Jasta 75 colors

Is there anyone out there who could inform me of the late war unit markings of jasta 75 machines, primarily the Fokker D7 and Pfalz D12? I know the markings of the Albatros D5a aircraft while under the command of Oblt. Von Wedel, but I am curious if the color scheme changed once he left the unit in August 1918.

[Gregvan]

Dear JASTA75;
Interesting you should ask, as I've done quite a bit of investigation into this topic, but I still would like more information. In a recent "Over the Front" (Vol. 16 No. 2, Summer 2001) there is a wonderful article on Ltn.d.R. Fiedrich Rüdenberg, who served in both Jasta 10 and 75. It has several marvelous photos of Jasta 75 aircraft, including shots of two Fokker D.VIIs. Ray Rimell's upcoming "Fokker D.VII Anthology 3" (due to be out in March) will have more photos and info about the D.VIIs of this unit.

The Albatros D.Va fighters of J. 75 bore a vertical dark fuselage band just ahead of the tailplane, with white borders - I suspect this was black. You can see this marking clearly on the photo on the top of page 121 and on p. 123 of the "Over the Front" article. This marking was continued on most of the unit's D.VIIs, but apparently not all of them. The Albatros tailplane/elevators were also decorated, in an unusual fashion. There were chordwise dark(? red ??) and white stripes on these surfaces, with a darker stripe of a third color (?black ??) applied perpendicularly to the other stripes, and passing "beneath" them. This is difficult to describe, but you can get an idea of it by looking at the photo of the crashed D.Va on the aforementioned page 121, "OtF". This unusual perpendicular stripe marking was also applied to some of the D.VIIs.The description of this unit's markings in The Jasta Pilots on page 333 is a bit incomplete, as we didn't have access to the photos I have since seen that tell more of the story.

Some of the Albatros fighters of this unit bore quite elaborate personal markings on their fuselages, in some cases having the entire fuselage overpainted. The D.VIIs also displayed some interesting personal markings, several of them being based on the pilot's initials.

I am not aware that Jasta 75 ever had any Pfalz D.XII machines, but they did have three Roland D.VIb fighters, numbers 6101, 6102 and 6103/18.

Sorry I cannot be more definite on the colors. Perhaps some other forumites could supply more info ?

VBR,

Greg VanWyngarden

[Dan_San_Abbott]

Jasta 75:
Like my dear friend Greg, I to have been studying Jasta 75. I have 4 drawings of Albatros D.Va with markings while Oblt> Hasso von Wedel was the Jastaführer. My take on the colors are, the band around the fuselage is red with white borders. I chose red, because the band is dark, but it is lighter than the black on the cross. The tailplane on both sides of the fuselage has a red "H" on white. The elevator is white as is the fin and rudder. The spinner is quartered in red and white. The Fokker D.VIIs were simularily marked. To my knowledge the did not have the Pfalz. D.XII. The were equipped with late production Rol.D.VIb aircraft.
There are several Fok. D.VII that I wish to paint, whenever I get the photo from Greg......Greg?
Oh for spacious skies,
Dan-San

[Gregvan]

Hi Dan and JASTA75;
Unfortunately, Dan, all of my good photos of Jasta 75 Fokker D.VIIs are in Ray Rimell's hands right now in preparation for production of "Fokker D.VII Anthology 3". However, if you'll check out the top photo on page 17 of the old Fokker D.VII Datafile (Number 9), there is another Jasta 75 D.VII - the one with the elaborate "LH" monogram with battle axes. This is Ltn. Lothar Häussler. The original uncropped print shows the Jasta 75 white/dark/white vertical band just visible on the extreme right. The fuselage was obviously overpainted a dark color, but I don't know what it was.

Cheers,

Greg

Thanks Greg and Dan for the great information. I will use it wisely. I'll be waiting baited breath for that new book on the Fokker D7 due out in March 2002!

[Droops]

Okay, I'm in the dark here. What is so special about Jasta 75 that it would draw so much attention?

John

[Craig]

For that matter, why does ANY of this minutae warrant special attention?
Because we say so. That's the only reason that matters, in these matters.

[Droops]

Craig, I'm just as interested in the details as the next person. I wasn't being critical of it, but asking why in this case. Did Jasta 75 have someone famous pass through its ranks? Did it participate in some special operation, or have an unusual aircraft? Or were the markings unique in some way?

Don't take my question as criticism. Its curiousity and a desire for shared information, which is why we're all here.

John

John,

I wish that I could tell you about the importance of Jasta 75 during the Great War, but I'm afraid that it would be too lengthy for this forum!!!! *

[Droops]

Haha, there have been some LONG posts here on various topics. I'm truly curious, and would love to hear more about it!

VBR,

John