I had an 1/72 Airfix model of the Roland C.2 Walfisch when I was 10 or 11 years old. It seems I loved attack planes (all 1/72 Airfix models), because I had also a Junkers Ju-87B Stuka, a Douglas SBD Dauntless and a Douglas A4D Skyhawk!
I have always loved the old "walfish". Not well known, and I did not see a note about it; but Manfred Von Richthofen began his career in the Roland C2 and it was MUCH respected by the allies in 1915-1916. I can only imagine facing one of these in a Voisen or Farman or even one of the "top allied fighters" of 1915-early 1916 like the pushers Fe2/DH2 all armed with a single/lame/Lewis gun (still using the old smaller drum magazine remember).
I've always been a big fan of the Walfisch. It's a beautiful, elegant design that belies its brutal purpose, and was almost certainly the first combat aircraft ever to sport the grinning shark mouth that was later made famous by the AVG. It was also one of only two truly successful two-seat fighters of the Great War, the other of course being the Bristol F2B. Thank you for a very interesting and informative video on one of my favourite aircraft of all time.😁
I'm sure you are right about the shark mouth and here's a related question. Did the German bosses allow their aircrews to personalize their aircraft in ww2? I may have see 1 or 2 but it sure was not very common. I don't remember any personalization on allied aircraft in ww1 but almost every US plane and some of the RAF aircraft had various personalization's in the 2nd world war. This is almost to the level that ww2 US bomber nose art collecting is a pretty well-established hobby with various collections available. Pulled up p47 images and about half had some kind of device either alongside the engine or below the cockpit. From the quality of most of the Un personalized aircraft images, those may have been new aircraft, they look more professionally photographed and I have heard of the Army air corp that they were pretty much opposed to scantily clothed women on their equipment. Personally, I say if a scantily clothed cutie gives a volunteer combat pilot a little comfort it's no big deal, guess the brass must know what's really important....
@@aldenconsolver3428 Many WWI German aces personalised their aircraft to one extent or another, sometimes even years before they were permitted to do so by Luftstreitekraft rules or officials. The officials only finally relented because of the positive effect such decorative quirks had on pilots' morale. Of course, everyone knows about the famous all-red triplane of the "Red Baron," but personalisation of his aircraft started many months earlier. Manfred Von Richtofen initially had the fuselage of his Albatros D-III painted bright red because he actually *wanted* his opponents to see him, to know who they were up against, and (hopefully) to be afraid of him. Later, he had his Albatros D-Va painted bright red all over, long before he started flying the Fokker Dr-I. Josef Jacobs' personal aircraft was adorned with a "god of the north wind" image (a Satanic-looking head with puffed-out cheeks, and lines and swirls of "wind" coming out of its mouth) on both sides of the fuselage, with the rest of the aircraft painted flat black. One ace, I forget who exactly, had an image of a little boy doing a two-handed nose-thumbing gesture on both sides of the rear fuselage, while another had a bright and colourful flower painted on both sides of the rear fuselage. For that matter, Ernst Udet had "Lo!" painted in a fiery red just behind the cockpit on both sides, a red & white "candy stripe" scheme on the upper surfaces of the wings, and "No, not you!" painted across the horizontal stabiliser. By late 1917 and early 1918, German fighter aircraft were some of the most colourfully decorated aircraft in the sky, over and above their already colourful lozenge-style camouflage scheme. However, the Germans weren't the only ones to personalise their aircraft. George Guynemer's personal aircraft (whether Nieuport or SPAD) always had "Vieux Charles" written on both sides below and slightly ahead of the cockpit, a "2" on the upper surface of the right wing and a reversed "2" painted in the same place on the left wing. Nungesser had a much darker emblem painted on both sides of the fuselage on his personal aircraft, just behind the cockpit. This emblem was a black heart, with a pair of silver candlesticks and a coffin superimposed on the heart. Many RFC pilots also personalised their aircraft during the mid- to late-war period, as did many Americans, whether they were with the Lafayette group or the US's fledgling air corps. The Royal Naval Air Service, being part of the Royal Navy and thus could only be expected to be *very* stodgy and old fashioned, frowned on such personalisation of aircraft. However, one group of pilots in #10 Squadron, RNAS got away with a very rebellious act just the same. Led by a Canadian ace, "Black Flight" painted the noses, struts and leading edges of their otherwise dreary, even *dreadfully* dull (dark olive drab on top, dark gray on the bottom) Sopwith Triplanes flat black. In addition to this already severe breach of Royal Navy reserve, they also painted various names like "Black Prince," "Black Mariah," and "Black Mamba," on the left side of the fuselage, just ahead of and below the cockpit. The only reason they got away with this "outrageous act of rebellion" was because Black Flight were some of the highest scoring pilots in the RNAS.😉 Some WWII German pilots were permitted to personalise their aircraft with nose art, with some aristocrats even using their family's heraldric crest for this purpose. However, most WWII German nose art was actually chosen by the leader of the squadron/group the aircraft belonged to, rather than the pilots themselves.
