Eindecker Pilot

[baldeagle]

Was there a Fokker Eindecker pilot named von Cresheim or something like that?

[Rick]

Yes,

Ltn. Kurt Alexander Otto Feodor Frhr. von Crailsheim. He served with FFA 53 from 22Jun15 - 30Dec15 when he was severely WIA over Vrizy and he DOW on 4Jan16 at Warmervile. He scored his first (and only) v/c in an Eindecker on 22Sep15 over a Voisin SE Vouziers. R.

[baldeagle]

Thanks Rick, I saw a photo of him in an Eindecker with four angled stripes behind the cockpit on the fuselage side. Anybody have a good guess at the color of the stripes? Looked like maybe black-red-black-white.

[Gregvan]

Hi Baldeagle,

Neal O'Connor published a fine biography of von Crailsheim in his Volume IV, The Aviation Awards of the Kingdom of Wuertemmberg (pp. 174-176). It contains the photo you're thinking of, and Neal speculated that Fokker E.II 69/15 had the sloping fuselage bands painted as follows, from front to back: the first two black,yellow (the colors of the ribbon of the Wuertemmberg Military Merit Medals and Orders, as von Crailsheim was a winner of the Gold Military Merit Medal) and then black and white (the national colors of Prussia). This sounds very likely to me, and it certainly makes sense and would be a nice marking: black, yellow, black, white.

Sadly, when Ray Rimell painted a profile of this same airplane for "WS Datafile #91, Fokker E.I/II" he was apparently unaware of Neal's description and showed the markings as black, gray, black, white, which seems very unlikely. What is really confusing about this aircraft, though, is evident in a photo of the crashed fuselage back at Schwerin (it's published in the Datafile, page 31). von Crailsheim crashed heavily in this very same aircraft on Dec 30, 1915 and suffered severe injuries. He died on January 4, 1916. The damaged fuselage was returned to the Fokker Works. The photo taken at the Fokker Works shows a distinctly dark fuselage (outside of the personal banded markings) and vertical streaking is clearly evident. If one looks at the earlier photo of the same airplane with von Crailsheim sitting on the fuselage, taken in bright sunlight, one can also see evidence of streaking, though not as clearly - perhaps the sunlight washed it out ?? Or was it streaky-camouflaged at the front (which seems unlikely)? Perhaps this was an early attempt at camouflage by the Fokker factory. Most Eindeckers seem to have been clear-doped (or 'beige" as the "L'Aerophile" report has it) but perhaps some were painted beige or streaked. There was a long discussion , initiated by Stefen Karver, on the forum quite awhile ago.

BTW, von Crailsheim's letters to his parents survive, but AFAIK, they don't describe the colors of his Fokker. Dr-Ing Niedermeyer published a fine article based on the letters in OtF Vol. 12 No. 2, 1997. Sadly, it was only part one of an article which we have yet to receive Part 2 of, again as far as I know.

In his painting of von Crailsheim's 69/15, Ray Rimell showed the fuselage as streaked a very dark olive green, which is a possibility.

Otto Parschau wrote several letters to the Fokker Company in 1915, describing the wonderful qualities of his unarmed Fokker M5L or M5K , which he described as a green machine !! Furthermore, there are British combat reports mentioning a "butcher blue" Fokker and even a black one. McCudden described an Eindecker as a "long dark brown form". So take your pick.

By the way, Baldeagle, I saw you at Dayton in Sept but missed a chance to say hi. I really enjoyed your flying !!

Greg

[baldeagle]

Thanks Greg, as long as they'd keep bringing me fuel I'd keep flying. And thanks for the Eindecker info. I was at the San Diego Aerospace Museum last week and saw their Fokker E.III, and really liked it. I'm always dreaming ahead about what I'm going to build after the Nieuport 28 is done, and the Eindecker has moved up the list of possibilities. I was at the NASM bookstore the other day (Christmas shopping...) and saw the von Crailsheim photo in Sharks Among Minnows (I belive that's it, Norman Franks?), and was trying to remember the pilot's name, because of those colorful stripes.
What's the difference between an E.II and an E.III?

[Gregvan]

Hi Baldeagle,

Yes, that's the title of the book by Norman Franks (Sharks Among Minnows). The photo is reproduced in a larger format in the E.I/E.II Datafile. I would suggest you get both the E.I/E.II and the E.III Datafile (No. 15). Some nice markings are seen, but nothing like the flamboyance which would appear on later types. Several units had diagonal or vertical black/white bands on their Eindeckers.

As to the difference between the E.II and E.III, that's a sticky subject. According to Peter Grosz:

The Fokker E.I 1/15 to 5/15 were standard A.III (M5K) airframes modified to carry the synchronized m.g. The M5K had a wingspan of 8.95 meters. The remaining E.I's had the wing lowered to the now-familiar position, and were powered by a seven-cylinder 80 hp Oberursel U.0 rotary fed by a tank of 50 kg capacity in a single gravity tank. The wingspan is given as 10.05 meters.

The E.II had a nine cylinder 100-hp Obersursel U.I engine with a fuel load of 66 kg.

Pete says the E.III was almost identical to the E.II, with the exception of small external changes. The E.III was equipped with a larger main tank and an additional gravity tank that provided a duration of approximately 2 1/2 hours as opposed to the E.II's 1 1/2 hours. It was also powered by the 100 hp Oberursel. All three types were designated M.14 by the factory, and Pete says some E.IIs were modified during repair at the factory and returned to the front to lead a 'second life' as an E.III. The wingspan has been said by some to have been different (the Datafile #15 lists the E.III wingspan as 10.04 meters) but I think they were pretty identical; I should think no one would care if you replicated von Crailsheim's markings on an "E.III". Someone with far more knowledge of the Fokker E-types than me should step in here.

I wish someone could measure and make complete drawings of the E.III preserved atLondon's Science Museum.

If you do build and fly an Eindecker replica, would you use the original wing warping, or go with ailerons like the Bianchi (?) airplane ??

If you

[baldeagle]

Definately warping, to me the object is to present the technology, and modern pilots are amazed by wing warping. I could see building an Eindecker with ailerons and a modern engine, like the Bianchi machine, to make it more practical, and in a sense more fun, but I'm thinking of what to use my second Gnome in, so with a rotary you'd have to go with the warping. I go around and around on what should be next, Eindecker, Nieuport 10, Pfalz D.VIII, DH-5... for now it's dreaming, have to concentrate on Nieuport 28--