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

[PJ Fisher]

Pour le Mérite Recipients
For those willing to wade through this old German typeface you'll recognize the names of a number of notable fliegers!
(from the Norddeutsche allgemeine Zeitung, 17 February 1917):

[PJ Fisher]

Air Raid on Czernowitz
Reports on aerial attacks from French and Russian forces against the Austrians on the Eastern Front today.
(respectively from the Hobart Mercury, 8 February 1916; and the Llangollen Advertiser, 18 February 1916):

[Dutch522]

Really enjoyed that German article, being deeply immersed in the history of the Eindeckers it was cause for reflection that almost all the "rock stars" of the Fokker Scourge era were dead by the time it was published; Boelcke, Immelmann, Wintgens, Walter Höhndorf, Ernst Böhme, Otto Parschau; all have daggers after their names. And Buddecke wouldn't last more than a few days after he returned to the Western Front from fighting for the Ottomans.

Dutch

[PJ Fisher]

Really enjoyed that German article, being deeply immersed in the history of the Eindeckers it was cause for reflection that almost all the "rock stars" of the Fokker Scourge era were dead by the time it was published; Boelcke, Immelmann, Wintgens, Walter Höhndorf, Ernst Böhme, Otto Parschau; all have daggers after their names. And Buddecke wouldn't last more than a few days after he returned to the Western Front from fighting for the Ottomans.

Very insightful observation.  A reminder of the high attrition rate even among the best pilots.

[PJ Fisher]

"Where Dead Men Now Lie"
...and speaking of high attrition rates along the Western Front - this aerial observer's photograph, published the same week and nearly 5,000 miles away from the article on German aviators from two days back, shows the devastation of the front lines.
(from the Birmingham Age-Herald, 19 February 1917):

[PJ Fisher]

Load Up
Another Farman crew keeping busy.
(from the New Britain Herald, 20 February 1918):

[PJ Fisher]

Hunting with 'Lady Maud'
Australia's top flying ace recounts some of his many thrilling missions.  "Robert Alexander Little, DSO & Bar, DSC & Bar.. had an official tally of forty-seven victories. Born in Victoria, he travelled to England in 1915 and learned to fly at his own expense before joining the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). Posted to the Western Front in June 1916, he flew Sopwith Pups, Triplanes and Camels with No. 8 Squadron RNAS, achieving thirty-eight victories within a year and earning the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, the Distinguished Service Cross and Bar, and the French Croix de guerre. Rested in July 1917, he volunteered to return to the front in March 1918 and scored a further nine victories with No. 3 Squadron RNAS (later No. 203 Squadron RAF) before he was killed in action on the night of 27 May, aged twenty-two." (via wikipedia)
(from the Melbourne Herald, 21 February 1917):



I couldn't find any models of 'Lady Maud' on the forum but here's Brad Cancian's brilliant build of 'Blymp', the Sopwith Triplane which Robert Little would be switching over to in just a few weeks after today's report was published:

https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=2507.msg40770#msg40770

[PJ Fisher]

Tin 'Plane
I'm glad to have stumbled across this report on Canadians stumbling across an abandoned Junkers.  I assume it's the same J.I serial (586/18) that is preserved at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa?
(from the The Copper Era and Morenci Leader, 21 February 1919):




Check out forum member michaels' build of the 1/32 WNW Junkers J.1:  https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=1351.msg21512#msg21512

[PJ Fisher]

Dog is My Copilot (Redux)
Don't know about you all but I'd feel lucky to have this chap as my wingman.
(from the Evening Star, 23 February 1919):



Here's another canine headline from back in August 2022: https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12930.msg246885#msg246885

[PJ Fisher]

"Made in the U.S.A."
Here's another rare bird that didn't seem to live up to the hope's of its designer... though it was praised in this article as being 'steady as a cook stove'.
(from the New-York Tribune, 24 February 1915):




Albert Sigmund Heinrich, in partnership with his brother Arthur, built a small number of airplanes in the pioneer days.  He holds a modest historical claim of being the first man to pilot an American monoplane.  Here's an image of him in the cockpit on the eve of the great war.

(image via wikipedia)

[PJ Fisher]

Blinded By Blood
Italians in action today. 
(respectively from the Daily Kennebec Journal and the Imperial Valley Press, 25 February 1916:




"On 18 February, "in response - as Cadorna's bulletin stated - to the multiple violations of the law of nations with unjust insistence perpetrated by the enemy since the beginning of the war, a squadron of six of our Caproni left for an incursion on Ljubljana. Facts Despite strong enemy anti-aircraft fire, our planes were able to reach about fifty kilometers from Ljubljana without incident. But, following the alarm given by the Monte Santo observatory, some very fast Fokkers, rising from the Aisovizza airfield, chased the squadron and having reached it, not daring to face it, they attacked the last aircraft, piloted by the brave captain ORESTE SALOMONE, who had distinguished himself so much in the Libyan war, who had as companions two officers, captain LUIGI BAILO and lieutenant colonel ALFREDO BARBIERI.

The penultimate Caproni, having noticed the attack, prepared to rush to the aid of his companion, then to the officers who were piloting him it seemed that the attacked aircraft had disengaged itself and resumed its route towards Ljubljana, and since the sonorous roar of the propellers and the deafening roar of the engines had not allowed them to hear the crackle of the Fokker machine guns, they did not imagine the tragic fight that had taken place so quickly.

