Death of Immelmann

Mike,
I don't believe this to be true considering the Fokker Eindecker was incapable of performing an Immelmann turn. Maybe it could have been a hammerhead turn or wingover.
However, it sounds more like RFC propaganda to me.

Regards,
Rosebud

Rosebud -

Good point, considering how frail the Eindekker was; hadn't considered that aspect at all. It was simply something I'd read long ago & it'd become engrained in my memory as one of those "Oh, gee - THAT'S how he died!"

Thanks, Mike

Then there are those unconfirmed reports of a Beagle atop a doghouse on the grassy knoll...

[Darryl]

Never confuse the 'modern' Immelmann with the original. The turn Max 'invented' was basically a stall turn. The Eindekker would have been perfectly capable of that (especially given its full flying rudder). It WAS however a gutsy move.
I recall Frank Tallman writing that he had ZERO desire to perform ANY sort of aerobatics in the Eindekker he owned.

The "cutting across the Immelmann turn" story probably comes from an article McCubbin wrote in Popular Flying in the '30s.

By the by, it was McCubbin's observer (they were in an FE) that fired on Immelmann, not McCubbin himself.

regards to all

Darryl

IT IS VERY LIKELY IMMELMAN SHOT HIS OWN PROP OFF.ANTHONY FOKKER HAD NOT YET PERFECTED HIS INTERRUPTER GEAR.IMMELMAN HAD PREVIOUSLY SHOT HIS PROP OFF.HE WAS JUST LUCKIER THE FIRST TIME.