On this Day (WWI aviation news)

[PJ Fisher]

Cheaters Never Win
(from the Ludington Daily News, 15 August 1917):

[PJ Fisher]

The French and the Furious
(from the Carroll County Democrat, 16 August 1918):

[PJ Fisher]

"Archibald?  Certainly Not!"
Though 'archie', the British slang for anti-aircraft ordinance, hadn't yet become vernacular, here's an early article on its potential effectiveness in limiting air power. 
(from the Topeka Daily State Journal, 17 August 1914):




The term originates from the chorus of a song popular in pre-war music halls:
   “Archibald – certainly not
   Get back to work, sir, like a shot
   When single you could waste time spooning
   But lose work now for honeymooning
   Archibald – certainly not.”

For more backstory, check out this great WWI etymologist website:
https://languagesandthefirstworldwar.wordpress.com/2017/06/06/archibald-certainlynot/#:~:text=The%20widely%20accepted%20story%20is,by%20George%20Robey%20in%201911
(from Fraser and Gibbons, 'Soldier and Sailor Words and Phrases', 1925 [screenshot via Languages and the First World War):

[PJ Fisher]

Noted German Fliers Killed
'Leo Wenhardt', the top ace listed here, is actually Erich Loewenhardt (Löwenhardt), Germany's third-highest-ranking ace of the war.  He was credited with 54 confirmed aerial victories and died the week before this article was published.
(from The Sun, 18 August 1918):



More on Loewenhardt's last day from wikipedia:
"On the 10th, flying despite a badly sprained ankle, Loewenhardt launched his yellow Fokker D.VII on a mid-day sortie leading a patrol heavily weighted with rookie pilots. He encountered No. 56 Squadron RAF and shot down a Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a over Chaulnes, France at 1215 hours for his 54th victory. In the aftermath of the combat, he collided with another German pilot, Leutnant Alfred Wenz from Jasta 11. Loewenhardt's Fokker's landing gear slammed the upper right wing on Wenz's D.VII. Both pilots' planes were equipped with parachutes and both pilots bailed out. Erich Loewenhardt's chute failed to open and he fell to his death."

p.s. Check out forum member RAGIII's 2013 WNW build of Löwenhardt's yellow fokker: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=2454.0

[PJ Fisher]

Say Wha?
One pilot... four machine guns... what are the other fifteen tiny crew members doing?
(from the Abilene Weekly Reflector, 19 August 1915):

[PJ Fisher]

Badass Brit Repeatedly Stands Aeroplane on Tail to Shoot Straight Up
(from the Tensas Gazette, 20 August 1915):

[PJ Fisher]

Badass Frenchman Intentionally Loops Through Hail of Groundfire
(from the Adams County News, 21 August 1914):

[PJ Fisher]

Russian Rookie on First Flight Volplanes Across Lines with Dead Engine
(from the Adams County News, 22 August 1914):

[PJ Fisher]

British Fleet's Seaplane Feat
Today we receive news of history's first successful (sort of) sinking a ship by an airplane using a torpedo, which occurred during the Gallipoli Campaign on 12 August 1915.  The pilot was Flight Commander Charles Edmonds (future Air Vice Marshall), of 3 Wing RNAS, flying the prototype Short 184 from the seaplane carrier HMS Ben-My-Chree.  It was later learned that the stricken Turkish troop transport had already been torpedoed by a British submarine's (HMS E14), so full credit could not be attributed; however, five days later, Edmonds successfully attacked another Turkish ship, the first to have been sunk entirely by this method.  More details from airwar1914-1918.wordpress.com:

“I glided down and fired my torpedo at the steamer from a height of about 14 feet and range of some 300 yards, with the sun astern of me. I noticed some flashes from the tug … so presumed she was firing at me and therefore kept on a westerly course, climbing rapidly. Looking back, I observed the track of the torpedo, which struck the ship abreast the mainmast, the starboard side. The explosion sent a column of water and large fragments of the ship almost as high as her masthead. The ship was about 5,000 tons displacement, painted black, with one funnel and four masts. She was lying close to the land, so cannot sink very far, but the force of the explosion was such that it is impossible for her to be of further use to the enemy.

