Two seaters

[Ginger.]

It seems some of the German recce planes were more than an handful to take on.Was it due to the quality of the aircraft,crews or both?Did any of their two seaters have the dogfighting ability of the Bristol Fighter?.

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Ginger:
Capt. James McCudden tells of engaging on 12 Dec.1917 a liver colored DFW C.V that he had to break off fight after 5 minutes expressing had he persisted the DFW would have won. This was a case of a well coordinated crew that worked together. I must add that he bested several DFW C.V aircraft. His unsuccessful fight with a Hanover on 2 Jan.'18 showed it as a formible fighting machine. Another that I think might fit into the fighting qualities of the Bristol "Fighter"is the Halb.Cl.II machine. The Hanover and Halberstadt Cl types had fighter aircraft performance. Think of the courage of these Battleflyers whose soul purpose was ground support with no armor plate.
blue skies, Dan-San

[Mosen]

In October 1917 Jasta 24 tested a Halberstadt Cl-II as a two seater in dog fight. Its pilots judged it as unsuitable for such purposes. It seems that besides DFW C-V no German two seater was comparable to the "Brisfits"

Mosen

[Craig]

Another factor that made the German recce planes difficult was their excellent high-altitude performance. But all-in-all, it seems unbelievably dangerous - flying, often alone, over Allied lines, with scads of enemy planes about.

[Vigilant]

I would imagine the CL types had poor performance at higher altitudes since they were designed for ground strafing. Sorry I can't be more helpful but I'll follow this thread with interest.

Vig.

[stephen]

FWIW, I've always gotten the impression that with the possible exception of the Bristol, the usefulness of two seaters in a dogfight depended entirely on the skill of the pilot and the marksmanship of the observer.

Two seaters could be absolutely formidable when well flown - or easy meat if not properly handled. I knew a DH9 pilot who sideslipped his bomber out of formation onto the tail of a Fokker DVII and filled it full of lead, an RE8 pilot who took on 3 DVII's and sent one down while making good an escape from the other two, and Doug Campbell said he had no idea that his first victory was a fighter... he thought he was fighting a two seater the whole time! Just goes to show ya that sometimes you could hardly tell the difference... especially rookies.

And several two seater pilots said that there WAS a difference in observers. Having one that was a known sharpshooter was considered a big blessing that may well affect your life span.