Posted on 09/08/2020 4:15:46 AM PDT by jacknhoo
Here is some interesting 100+ year old footage of the Red Barron during WWI:
I had a patient who was in his mid-eighties when I bought my practice in 1970. He needed a tooth replaced on his upper full denture. When the lab sent it back for me to give it to him, I asked when he’d received this plate. His answer was” Right after the war!” I said “you’re not talking ‘46 are you?” He said “heck no, I mean in 1919”.
I asked how it was that he had every one of his lower teeth in excellent condition but none on top. He asked if I had heard of the Red Baron and then told me that he had the dubious distinction of having been the Baron’s last victim and when he crashed, the control stick knocked out most of his upper teeth, thus the full upper denture.
He told me what you all may have missed when they were working on the engine!!! If you watch it again you will see that the propeller AND the engine rotate together. He said there was no throttle..... just a kill button to stop the engine as needed to descend then it would start up again. Notice them squirting oil… on the valve stems I would guess, prior to spinning the prop.
The following is a very rare piece of film, 99 years old. It shows Baron Von Richthofen, doing an external prior to a mission, as well as his putting on a flying suit prior to flight in cold weather. If you look close you will notice Hermann Goering.
The Aussies claim that one of their machine gunners on the ground shot the Baron down on 4 June 1915…
To think this film is over 100 years old!
I think he's the one who saluted and bowed at the end of teh flight briefing................
Ping.
Yes, my mistake, after I commented I went back and read some. I had the wires crossed on that one. Dang, it’s terrible, I have to restart the timer now, I hadn’t been wrong since 86’ before heh.
Well, could be, I was wrong at any rate, and Snoopy was an ace pilot heh.
What a complete storyline...excellent history! Thanks!
Did you notice, as the Baron was about to load into the plane...HE saluted his crew and they returned the salute. I don’t know what the protocol was in the Luftwaffe, but in the US military, the enlisted salute the officer and hold the salute until the officer returns it. The Baron saluted his men first...whether he was in a hurry to board or it was out of his respect for them, I don’t know. There was a lot of smiling and easy banter among them, obviously a tight crew.
That's the debate. Bishop fired at the Baron at long range but didn't think he hit him. Nevertheless he received credit for the kill for a number of years until information about the Australians came out.
ping
The fuel entered the cylinder by either a reed valve in the head of the piston, or through an intake manifold from the crank case. The lubrication was by castor oil, which wouldn't mix with the fuel. It's known as a single pass system.
One problem was that the pilot was breathing a constant castor oil mist, which causes diarrhea...
After the infantry, when I wax doing schooling for aircraft maintenance, they taught us it was Billy. Chainmail disagrees, and far be it from me to disagree with a man who carried an m14 in Vietnam even after the m16 came out. He was right heh.
Ahhh. Got it...
Thank you for the ping!
I wondered if the Fokker triplane had a throttle or not.
I saw a Sopwith Camel at an airshow at Rhinebeck NY years ago. One speed. Just “on”. You could not accelerate or decelerate. Amazing that people were able to fly those things. What a challenge just to come back alive in those old planes without even seeing combat.
Those guys were either brave, or stupid. It has to be one or the other.
You know you are a bad ass fighter pilot when you fly around in a screamingly bright red aircraft that you WANT your enemy to see you in.
Interesting lesson. thanks.
Meet the Fokker
Just remembered that about 30 years ago I did a few jobs for an old man in his 80s. He told me when he was a boy his grandfather used to take him on visits to the Old Soldiers Home where former Confederate soldiers lived.
“One problem was that the pilot was breathing a constant castor oil mist, which causes diarrhea...”
Ah, so that’s the reason they were such thick pants.
A former US Navy aviator, deep into aviation history and taught me far more than I remember.
Of many interesting tidbits about the rotary aircraft engines I actually remember, they used castor bean oil, still a very good lubricant.
The lubrication system is mostly total loss and the pilot’s breathe the fumes/spray.
Yes! Lots of diarrhea.
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