Random Cool Photo Thread

[Smithy]

I've never flown any of course but from what I've read and been told over the years was that from the Allied side the Pup and the SE were two of the "easier" to fly.

The Dr.I had that torque turn like the Camel but obviously to a lesser degree. Voss (he was flying an F.I but the same basic aircraft) was famous for using the torque to do a "flat spin". He did this several times during his final duel with 56 Sqn's B Flight to their utter amazement and shock.

Talking of Voss, why not post this, it's a great snap of the great ace in his mount...

 

[Smithy]

...and the man (boy) who shot him down, Arthur Rhys Davids. The WWI historian Alex Revell emailed me back in 2004 wondering if I wanted to buy this signed photo as he knew my interest in Rhys Davids. I was living in Chile at the time and just about to go on vacation in Argentina and I declined.

Forget jackets, this is one thing I really, truly and totally regret. I should have bought it.

 

[Pa12]

I've never flown any of course but from what I've read and been told over the years was that from the Allied side the Pup and the SE were two of the "easier" to fly.

The Dr.I had that torque turn like the Camel but obviously to a lesser degree. Voss (he was flying an F.I but the same basic aircraft) was famous for using the torque to do a "flat spin". He did this several times during his final duel with 56 Sqn's B Flight to their utter amazement and shock.

These guys use the 7/8 Se5a as their “trainer “. He said it’s a joy to fly. I know 2 other guys who own them and both say the same. Well, when I owned one I’d never flown without a big knot in my gut. I’ve been flying 40 years and a dozen or so types and never flown anything that felt like it was bent on killing me. We re rigged it by the numbers several times and could never find any anomalies. I never considered myself an ace , but I had twice the experience of these guys combined. Being a homebuilt I’m now convinced that there were built in problems. My wife constantly harped on me to sell it.She would come to the field every time I flew and park her self in a lawn chair beside the grass runway , convinced something was going to happen. I guess I inherited my old man’s pigheadedness and refused to let it beat me. I could always hear my dad in my head saying “it’s just a fuckin airplane, fly it”. I finally got to the point where I knew what it liked, but I was never comfortable. When I finally got it through my thick skull that I fly for fun, and this is not fun, I sold it. And now it’s in the best place. A museum

 

[Pa12]

...and the man (boy) who shot him down, Arthur Rhys Davids. The WWI historian Alex Revell emailed me back in 2004 wondering if I wanted to buy this signed photo as he knew my interest in Rhys Davids. I was living in Chile at the time and just about to go on vacation in Argentina and I declined.

Forget jackets, this is one thing I really, truly and totally regret. I should have bought it.

Wow

 

[Shanghai-Mayne]

 

[Blackboxr1200S]

100 years..

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/sandy-irvine-body-found-everest

 

[Lorenzo_l]

These guys use the 7/8 Se5a as their “trainer “. He said it’s a joy to fly. I know 2 other guys who own them and both say the same. Well, when I owned one I’d never flown without a big knot in my gut. I’ve been flying 40 years and a dozen or so types and never flown anything that felt like it was bent on killing me. We re rigged it by the numbers several times and could never find any anomalies. I never considered myself an ace , but I had twice the experience of these guys combined. Being a homebuilt I’m now convinced that there were built in problems. My wife constantly harped on me to sell it.She would come to the field every time I flew and park her self in a lawn chair beside the grass runway , convinced something was going to happen. I guess I inherited my old man’s pigheadedness and refused to let it beat me. I could always hear my dad in my head saying “it’s just a fuckin airplane, fly it”. I finally got to the point where I knew what it liked, but I was never comfortable. When I finally got it through my thick skull that I fly for fun, and this is not fun, I sold it. And now it’s in the best place. A museum

That's quite a story there, Pete.

 

[Lorenzo_l]

Exactly.

What I find tragic is that most people have no idea how dangerous flying in WWI was and how uncomfortable. It was, and remains, the most dangerous and deadly airwar ever fought.