The feat is all the more remarkable because the weight of the torpedo means that the Short Seaplane can only get into the air with a perfect combination of calm seas, light breezes and an engine running to its absolute limits, giving the aircraft an endurance of only about 45 minutes."

(from the Topeka State Journal, 23 August 1915):


p.s. Check out forum member macsporran's 1/48 scale build of this exact plane (and its torpedo): https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=11403.msg212037#msg212037

[PJ Fisher]

Russian Diplomat Disses American Military Might
(from the San Jose Evening News, 24 August 1917):

[PJ Fisher]

Two British Airmen Awarded the Victoria Cross
First up is Britain's first-ever ace, Captain Lanoe Hawker, whose 'three kills in one day' feat, which he accomplished on 25 July 1915 while patrolling Passchendaele in Bristol Scout C #1611 (with a machine gun mounted at a 45° angle to avoid his propeller), was still a rare achievement in 1915.  Check out forum member przemoL's 1/72 scale MAC Distribution build of the Bristol that Hawker flew on this day: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=3922.0.  Hawker fought until November 1916, when he was felled in a legendary dogfight with Manfred von Richtofen.
(from the Glasgow Herald, 25 August 1915):




Next to be 'gazetted' is Captain John Aiden Liddell, who, on July 1915, was flying Royal Aircraft Factory RE.5 reconnaissance plane #2457 on his second-ever sortie over the German lines. Though RE.5s were not normally equipped for combat, on that day Liddell's observer, Second Lieutenant Richard Peck, loaded #2457 with a Lewis machine gun and spare service rifle.
(from the Supplement to the London Gazette, 20 August 1915):

.

The second photo below shows the mortally wounded Liddell being eased out of his plane by the ground crew of an allied aerodrome. Check out his tartan trousers, which must date to his previous service with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders on the Western Front.  Ironically, though Liddell would be dead by month's end, #2457 survived the melee and remained in service as a Royal Flying Corps trainer into 1916. Liddell's medals were auctioned by Spink & Sons in 1997 for £85k and are now in the Lord Ashcroft Collection: https://www.lordashcroftmedals.com/collection/john-aidan-liddell-vc/


p.s. Here are some images of my 1/72 scale Roseplane vacuform build of this very plane (c. 2005):



More pics here if anyone cares to see: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=13023.0

[KiwiZac]

A great way to add to the story, PJ - and a lovely model!

[PJ Fisher]

A great way to add to the story, PJ - and a lovely model!

Thanks man! It was a fun one to build.  Painted largely with layers of brushed pastels as I recall.  Sadly, it was accidentally destroyed by the cleaning lady a long time ago.

[PJ Fisher]

First US Army Air Service Aviator to Bag an Enemy Plane Gets Shot Down, Becomes POW

As noted here back in May, Alan Francis Winslow of 94th Aero Squadron partnered with fellow Hat-in-the-Ring-Gang flyer Lt Douglas Campbell (America's first ace) to share the first US Aviation Services air victories on April 14, when they respectively shot down an captured German airmen from Jasta 64w.  Details from http://roadstothegreatwar-ww1.blogspot.com:

On Sunday morning... they were on alert at Gengoult Aerodrome near Toul, France. German planes were reported in the area and the two U.S. pilots, completely inexperienced in aerial combat, took off in their Nieuport 28s. Almost immediately they saw two German aircraft and attacked them directly over the flying field at less than 1,000 feet altitude, in full view of not only the Americans at Gengoult Aerodrome but also the French citizens of Toul. Winslow shot down an Albatross D.V and a minute later Campbell destroyed a Pfalz D.III. They were both back on the ground in a matter of minutes. This initial fighter combat by the U.S. Air Service, although probably successful due as much to luck as skill, convinced the French people that the Americans were "super-human."

Winslow's superhuman status proved ephemeral when he ironically suffered the same fate just three months later.  He is erroneously reported below as an ace and having been killed, but Winslow actually survived the war as a prisoner and lived until 1933, whereas Campbell went on to greater fame and lived all the way up to 1990. 
(from the Urbana Daily Democrat, 26 August 1918):

[PJ Fisher]

Italian Air Power
(from Aero & Hydro, 27 August 1914):