How they did it!

[stogieman]

Lest we forget what the soldiers and airmen whose history we're trying to preserve did to earn their badges and awards.... Here's an awesome ca. 1915 photo of a Fokker DR1 taking off. Clear enough to still see the pilot and his machine gun!

Anybody else have any action shots?

[Daniel Cole]

Rick, Thats a Fokker Eindecker. The DRI was the triplane. Cool photo.

[Mike Huxley]

Well spoted Daniel .... just a couple of wings short of a Triplane

[stogieman]

Whoops! I meant E1!

Sorry, I meant E1! Here's another.....

[Daniel Cole]

The Fokker Eindecker (monoplane) was the aircraft that Max Immelmann developed his Immelmann turn in. It was also one of the first, if not the first aircraft with the interupter gear enabling the gun(s) to fire through the propellor. A. Fokker came up with that idea after the french ace Roland GArros was captured and his plane checked out. The Eindeckers couldn't (weren't allowed to) fly over hostile territory for fear of the capture of the secrect interuptor gear.

The second photo is the first version the E1. There was also an EII and EIII.

[Mike Dunn]

Super photos stogie! Mike