth's eye witness account of Voss' death became known at that time, to Air Vice Marshall Collishaw.
Alex Revell author of 'High In The Empty Blue', the allegedly, definitive work on the death of 56 Squadron, wrote me that although he knew Collishaw and was told of the discrepancy, he never pursued the lead on Baynton. Baynton had a brother, also flying with 32 and the other member of 32 involved, according to Lt. Wendelmuth's report, in the combat with Voss, certainly must have filed a report and either he, the brother, or both ex-RAF pilots might well be available for interviews?
I had a London based aviation researcher visit the archives and he reported the odd fact that the 32 Sqdn files have been purged of the combat reports which related the Sept 26th sorties.
I found Revell's to be a unsatisfactory response to what should have been a historian's obligation to the past and those who lived it. Mr. Revell suggested that I "as an American, would not be interested in historical accuracy." Astonishing arrogance, I thought. His attitude led me to consider him, in my opinion, untrustworthy in any and all regards.
May I suggest acquiring 'The Fighting Triplanes' by Evan Haddingham, as an amazing trove of reproductions of actual reports, maps and other details associated with Voss downing. Unfortunately, as E.H. authored this remarkable book, he was unaware that DH-5 A/C were involved and was looking for Nieuport losses which might confirm Wendelmuths version.
This great book is available on Amazon as is Bodenschatz's work. Enter the search term 'Bodenschatz Diary' and listings for the book will become available.
VBR
Lee E. Branch
Most people do not know this about the fokker Tri-plane but it actually is a quad wing. There is a airfoil between the wheels that contributes significant lift ;)
+Pascal Votan I'll be darn!
Pascal Votan I didn't know it since some days ago..
I doubt that it contributed "significant" lift.
However, it does help a little. When altitude is all important in a dog fight (the purpose of a tri wing) every little bit can help.
yep, I was thinking the same thing -- the sopwith was faster and could outrun the fokker, but was no match for the lift it could achieve, which made it so deadly once it was behind you with dual guns and the Fokker gear which allowed them to shoot through the prop. I'm probably in the minority, but just in my opinion, The Bloody Red Baron was just that -- a bloody serial killer who got his thrills from hunting down the Allies -- landing to cut the serial number from the downed plane as both proof and trophy -- and -- science finally figured out whose bullet took him down -- it was not Brown, but the Aussie on the ground. He actually lived long enough to land the plane, and then when the soldiers reached him on the ground, he died/. He was given a funeral with full military honors, which I doubt the family and loved ones of the pilots he shot down would have approved and probably would have preferred to spit on his remains rather than honor him/. And it was his own ego that did him in -- he was going to be grounded the next day after his mother complained that he was still injured from a head wound, and he wasn't required to fly, but he wanted one more "kill," and so they surmise because the wind was blowing in the opposite direction, he didn't realize he was on the wrong side of the line in the pursuit of his prey and flying so close to the ground within gun range/.
@@patrickbennett752 shew, Patrick -- good questions all round. I'm old and grew up as a young girl in the throes of Viet Nam, where the average life span of an 18 y/o was about six months, if they were lucky. To answer your first question, I don't know the correct name. I could look it up, but -- he was called the Red "Baron" because his mother was a Baronese, and her children were Barons -- Forgive me if I use the wrong term, but his mother complained to whomever was in command -- the Kaiser? -- that his injuries from being shot were not healed and he had no business flying -- he had a significant head wound -- Modern forensics have proven that the shot that grounded the plane and entered his body came from the ground, the Australian gunner. Your other questions are philosophical in nature, and I'm not smart enough to have an answer -- war usually does not come from the mind of a woman -- we yell, usually, -- my very young father served bravely in WWII in the south pacific -- he risked his own life, and against direct orders, to rescue his downed comrade from a Japanese sniper attack -- he was a Navy Seabees -- and was shot and almost killed, but because of his actions they both survived after long hospitalizations, and he was awarded a bronze medal, which he never talked about and just kept in the top drawer of his chest of drawers. On the rare occasions he talked about the war, it was always about the bond between the men and how war is wrong from every aspect, but the evil of Hitler and those who supported his efforts, had to be stopped. When my own son was born 28 years ago, I was terrified of war -- he was born on the day of the "first" Iraq war -- Desert Storm -- and considered moving to Canada where there was no draft. But we stayed and he registered -- and we still have war. Will it ever end?
Hey, it is called a "touch" and go. You touched. 10/10!
Ah the smell of castor oil in the morning.... Thanks for posting this, a magnificent machine, and so great to hear that beautiful vintage Le Rhone!
Yes, it sounds fantastic
A beautiful thing, like a dragonfly, so alien now. I imagine the pilots were as terrified by it as those they attacked in the air and on the ground. It looks like it could fall to pieces at any moment, and probably would.
Gorgeous. Authentic looking paint job to boot.