Not for your benefit Pa as I know you have a keen knowledge in WWI but I wrote this on here many years ago and it probably bears repeating to the newer whipper-snapper members who don't know this...




Probably due to Biggles and Snoopy and the Red Baron, and Lloyd George's ridiculous "cavalry of the clouds" speech, many have this idea that the air war in WWI was a genteel and civilised affair. The truth could not be further from this. It often surprises those who know a bit about WWII to learn that the first air war was a far more brutal, deadly and vicious one than that of the Second World War. RFC veteran Oliver Stewart famously likened it to back alley brawling with broken bottles and bicycle chains, and waiting behind a corner to bash someone over the head from behind with a brick in a sock. Quite far removed from the knights jousting bullshit that Lloyd George peddled as heart warming propaganda for the masses during the conflict.

The aircraft were flimsy mostly fabric and wood, and had a tendency to fall apart when damaged, or more terrifyingly, to burn. The reason why many aircrew carried sidearms was not to fight it out behind enemy lines (survival from being shot down was exceedingly low) but to blow one's brains out to save the agony of being burnt alive if the aircraft caught fire.

Because of aircraft's relatively slow speeds compared to WWII aircraft, combat took place at much closer distances. With most WWII memoirs you'll hear fellows taking about how they didn't feel they were shooting at someone but rather at an aircraft and how they got a shock when chaps started bailing out. There was none of that with WWI. Combat was very close, most of the good pilots aimed for the pilot, and even better tried to sneak up on him unawares and then put a bullet in his back before he'd even seen you. The propellor of Rhys Davids' SE5a was something like less than 2 yards behind Voss' F.1 when he delivered the coup-de-grace to the German ace. Coming back with blood over your machine from whom you had shot was not uncommon. Also, due to low speeds, dogfights were far slower to break up and as a result air fighting was generally much more protracted than in WWII. It wasn't uncommon for dogfights to last 20 to 30 minutes, and that's constant twisting and turning in an open cockpit, exposed to the elements and with no oxygen, and no radio to receive warnings or to offer help to other squadron mates.

The survival rate was horrific. Flying itself was new and inherently dangerous. Aircrew had bugger all training, especially compared to their WWII descendants and subsequently due to the mass slaughter that was taking place in the skies, the duration that someone could expect to live was very low (roughly 11 hours for a RFC airman during Bloody April for example).

Wanting to know more about the war the air in WW 1, and on Tim's advice, I read "Winged Victory" by Victor M. Yates. Though a novel, it is based on Yates's experience as a fighter pilot in WW 1. It is exquisitely written and an eye opener on how brutal a conflict it was in the air. Highly recommend.

 

[Sideslip]

You are welcome. French unit came from 2eREI , Japanese unit came from 39th Infantry regiment.

View attachment 161185

Seems like a mixed unit as the French officer is naval but no unit patch which I think is normally on the right shoulder. Interesting either way.

 

[FlakMagnet]

 

[Sideslip]

View attachment 161587

We have a big print of this in the clubhouse at my airfield and it is quite impactful !

 

[Sideslip]

I finally got to the point where I knew what it liked, but I was never comfortable. When I finally got it through my thick skull that I fly for fun, and this is not fun, I sold it. And now it’s in the best place. A museum

Totally agree. No point in being a test pilot for a hobby. This said, some of the WW1 aircraft just look so cool, SE5.a, Albatros etc. And I continuously have Stampe sv4c plane porn fantasies…. (Although, of course, this is not a WW1 a/c.

 

[Micawber]

Tim, Pete,

I enjoyed that short exchange. Every now and again this forum throws up gems like that, they make a refreshing and educational change to the micro detail discussions such as the difference in the quantities of fluff and surplus threads behind the linings of the different A-2 contracts.

 

[Lorenzo_l]

Tim, Pete,

I enjoyed that short exchange. Every now and again this forum throws up gems like that, they make a refreshing and educational change to the micro detail discussions such as the difference in the quantities of fluff and surplus threads behind the linings of the different A-2 contracts.

I second that.