On this Day (WWI aviation news), Vol. 2

[PJ Fisher]

'Steel Pigeon' in a 'Sea of Flames'
Another announcement on the accidental death of a pioneer aviator.  A trainee pilot clipped the wing of his Jeannin-Stahltaube while manuervering during an airshow at Flugplatz Johannisthal.  Opened near Berlin in September 1909, Johannisthal has been dubbed Germany's first commercial airfield.  Today its facilities are abandoned and the site is a designated nature reserve.
(from the Pine Bluff Daily Graphic, 6 August 1913):


(image via www.pennula.de)

More details from the magazine Flugsport: "Unfortunately, another serious accident has recently happened, which has never happened in Johannisthal before. At around 8 o'clock in the evening of August 3rd, student pilot Brooks flew on a Jeannin steel pigeon to earn his pilot's certificate. For unknown reasons, however, the plane throttled the engine so much that the machine hung colossally through the air. Near the shed at the new launch site, the right wing of the apparatus hit the 8-meter-high mast on which the anemometer is located. Disaster seemed inevitable. With a terrible crash, the pylon and the apparatus fell to earth. The next moment, a tall column of fire erupted from the rubble and seemed to engulf the unfortunate aviator. At the greatest moment of danger, the flight instructor Rosenfeld jumped in and, with the help of a fitter, pulled Brooks, who was badly injured in the abdomen, out of the sea of ​​flames. The unfortunate man succumbed to his serious injuries in the Britz hospital. At the moment when the pylon overturned and threatened to kill the Harlan monoplane standing on the runway with the pilot Roth at the controls, the pilot accelerated at the last moment and thus escaped a second accident."


(images respectively from berlin.de and akpool.de)


(images via abandonedberlin.com)


 Check out forum member eclarson's build 1/32-scale WNW 'Dove of War': https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=9626.msg175831#msg175831

[PJ Fisher]

Just Another Day in the Sky
This single sentence from an Australian newspaper records the downing of a German aviator that could possibly be Hans Freiherr von Puttkamer, who was shot down over the lines while piloting an Albatros D.Va (D4495/17) with Kampfeinsitzerstaffel 3.  Not much in the history books about this flyer but if the dates align, the S.E.5a pilot who shot him down was 2nd Lt. William Morley Kent, a Canadian of 60 Squadron Royal Flying Corps.  Evidently Kent 'took a long shot at 400 yds' and Puttkamer's steed caught fire and landed behind British lines.  Just another day in the sky.
(from the North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times, 7 August 1917):



Here's a look at forum member drdave's two WNW Albatros builds: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=8350.msg154729#msg154729

[PJ Fisher]

War Machines of the Atmosphere
Three odd birds.  That center image looks to be a testbed for the Salmson M9 radial that powered the Voisin pushers.  Those 'aviation officers' sure are standing close to that gyrating propeller.  I know I just said that Voisins rarely received press coverage, but I swear these old news subjects come in couplets!
(from Popular Science, August 1916)



Here's a look back at forum member lonemodeller's scratch-built 1/72 Voisin III LAS: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=8617.msg158420#msg158420

[PJ Fisher]

Young Blood Sky Spies
No glorious tales of battling aces today... just a good three-column read on the quiet but critical work of risk-taking reconnaissance crews.  A 'two-gun, two-seater' Sopwith gets name dropped... I'm assuming it's a 1-1/2 Strutter they're surveilling in.
(from the Wilmington Daily Commercial, 9 August 1918):



Check out forum member Rip Van Winkle's build of the Toko Sopwith Strutter: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12360.msg231140#msg231140

[PJ Fisher]

Der Rote Kampfflieger Recollects
Today's headline bring news of the wartime memoir published by the world's leading fighter ace.
(from the Cambria Daily Leader, 10 August 1917):


 
Backstory on the book's origin (via wikipedia):

"Written on the instructions of the "Press and Intelligence" (propaganda) section of the Luftstreitkräfte, it shows evidence of having been censored and edited....  In 1920, Germany republished the book in a volume called Ein Heldenleben (A Hero's Life). Ein Heldenleben included additional materials written by von Richthofen, including parts of his correspondence. The book also contained materials written by family members and friends about him.  In 1933, Manfred von Richthofen's autobiography was published for the third time in Germany, this time in a volume again titled Der Rote Kampfflieger. Like Ein Heldenleben, this volume includes some writings by others about von Richthofen, the full text of Der Rote Kampfflieger, some of von Richthofen's correspondences, and some autobiographical passages he wrote after the original publication of Der Rote Kampfflieger and before his death. The text of Der Rote Kampfflieger itself contains several inclusions that were censored from the original publication.

The 1933 edition of Der Rote Kampfflieger appears to paint a much more accurate portrait of von Richthofen than the 1917 edition. It contains passages most unlikely to have been inserted by an official editor: "I am in wretched spirits after every aerial combat. I believe that [the war] is not as the people at home imagine it, with a hurrah and a roar; it is very serious, very grim." In this edition von Richthofen also goes on record as repudiating Der Rote Kampfflieger, stating that it was too insolent and that he was no longer that kind of person."

Richthofen's Memoir can be read in full here: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/41159/pg41159-images.html.  And here's an old thread, sans images, discussing the Rote Kampflieger's mount 425/17: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=284.msg3427#msg3427

[PJ Fisher]

Rivals
This poster-worthy juxtaposition of biplanes in both British and German service reminds us of the mixed bag of rarities flying into the first anniversary of the Great War.  Which one would you fly?
(from the Aeroplane, 11 August 1915):



Here's a brilliant card model of the Rumpler B.1 by forum member Piotr D.: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=3510.msg59694#msg59694

[KiwiZac]

I've long had a soft spot for the Gunbus, but the Tabloid and 504K both appeal also...