All documentaries about the Roland Walfisch claim that the pilot has a roll-over cage, but the observer doesn't. The way I understand it, in case of a roll-over, the cage keeps the fuselage from resting on the ground, thus providing some space for the pilot AND the observer, especially when the rudder stays intact, am I wrong?
One of the beautiful ww1 planes
I had an 1/72 Airfix model of the Roland C.2 Walfisch when I was 10 or 11 years old.
It seems I loved attack planes (all 1/72 Airfix models), because I had also a Junkers Ju-87B Stuka, a Douglas SBD Dauntless and a Douglas A4D Skyhawk!
I have always loved the old "walfish". Not well known, and I did not see a note about it; but Manfred Von Richthofen began his career in the Roland C2 and it was MUCH respected by the allies in 1915-1916. I can only imagine facing one of these in a Voisen or Farman or even one of the "top allied fighters" of 1915-early 1916 like the pushers Fe2/DH2 all armed with a single/lame/Lewis gun (still using the old smaller drum magazine remember).
I've always been a big fan of the Walfisch. It's a beautiful, elegant design that belies its brutal purpose, and was almost certainly the first combat aircraft ever to sport the grinning shark mouth that was later made famous by the AVG.
It was also one of only two truly successful two-seat fighters of the Great War, the other of course being the Bristol F2B.
Thank you for a very interesting and informative video on one of my favourite aircraft of all time.😁
I'm sure you are right about the shark mouth and here's a related question. Did the German bosses allow their aircrews to personalize their aircraft in ww2? I may have see 1 or 2 but it sure was not very common. I don't remember any personalization on allied aircraft in ww1 but almost every US plane and some of the RAF aircraft had various personalization's in the 2nd world war. This is almost to the level that ww2 US bomber nose art collecting is a pretty well-established hobby with various collections available. Pulled up p47 images and about half had some kind of device either alongside the engine or below the cockpit. From the quality of most of the Un personalized aircraft images, those may have been new aircraft, they look more professionally photographed and I have heard of the Army air corp that they were pretty much opposed to scantily clothed women on their equipment. Personally, I say if a scantily clothed cutie gives a volunteer combat pilot a little comfort it's no big deal, guess the brass must know what's really important....
@@aldenconsolver3428 Many WWI German aces personalised their aircraft to one extent or another, sometimes even years before they were permitted to do so by Luftstreitekraft rules or officials. The officials only finally relented because of the positive effect such decorative quirks had on pilots' morale.
Of course, everyone knows about the famous all-red triplane of the "Red Baron," but personalisation of his aircraft started many months earlier. Manfred Von Richtofen initially had the fuselage of his Albatros D-III painted bright red because he actually *wanted* his opponents to see him, to know who they were up against, and (hopefully) to be afraid of him. Later, he had his Albatros D-Va painted bright red all over, long before he started flying the Fokker Dr-I.
Josef Jacobs' personal aircraft was adorned with a "god of the north wind" image (a Satanic-looking head with puffed-out cheeks, and lines and swirls of "wind" coming out of its mouth) on both sides of the fuselage, with the rest of the aircraft painted flat black.
