The Red Baron and his Aircraft

[Njaco]

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918 ), widely known as the Red Baron, was a German fighter pilot with the Imperial German Army Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) during World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of that war, being officially credited with 80 air combat victories, more than any other pilot.

He is most widely known as flying a blood red Fokker Dr. I, but he flew many other types of machines. Despite the popular link between Richthofen and the Fokker Dr. I, only 19 of his 80 kills were made in this type. Richthofen entered training as a pilot in October 1915. In March 1916, he joined Kampfgeschwader 2 ("No. 2 Bomber Geschwader") flying a two-seater Albatros C.III. On 23 November 1916, Richthofen downed his most famous adversary, British ace Major Lanoe Hawker VC, described by Richthofen himself as "the British Boelcke". The victory came while Richthofen was flying an Albatros D.II and Hawker was flying a D.H.2. He switched to the Albatros D.III in January 1917, scoring two victories before suffering an inflight crack in the spar of the aircraft's lower wing on 24 January. Richthofen reverted to the Albatros D.II or Halberstadt D.II for the next five weeks. He returned to his Albatros D.III on 2 April 1917 and scored 22 victories in it before switching to the Albatros D.V in late June. It was his Albatros D.III Serial No. 789/16 that was first painted bright red, in late January 1917, and in which he first earned his name and reputation.



Manfred von Richthofen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First set of pics are some of his 'other' machines including lineups of his Jasta 11 fighters and the lone pic is him receiveing the the Pour le Mérite ("The Blue Max"), from Hindenburg.

sources;
"Richthofen" by William E. Burrows
"The Luftwaffe: A History" by John Killen
unknown internet sources

[Njaco]

and his well-known red Fokker triplane.

[Njaco]

.

[Njaco]

Richthofen was fatally wounded just after 11 am on 21 April 1918, while flying over Morlancourt Ridge, near the Somme River. His Fokker Dr.I, 425/17, was not badly damaged by the landing, but it was soon taken apart by souvenir hunters.

[Wayne Little]

Cool Chris!

[Coors9]

Great shots, thanks for sharing. He's like Babe Ruth.......the Best of the Best.

[Airframes]

Good stuff Chris. If you'd like me to add some pics, I'll scan some from my 1960s copy of the Harleyford book on him, including how he lost the tip of a finger when giving directions to his pilot during his early flying career, after transferring from the Uhlan regiment.

[Gnomey]

Great stuff Chris!

[Njaco]

Go for it Terry! I like making these threads so we can have a single area for specific machines. Makes searching easier sometimes. Working on Nowotny and possibly Udet next!

[daveT]

There is a plaque in the field next to the Sainte Colette Brickworks beside the Corbie- Bray road where Manfred von Richthofen's Triplane is said to have come down. The Barons triplane"ground looped" or spun one and a half times after hitting the ground and came to rest on a pile of " mangel wurzels" or sugar beets. The exact location will never be known but historians have it pinpointed within a small area in the field.
I recommend Norman Franks and Alan Bennets excellent book "The Red Barons Last Flight" for a comprehensive study on the subject. Also Denis May[ Wop May's son] has a great website dedicated to his late father that I recall as having pictures of the location.
exact location where Von Richthofen crashed with his DR1

http://www.panoramio.../photo/15287034

[Njaco]

Thanks Dave!

[parsifal]

Some images of the Fokker triplane, from a book Titled "The Essential Aircraft Recognition Guide - Aircraft of World War I 1914-18" Jack Herris and Bob Pearson, Amber Books 2010

[Njaco]

Thanks parsifal!!

a few mor of his triplane. Last pic is another view of his crashed Fokker.