Ltn Raesch's diary, as published in C&C Journal Vol.8 No.4, contains some very interesting photographs which are leading me toward more candidates for modelling. Some of these are also reproduced in Osprey's Fokker D.VII Aces Part 2 by Norman Franks and Greg VanWyngarden.
These are the Fokker D.VIIs of Vzfw Weihle and Ltn Wernicke.
Ernst Weihle's D.VII is interesting insofar as it seems to be in one solid colour from its nose to the Jasta's white tail unit (C&C p.317, D.VII Aces p.28). I guess we'll never know what colour it was for certain (unless anyone has specific information of course!). Red seems obvious, but what about a blue, a blue-grey or grey-green? The tone is quite similar to that of Raesch's uniform, but what other colours might give a similar result with the camera film (orthochromatic?) most commonly in use then?
Wernicke's D.VII might be one of the Jasta 18 refugees - dark fuselage from the nose to the rear of the cockpit and white thereafter, with a dark chevron aft of the fuselage cross. It crops up in D.VII Aces on p.30, and also appears in C&C on p.327, photo 5, behind a line-up of pilots consisting of Kiep, Raesch, Drexler and Siepmann. It looks like it has the white chin typical of Jasta 18. Wernicke was to lose his life in this aeroplane on July 16th as a result of self-ignition of phosphorus ammunition caused by excessive heat.
On a slightly different note, I'm considering buying the two (so far) Aeronaut volumes on the Jasta Colors. Are they a worthwhile purchase, and do either of the published volumes cover Jasta 43?
Many thanks as always!
Cheers,
Mark