Thanks Ronald! This camera's ability to keep the plane in focus while in the air makes it a serious contender for my next camcorder purchase. Dick
I've wanted to fly one of these since I was a little boy. The Red Baron was kind of a hero of mine when I was a tyke...
Don't forget Werner Voss & Josef Jacobs.
That was beautiful. I know they catch a draft on one side or the other and with the lift it can pitch it over so landings and takeoffs were common for accidents, so I know how risky that touch and go was in "that" plane.
I've had a life long obsession with that plane, and this was just glorious. Thanks for sharing.
Stunning replica!!! MAN! the torque on that engine... WOW!
Beautifull Dr1 and great camera work. I wanted to build one myself when I was much younger, sadly didn't have a place to undertake such a project. There was a guy named Walt Redfern in Washington State selling plans at the time.
That's what a beautiful plane looks like. Great video!
Where's Snoopy when you need him? HAW! That's Steve Freeman, a retired Fed-Ex pilot, at the controls. Steve is an awesome pilot who also flies other of the Pioneer Flight Museum and Vintage Aviation aircraft from time to time including the beautiful Meyers OTW. There's a You Tube video of him test flying the Pietenpol Sky Scout. He made a "greaser" landing with it.
Just come across this vid. Beautiful flying Sir! I was lucky, in as much as my Grandfather was an airframe fitter in the RFC in 1916 to 1918. His stories of making precision wood parts for Sopwiths' was fascinating, especially when you consider them being made in a large tent on the side of an airfield! Safe Landings!
"Great landing..." No, it was SUPERB!
The aircraft of WW1 were all limited to taking off and landing directly into the wind. Some are now equipped with tail wheels that help a little in that regard. Landing is still a precarious venture and gets even trickier as the aircraft slows down with the fuselage and tail feathers blanking out the rudder just when you need it most.
I am so fortunate to be a part of this historical museum of exquisite machinery! Well done on the filming! See you Nov. 10th!!!!!!!!!!
That plane is so cool it doesn't matter how dangerous it is!
What a beauty! Glad I came across your video
That was absolutely magnificent! Probably the best aviation post on TH-cam! I am delighted to have found this fantastic flight. The sights and especially the sounds make me giddy from over pleasure. I am 64 years old, a long time taildragger pilot, former aircraft owner and r/c modeller. As a kid I built all of the ww1 era fighters and bomber models and hung them in dogfight positions on my bedroom ceiling. People (kids and adults) came from all around to see them. I would lay in my bed and pretend I was flying the Fokker Triplane. The Blue Max came out when I was a young boy and I thought it was the best ever. Thanks for bringing this all back for me. Wish I could be in Texas to watch this airplane in person! Cheerio!
Although the initial landing might have ended successfully, I believe that the pilot made the best choice in doing the "touch and go" (in this case, "go-around"?). That bounce after the main gear first touched down could easily have lead to increasingly violent bounces (due to the physics of landing tail-wheel aircraft) and ultimate catastrophe. A good pilot may be able to pull it off, but a great pilot knows when to "go-around" and try again. Also, I believe that the power management on that engine is simply a selector switch that allows 0/3/6/9 cylinders to fire (while fuel is fed constantly to all cylinders), so power management on the approach to landing is "tricky" to put it lightly. Well done, Sir!
Thank you for commenting on the tricky nature of power management. The situation is even worse than than you mention since there is no selector switch on this model LeRhone. You get all 9 cylinders of none!
I stand corrected and you have my utmost respect.
Ronald Marcotte Sounds like a Porsche 917’s accelerator. They are either off or on with nothing in between.
Glad you liked it. I'm still getting a feel for the new camcorder. It is a Panasonic HC-X900M, full HD with 5.1 surround sound, but the video was not yet at the highest resolution. The most important feature for me is the viewfinder for tracking things in bright sunlight and keeping them in the focus zone.
Interesting to note the short time span between the 'touch' at 04.30 and the 'go' at 4.34, considering the engine size. Love the way the LeRhone's (and Oberursel's) had to be 'blipped..'..
Love the Werner Voss paint scheme.
Uber cool vid. Shot the Pioneer show in the Autumn of '12', have to make it out there this coming Fall.
Thank you for posting this.
It is just amazing that in the WW1 period, they could build radial engines, "V" engines and inline engines, machine guns etc. , they had the technology and the capability, yet some (not all) planes had no carburrettor that could control engine rpm, and on some planes they were still fitting armourplating to the prop to shoot through the propellor disc - an interruptor gear is so simple compared to making a radial engine....
I wonder what it was that prevented them using the technology of the day to fit carburrettors ?
The machine gun interruptor gear fitted on the Fokker Eindecker made an outdated plane with wing warping for ailerons so effective that the British parliament of the day referred to it as the "Fokker scource"....
It was funny they called it the Fokker Scourge, only 120 were shot down in this period, by the E.1/2/3/4 (1-3 basically the same, 4 had a twin row UR.III and 2 through 4 machineguns).
