Lothar von Richthofen,s Fokker DVII

sator · 10 February 2010, 12:41 AM

I,m looking for the wing camo and fuselage and strut colors for

Lothar von Richthofen,s Fokker DVII that he described as his "Lovely RED BIRD" that he crashed into a tent on landing and broke the wing. I would be gratefull for any help on this and I thank all who have help me with other threads I have posted. Tom

albatros1234 · 11 February 2010, 10:55 PM

i'd like to know too/

albatros1234 · 22 February 2010, 06:29 PM

guess no-one knows or cares

Gregvan · 22 February 2010, 06:59 PM

Hello,

Well, I certainly do care, but I have no additional information. If you have "Fokker D.VII Aces of World War 1, Part 1" from Osprey (Aircraft of the Aces #53), you can see the photo of Lothar and Otto Förster in front of the nose of an early Fokker-built D.VII. Now, I have no idea if the D.VII in that photo is the "lovely red bird" or not, but it's possible. Sadly, it doesn't answer any questions.

Just how literal was Lothar's description? Who knows? Does it mean that the whole fuselage and tail was red, or maybe red with a yellow tail?? I don't know; Lothar was never very precise in his writings. We can probably be sure that it would have had a red engine cowling, struts and wheel covers - in common with other Jasta 11 D.VII's. Beyond that, I am not certain.

BTW, the depiction of one of "Lothar's" D.VII's on the cover of the Kagero book "Richthofen's Eleven" is based on pure speculation, and nothing more - in my opinion.

Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Greg

albatros1234 · 22 February 2010, 07:27 PM

i dont know , the only dvii i've seen in relation to lothar is yellow with a red nose, the bottom wing is 5 color loz. the top wing is yellow on top and loz underneath. other than that I saw one he used a few times that was typical 4 color loz with a black tail with white/black checkerboard on the elevators .I was interested if anyone knew about this supposed red one too. maybe a tribute to his fallen brother?

schwartzfalken · 23 February 2010, 05:30 AM

I'd love to know more about this yellow DVII with the red cowling. This is the first I've heard of that. Sounds like the same scheme as his DRI. I'm only aware of the DVII "borrowed" from Alloys Heldmann with the checkered stabilizer. Please tell where this info. is from! Are there profiles available on this bird?

albatros1234 · 23 February 2010, 09:10 AM

here is a couple links to the yellow dvii its really a nice looking craft:

WINGS PALETTE - Fokker D.VII - Germany (WWI)

WINGS PALETTE - Fokker D.VII - Germany (WWI)

Dan_San_Abbott · 23 February 2010, 10:21 AM

Albatros 1234:
This is one of the most common errors illustrators make in drawing the Fok.D.VII. The rear side cowling did not come into use until the production order D.4300/18 to D.4399/18. These were being accepted by Bauaufsite 13 at the Fokker factory in Schwerin in August 1918. That does not mean they were at the front in use by the Jagdstaffeln. They would not have been available to

LvR. The two illustrations are fiction in my opinon. My guess is Lothar's D.VII had a red fuselage and upper wing and a yellow tailplane.

Blue skies Albatros1234,
Dan-San

albatros1234 · 23 February 2010, 09:52 PM

dan-san i'm positive you are much more knowledgable in all facets of this field and i know i'm merely a pimple on your butt, but i've seen this yellow dvii with the red nose other places that i cant remember right now that attach it to

lvr. i have to poke around and pull up some more links for you. i'm interested in your opinion. thanks.

albatros1234 · 23 February 2010, 10:06 PM

found this real quick not that it means a thing but its a second reference. i know i've seen it other places too.

1/48 Fokker D.VII (Lothar von Richthofen) Jasta 11 by SPT Kampfliegger repaint - ECardmodels.com