The Aerodrome Forum - View Single Post - Pflaz DIIIa

Gregvan · 12 September 2009, 12:59 PM

Hi,

The following quotations from

Carl Degelow are well-known: "When I arrived at Jasta 40 in May 1918, the Staffel was equipped with Albatros D.Va and Pfalz D.IIIa aircraft...Given the choice, I selected a Pfalz D.IIIa, a type I had flown in Jasta 7. The Pfalz was a bit underpowered and it did not climb as well as the Albatros, but I felt it was a safer aircraft. For some time the Albatros D.Va had a structural problem with the lower wing spar, which had a tendency to break under stress, causing the bottom wing to part company with the rest of the airplane!...Suffice to say, this did little to install confidence in the Albatros fighter planes. So, in my case, I took the second-rate Pfalz and, having learned its limitations, made the best of a bad job."

Hardly a ringing endorsement, but again - the last sentence re-emphasizes that if you learned its limitations, a Pfalz D.IIIa could do all right in the hands of an experienced and clever pilot. That's not to deny that every Pfalz (and Albatros) pilot wasn't very happy to exchange their machines for Fokker D.VII's as soon as they became available.

As I said, there are also plenty of comments from German pilots who disliked the Pfalz - particularly

Paul Straehle and

Heinrich Kroll, among others. On the other hand, it would seem from photographic evidence that

Rudolf Berthold of Jasta 18/later 15, apparently preferred the Pfalz D.III and D.IIIa to the Albatros - as he certainly could have had his pick of either. Of course, he probably wasn't doing a whole lot of flying during some of these periods.

12 September 2009, 12:59 PM	#14 (permalink)
Gregvan Forum Ace of Aces Contributor Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: St. Charles, Iowa Posts: 3,626	Degelow Hi, The following quotations from Carl Degelow are well-known: "When I arrived at Jasta 40 in May 1918, the Staffel was equipped with Albatros D.Va and Pfalz D.IIIa aircraft...Given the choice, I selected a Pfalz D.IIIa, a type I had flown in Jasta 7. The Pfalz was a bit underpowered and it did not climb as well as the Albatros, but I felt it was a safer aircraft. For some time the Albatros D.Va had a structural problem with the lower wing spar, which had a tendency to break under stress, causing the bottom wing to part company with the rest of the airplane!...Suffice to say, this did little to install confidence in the Albatros fighter planes. So, in my case, I took the second-rate Pfalz and, having learned its limitations, made the best of a bad job." Hardly a ringing endorsement, but again - the last sentence re-emphasizes that if you learned its limitations, a Pfalz D.IIIa could do all right in the hands of an experienced and clever pilot. That's not to deny that every Pfalz (and Albatros) pilot wasn't very happy to exchange their machines for Fokker D.VII's as soon as they became available. As I said, there are also plenty of comments from German pilots who disliked the Pfalz - particularly Paul Straehle and Heinrich Kroll, among others. On the other hand, it would seem from photographic evidence that Rudolf Berthold of Jasta 18/later 15, apparently preferred the Pfalz D.III and D.IIIa to the Albatros - as he certainly could have had his pick of either. Of course, he probably wasn't doing a whole lot of flying during some of these periods. __________________ Greg VanWyngarden Last edited by Gregvan; 12 September 2009 at 03:17 PM.