Captain Salomone was wounded in the head by the enemy's first shots, then Bailo and Barbieri were hit and killed, one after the other. The Solomon, left alone, headed towards Italian territory, refusing to surrender to the enemy aviators who, having run out of ammunition, signaled him to land. Despite the pain that the wound caused him and the blood that ran down his face and obscured his vision, although the bodies of his two dead companions made the maneuver difficult and tiring for him, supported by superhuman energy, he managed to escape the shots of the anti-aircraft batteries and land on Italian territory.

The other five Caproni, who arrived on Ljubljana and faced the fire of the enemy batteries and the attacks of numerous Austrian planes, lowered themselves onto the city and, through gaps in the clouds, threw several dozen grenadines and bombs. An aircraft, hit by shrapnel which damaged its engine, flying at low altitude, managed to return to its base on the sea side. Another, attacked by a swarm of Austrian fighters and the pilot having been fatally hit, landed disastrously near Biglia and was partly destroyed. The surviving officer, the Roman lieutenant MARCO AURELIO RIPAMONTI of the 19th Guide Regiment, was taken prisoner. The other aircraft returned unharmed. The heroic Captain Solomon was awarded the gold medal a few days later."

(Major Roberto Mandel, "La Guerra Aerea", 1931.

Here's some further history as found on wingsofwar.net: 

"In February 18, 1916 Italians planned an attack on Ljubljana. It must have been a reprisal for an attack on Milan in the days before. Between 7.30 and 7.45, 10 Ca3 were taken off, armed with several torpedoes bombs of 90 mm ​​and 162 mm, from Aviano and Comina fields. After a short time, three of Ca3 returned to base for engine problems. Of the others, only five reached the target and they dropped 36 bombs on the railway and the city. Three-engine, faced fierce and determined AA reaction. All planes returned with signs of shot on fuselage.

Ca3 piloted by captain Ercole Ercole and lieutenant Gino Laureati the engine had hit by a shot and returned to base with only two motors.
Less fortunate Ca3 piloted by captain Visconti and captain Turilli. Their plane suffered an engine failure at the central engine, and so after dropping their bombs on the railway they decided to return to base. With the plane losing altitude, they were attacked by Fokker AIII flown by Captains Kostrba and soon three other AIII and two other biplanes. With the machine gun jammed, chap Visconti was killed while he was shooting with is pistol. Trimotor hit several times hovered near Merna where captain Turilli was captured. This was the first Caproni Ca3 shot down in aerial combat.

On the same day, during a previous sortie, Kostrba Captains and peers Bernath had attacked another Ca3 piloted by captains Luigi Bailo and Oreste Salomone with Lieutenant Colonel Alfredo Barbieri as an observer. The two hunters rushed Ca3 diving towards the rear. The blasts killed Bailo trying to shoot with a rifle and LT. Col. Barbieri brandishing a machine gun. Salomone head injuries did not give up and managed to bring "Aquila Romana" ("Roman Eagle" this was the name given to the bomber) beyond the front line landing in friendly territory.  This story was much celebrated in Italy and it was dedicated a cover of "Domenica del Corriere" to celebrate the heroic exploit of Captain Solomon, the first Italian pilot to get the Gold Medal for Military Valor."

[PJ Fisher]

Cheap Flying
(from the Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder, 26 February 1919):



No model type is given here but this article must be referring to the one-off Blackburn Sidecar. A real rarity!  A handful of companies (including the Royal Aircraft Factory and Sopwith), experimented with airplane designs built around the ABC Motors Ltd. Gnat motor, which evidently proved only minimally more reliable than their notorious Dragonfly.


(image via wikipedia)

Here's a view of the ABC Gnat motor:

[PJ Fisher]

Madridian Monoplane
Amidst their warring neighbors neutral Spain maintained a modest aerial program through the 1910s.  Here's a loose translation of today's spotlight on the Escuela Catalana de Aviación: "The sports editor of "La Publicidad", from Barcelona, ​​Mr. Feliú, when undertaking, at the Catalan School of Aviation, one of the preparatory flights for his Immediate "brevet".."
(From La Publicidad, 27 February 1917):



(images via leandroaviacion.blogspot.com)

Learn a little more about the Catalan student aviators here: https://leandroaviacion.blogspot.com/2016/11/1917-primeros-alumnos-aviadores.html

[PJ Fisher]

'Quickfiring' Fee
This touch of farfetchery from Western Australia suggest that Royal Aircraft Factory's F.E.2s participated in the first raid on Zeebrugge and Ostend.  This particular plane looks to be the prototype F.E.2, designed by Geoffrey DeHavilland way back in 1911.  Here it is seen kitted with a Maxim machine gun.  The prototype underwent much modification and actually crashed nearly a year to the day before this article was published:

"During a trip to the South Coast piloted by Royal Aircraft Factory test pilot Ronald Kemp on February 23,1914, it spiralled into the ground from 500 ft. at West Wittering, seven miles from Chichester, Sussex, due it was said, to the absence of fixed fin area to offset the increased keel surface of the new nacelle. Passenger E. T. Haynes, a civilian scientist at the Factory, was killed and the aircraft destroyed." (via flyingmachines.ru)


(from the Kalgoorlie Sun 28 February 1915):

[PJ Fisher]

Buried Alive
I was unable to corroborate this report about a French pilot meeting a bleak fate, along with the witnesses to this potential war crime.  Possibly propaganda, it's a reminder as to how merciless mankind can be.
(from the Evening Time Republican, 1 March 1918):