But then again, it has to be looked at in context of the times they were living in, the Allies may well have only had about 500-600 planes total, at the time, which makes a wee-bit 20% casualties appear rather... scourgy, I suppose, until they surprised the Germans with FE2's, DH2's and Nieuport 11's and did a bit of scourging on their own.
But at any rate, to the subject at hand:
The most persistent misunderstanding about rotary engines happens to have a grain of truth. Many books on WWI aviation state that rotaries had no throttles and always ran at full speed; the only way to slow them was to temporarily turn them off via a coupez or “blip” switch that cut the ignition. Fred Murrin, a present-day pilot of replica WWI warbirds who’s been flying rotary aircraft since 1993, cleared up the confusion: “All rotary engines had a way to control [engine speed] except the 100-hp Gnome. All had carburetors except the 100- and 160-hp Gnomes.”
That was just an excerpt, here you go:
www.historynet.com/the-truth-about-rotaries.htm
The rotary carburettors may not have been one big solid clump as we know them, but that's because a spinning carburettor = Won't work, but they had the jets, needles and so forth that goes with conventional carbs :)
Amazing video! Thanks
A REAL Triplane?
Para mí uno de los mejores aviones de la primera guerra mundial saludos dios los bendiga
Freakin' awesome!
What a beautyfull Airplane WoW!!!!!!!
Superb.
That guy was going to be killed on video, trying to one hand crank the engine, and putting his other arm through the propeller arc.
not a good idea!!!!!!!!
手に汗を握る飛行でした。やはり横風は着陸が難しそうだね。
Guy was going to lose an arm by one arm cranking. He is lucky it didn’t fire while his arm was in the propeller arc!!!
A real Fokker Triplane??? How real....
Amazing!
It’s more likely than you think.
Dick Schenck would have been "mighty proud" of the flight and the landings!!!!!
Excellent video, like someone mentioned, it's an original or a damn good replica....Skilled Pilot too.
These things where contraptions not airplanes, you think Ultralight 103 dudes are nuts, it doesn't compare to the old ww-1 machines, scientifically speaking, they where deplorable airplanes, any modern pilot would agree. These airplanes killed their owners more than pilots want to think.
the engine rotates ..instead of the crankshaft .... The gyro effect will be very significant (and dangerous) ...
Any chance of you mounting a video camera on the fuselage or wearing a GoPro on your head?
Beautiful! I admire the Steve's skill with this tough tail-dragger aircraft. Great video and sound too. What brand/type camera was used? All mine hunt for focus with aircraft in the air. DL
this plane is my dream
Welcome to the club.
It sounds angry, like it knows it’s about to be shot down by an SE5a
I'm 6'4" tall and 300 lbs. Would I even be able to fit in and fly a Fokker Dr.1? If I had the money I'd build one too. But it wouldn't be fun if I couldn't fly it also.
gmccord1970 I imagine that you would be able to fly this aircraft, and if not there are many more wonderful planes to choose from. Getting a pilot's liscense could be a bit difficult however.
If you don't live near a city go ahead an build one. No one has to know - just don't go too high up where actual planes go.
Thats how I learned how to fly LoL !!! [45 years ago]....
Nice flying but why not a three point landing?
You rarely see a 3 point landing with the DR.1s because with the tall landing gear and the 3 wings, when tail goes down, you lose forward visibility and the wings block the airflow over the tail surfaces... At that point, you're just along for the ride. As long as the tail is up, you have airflow over those tail surfaces and some directional control.
COOOL!! ;O)...:O)...
This washes all those little sub-scale hillbilly monstrosities away, I only wish completely away!
Is this a real Fokker or the best replica in the world?
Its a replica, there are no surviving Dr1s left. The last one was destroyed during the bombing of Berlin during WW2.
"Three triplanes are known to have survived the WW1 Armistice. Serial 528/17 was retained as a testbed by the Deutschen Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt (German Aviation Research Institute) at Adlershof. After being used in the filming of two movies, 528/17 is believed to have crashed sometime in the late 1930s.[35] Serial 152/17, in which Manfred von Richthofen obtained three victories, was displayed at the Zeughaus museum in Berlin.[35] This aircraft was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid during World War II."
"In 1932, Fokker assembled a Dr.I from existing components. It was displayed in the Deutsche Luftfahrt-Sammlung in Berlin. In 1943, the aircraft was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid. Today, only a few original Dr.I artifacts survive in museums."
CHOPPERGIRL AIRWAR Such a sad thing. One of the worst parts of war other than human loss, is often historical loss...
Camden Caswell I think that would make a great documentary. A compilation of the great treasures, artifacts and one of kind objects lost forever in war.
I Flick yup.
Probably a good question to ask is, what happened to all those War trophies of the Red Baron and the rest of the Flying Circus. You know, when they cut the insignia's off the planes they had downed. Probably ended up in people's attics or in museums, that were also bombed to rubble in WW2...
So is this plane a replica?
K