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Langdon · 16 June 2006, 02:55 PM

Dan-San,

I if you look through Alex Imrie's "The Fokker Triplane" more fully you will see he does in fact state that the aircraft was all red at that time. See the caption to photo #99 page 68. He states that the aircraft next to 588/17... "is believed to be Richthofen's all red triplane, but since both 152/17 and 425/17 were painted the same way at that time, positive identification cannot be made. However, the presents of leading-edge protection fittings on the middle and lower wings suggests that this is in fact 152/17. The date is early April (Wenzel first arrived at LeChelle on 2 April) and Balkenkreuze on both triplanes have just been applied and have cross arm ratios of approximately 1:3." Alex mentions the leading-edge protection fittings because he noted that they are not present on the photos of 425/17 (disputed) and therefore they are different aircraft.

You are correct that the photo caption #153 does not mention when the aircraft was painted all red but why would it as this has been discussed previously as I mention above. You suggest he specifically states the opposite but you are wrong, what he states is that it is not known when the photo was taken.

If you look at the next caption on the same page #154 you will see where he mentions... "that it (152/17) was still in exactly the same condition as shown in the aerodrome view. It is praiseworthy that no attempt was made to renovate the aircraft or its finish, and shows the historical dedication of the Zeughaus authorities."

On the subject of the combat reports I note you are only concerned about their translation to English and have therefore performed your own. I would be interested in your translation of MvR's description of his aircraft 152/17, 425/17 and 477/17?

If you look at the photo depicted as 477/17 in Imrie's book you can clearly see that the top wing is painted a solid colour by the poorly painted leading edge with its wavy intersection with the under-surface colour. Also the intersection is much lower than the standard practise. It seems to me we have photos of all MvR's Fokker triplanes.

16 June 2006, 02:55 PM	#117 (permalink)
Langdon Forum Ace Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Australia Posts: 753	Dan-San, I if you look through Alex Imrie's "The Fokker Triplane" more fully you will see he does in fact state that the aircraft was all red at that time. See the caption to photo #99 page 68. He states that the aircraft next to 588/17... "is believed to be Richthofen's all red triplane, but since both 152/17 and 425/17 were painted the same way at that time, positive identification cannot be made. However, the presents of leading-edge protection fittings on the middle and lower wings suggests that this is in fact 152/17. The date is early April (Wenzel first arrived at LeChelle on 2 April) and Balkenkreuze on both triplanes have just been applied and have cross arm ratios of approximately 1:3." Alex mentions the leading-edge protection fittings because he noted that they are not present on the photos of 425/17 (disputed) and therefore they are different aircraft. You are correct that the photo caption #153 does not mention when the aircraft was painted all red but why would it as this has been discussed previously as I mention above. You suggest he specifically states the opposite but you are wrong, what he states is that it is not known when the photo was taken. If you look at the next caption on the same page #154 you will see where he mentions... "that it (152/17) was still in exactly the same condition as shown in the aerodrome view. It is praiseworthy that no attempt was made to renovate the aircraft or its finish, and shows the historical dedication of the Zeughaus authorities." On the subject of the combat reports I note you are only concerned about their translation to English and have therefore performed your own. I would be interested in your translation of MvR's description of his aircraft 152/17, 425/17 and 477/17? If you look at the photo depicted as 477/17 in Imrie's book you can clearly see that the top wing is painted a solid colour by the poorly painted leading edge with its wavy intersection with the under-surface colour. Also the intersection is much lower than the standard practise. It seems to me we have photos of all MvR's Fokker triplanes. Last edited by Langdon; 16 June 2006 at 07:05 PM.