One ace, I forget who exactly, had an image of a little boy doing a two-handed nose-thumbing gesture on both sides of the rear fuselage, while another had a bright and colourful flower painted on both sides of the rear fuselage.
For that matter, Ernst Udet had "Lo!" painted in a fiery red just behind the cockpit on both sides, a red & white "candy stripe" scheme on the upper surfaces of the wings, and "No, not you!" painted across the horizontal stabiliser. By late 1917 and early 1918, German fighter aircraft were some of the most colourfully decorated aircraft in the sky, over and above their already colourful lozenge-style camouflage scheme.
However, the Germans weren't the only ones to personalise their aircraft. George Guynemer's personal aircraft (whether Nieuport or SPAD) always had "Vieux Charles" written on both sides below and slightly ahead of the cockpit, a "2" on the upper surface of the right wing and a reversed "2" painted in the same place on the left wing.
Nungesser had a much darker emblem painted on both sides of the fuselage on his personal aircraft, just behind the cockpit. This emblem was a black heart, with a pair of silver candlesticks and a coffin superimposed on the heart.
Many RFC pilots also personalised their aircraft during the mid- to late-war period, as did many Americans, whether they were with the Lafayette group or the US's fledgling air corps. The Royal Naval Air Service, being part of the Royal Navy and thus could only be expected to be *very* stodgy and old fashioned, frowned on such personalisation of aircraft. However, one group of pilots in #10 Squadron, RNAS got away with a very rebellious act just the same. Led by a Canadian ace, "Black Flight" painted the noses, struts and leading edges of their otherwise dreary, even *dreadfully* dull (dark olive drab on top, dark gray on the bottom) Sopwith Triplanes flat black. In addition to this already severe breach of Royal Navy reserve, they also painted various names like "Black Prince," "Black Mariah," and "Black Mamba," on the left side of the fuselage, just ahead of and below the cockpit. The only reason they got away with this "outrageous act of rebellion" was because Black Flight were some of the highest scoring pilots in the RNAS.😉
Some WWII German pilots were permitted to personalise their aircraft with nose art, with some aristocrats even using their family's heraldric crest for this purpose. However, most WWII German nose art was actually chosen by the leader of the squadron/group the aircraft belonged to, rather than the pilots themselves.
I am building one now. Going to use the fish scale decals on the sides of the fuselage. My first WW 1 aircraft...
I've still got two of the old Airfix Rolands.
Looks futuristic even to this day in my opinion
May I suggest a video on the ANBO series of planes? Perhaps ANBO 8.
When we get an article on it. (TH-cam videos are made based on our articles for the website)
First! I have very fond memories of building a 1/72 Roland
Nice!
Yes, I made the Airfix one, this was an intriguing aircraft, one of the first CAS
@@alessiodecarolis Me too! intriguing is a good description !
Happy Airfix days eh?
All documentaries about the Roland Walfisch claim that the pilot has a roll-over cage, but the observer doesn't. The way I understand it, in case of a roll-over, the cage keeps the fuselage from resting on the ground, thus providing some space for the pilot AND the observer, especially when the rudder stays intact, am I wrong?
Is that...curtains I see? (10:29)
Did Germany have some kind of rule in WW2 about their aircraft not being allowed to be personalized?
This was WW1. And even if they did, it seems that this rule was broken with gusto in both wars...
That's interesting,,, that they painted the fish face on their aircraft. Before WW2 . ,,,,,,,
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Jeremy in Alabama.
The Ansaldo SVA was a much faster reconnaissance aircraft than the Roland and also than all German fighters with a top speed of 220 km/h
What didn't you get? The Roland was introduced in 1915 and the Ansaldo in 1918.
@@0Turbox Another vid here has the Ansaldo sva, at number:10, of the top 10 fastest ww1 planes?.
Was it built to transport pasta as fast as possible from Mama to the front?
strange desire to win for cute italians🤣
Luckily for the Allies, it didn't win the war.