Roland DVIa 1219/18

Uwe · 3 December 2003, 10:47 AM

The site that this plane appears on states that this plane probably belong to Jasta 30. It is Roland DVIa 1219/18. Is there any way to confirm this? I know Jasta 30 did have at least one Roland DVIa.

Dan_San_Abbott · 3 December 2003, 11:18 AM

Uwe:
I think it is a greater possibility that it was Jasta 23b. Ity was fully equipped Rol.D.VIa.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

Tailspin · 3 December 2003, 01:53 PM

Is that a mount for a top wing gun?

Craig · 3 December 2003, 02:02 PM

It's this Italian gun, can't recall the name. It was captured in large quantities, was lightweight, and had a high rate of fire. But not enough striking power for aerial use.

Did J30 wear the yellow diamond all through the war, or just on the Pfalz D.IIIa machines?

Cigogne · 4 December 2003, 08:49 AM

The twin barrelled weapon is a Villar Perosa. Many were captured during the Caporetto Offensize. Experiments were made on several. Photos exist of an Albatros D.V with such an installation. The complaint was that these weapons didn't have sufficient striking power.

This was not a standard installation by any means!

Cigogne

PS. Jasta 35b also had examples of the Roland D.VIa and b.

Gregvan · 4 December 2003, 08:49 PM

Hi,

I cannot confirm or deny that this Roland came from Jasta 30. I do know that Jasta 30 did not continue with the orange diamond emblem late in the war. Check out " Fokker D.VII Anthology 2". At least one Fokker D.VII had a dark fuselage (probably either black or brown) with a lighter (yellow or yellow-orange ??) nose and - probably - tailplane.

Best wishes,

Greg VanWyngarden

Uwe · 5 December 2003, 07:40 AM

Thanks for the replies! I didn't know if there were records available that could confirm whether or not this particular plane was assigned to that Jasta.

And taking my thread completely off topic...the Ferko collection. What is it and can the information in it be obtained without a visit to Texas. I haven't been able to come up with an excuse to get down that way that the wife would accept. Now if Disney put a theme park there I would have no problem from my wife about going but I do not see that happening in my lifetime!

Uwe

Immo_Frese · 5 December 2003, 08:14 AM

Uwe,

click on the following website to have a first overview about the contents of the Ferko Collection...

http://www.utdallas.edu/library/special/ww1col.html

Immo

Gregvan · 6 December 2003, 10:33 AM

Hello Again,

On the other hand, the photo of Roland D.VIa 1219/18 was published on page 30 of the Roland D.VI Datafile #37. The photo came from Alex Imrie, and the caption says that it was "Reportedly attached to Jasta 30". I would imagine this info came from Alex himself, as Pete Grosz wouldn't add any such info lightly. If Alex says it "reportedly came from Jasta 30", then I would tend to believe it. Units which were at least partially equipped with the Roland D.VIa or D.VIb included Jagdstaffeln 23b, 32b,33, 35b, 59 and 75 - but that is by no means a complete list.

The Ferko collection is best accessed by a visit to UTD. There is a dedicated staff of non-paid volunteers who will valiantly attempt to access information that you request by e-mail or by post, but they only have so much time and their expertise may be limited to other areas of aviation history.

Very best regards,

Greg