[PJ Fisher]

I've long had a soft spot for the Gunbus, but the Tabloid and 504K both appeal also...

Agreed!  Maybe Avro is the next one I take on...

[PJ Fisher]

Tie Breakers?
The increasing impact of airplanes on war tactics is evident in this article from 1917.  Whether this one plane was up to the job is debatable.  As noted in an article shared here last November (https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12930.msg249883#msg249883), only about fifty examples of the Caproni Ca.4 triplane bombers depicted here were produced.  "They were used for attacking targets in Austria-Hungary. In April 1918, six Ca.42s were issued to the British RNAS (No. 227 Sqn) but were never used operationally and were returned to Italy after the war. At least three CA.42s were sent to the United States for evaluation. After the war, the Ca. 4 was replaced in Italy by the Ca.36.  Despite its unstable and fragile appearance, the Ca.4 was well designed. Its size, without regard to its height, was not any larger than that of other foreign heavy bombers. With Liberty engines, it had a fast speed, similar to other heavy bombers, while its bombload had one of the largest capacities of that era, surpassed only by that of the Imperial German: Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI. If it had been flown with other engines, its performance would have suffered". (per wikipedia)
(from The Sun, 12 August 1917):



For your viewing pleasure here's a short wartime clip of a Ca.4 taxiing and taking off:  https://youtu.be/HDnIR7fiX2s

[KiwiZac]

Maybe Avro is the next one I take on...

For what it's worth, you have my vote!

[Davos522]

PJ, I have to tell you, this feature has become one of my favorite daily reads on the forum; I always seem to learn something new with each post. Thanks for keeping it up so faithfully!

Dave V.

[PJ Fisher]

PJ, I have to tell you, this feature has become one of my favorite daily reads on the forum; I always seem to learn something new with each post. Thanks for keeping it up so faithfully!

Dave V.

Hey thanks, glad to hear.  It's certainly a great learning experience for me. 

[PJ Fisher]

Raiders of the Thames
If this sounds like a familiar story it's because Germany has already flown multiple bombing raids over London during this summer of 1917.  As we know from last month's headline 'Unintended Consequences' (https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13750.msg257117#msg257117), Britain's Royal Naval Air Service was scrambling to protect England's coast from the increasing carnage caused by the Luftstreitkräfte's elusive Gothas during Unternehmen Türkenkreuz. 

As with the previous assault, all thirteen raiders evaded interception during their attack. However, the story of their return flight differs from our last -where a sole neophyte quickly met his demise chasing the returning squadron in his Sopwith Pup.  This time the pursuing Pup (N6440) was piloted by a persistent R.N.A.S ace.  Future Air Vice Marshal Harold Spencer Kerby, recently stationed with Walmer Defense Flight, managed to clip Gotha 656/16 off Margate.  The chase would keep Kerby aloft about three hours - pushing his machine's maximum endurance.  This action, combined with his downing of a second Gotha ten days later, would earn Kirby the Distinguished Service Cross. 

Though not known to the British press at that time, four Gothas crashed on their return landing in Belgium - a reminder of the high operational attrition rate of these early machines.  The last image below depicts the Beardmore-built Sopwith Pup N6443, which was close in the production run to Kerby's steed.
(from the Cambria Daily Leader, 13 August 1917):


(image: portrait of Kirby during the Second World War, via wikipedia)

(images respectively via walmercouncil.co.uk; and J.M. Bruce, 'Profile Publication 13', 1965 {via rclibrary.co.uk})

Here's a fascinating account of the fight published on this day three years ago by the descendant of an eye witness to the event: https://thewreckoftheweek.com/2020/08/13/the-gotha-in-the-thames-estuary/.  And here's a bit more detail on the damage done on the British home front: https://www.southendtimeline.co.uk/2/southend-timeline-air-raid-august-1917-history-of-southend-on-sea.html.  Last, check out form member IanB's build of the 1/72-scale Sopwith Pup by Airfix: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=609.msg9242#msg9242

[PJ Fisher]

Farman Takes Flight
Compared to Germany's Riesenflugzeuge or Britain's Handley Page variants, France's Aéronautique Militaire isn't typically associated with heavy bombers- though they were in development during the Great War.  One machine just about ready to fly before the Armistice was Farman Aviation Works' F.60 Goliath.  Powered by twin Salmson 9Z radial engines, it was designed to carry a 1,000 kg payload.  Though war's end stymied the Goliath's military role, the airplane's potential as a commercial civil transport was immediately exploited.  Today's news snippets describes an international publicity flight.  Regular aerobus service would begin in in 1920.
(from the Cambria Daily Leader, 14 August 1919):  Approximately sixty were produced, followed by numerous variants.  The type saw service with fourteen nations and remained in operation through 1931. 



Ever wish you could take a ride in one of these old crates?  Now you can pilot one virtually with this new flight simulator: https://youtu.be/BfFWGQbHfDQ (screenshot below).  And here's some original footage of the real thing in action: https://youtu.be/7I0ztDcSBFQ

[PJ Fisher]

Falling into No-Mans Land
This anonymous Frenchman is frank about tumbling out of the sky and surviving... not just his crash but front-line ground fire.  The occupants of a German three-seater involved in the tangle were not as lucky.
(from The Sun, 16 August 1916):



No idea what planes were involved in today's account. But here's a single-seat French fighter flown by a pilot who was quite busy in over the second half of 1916, as depicted by forum member Will Levesley: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13241.msg246606#msg246606