Monday, December 26, 2011

Breguet Br.14A2 1919-1922

Breguet Br.14A2 of the Second Greco-Turkish War


It is good to get back to work on my projects after thee last month. As I said earlier I have been working on some of the later examples of World War One aircraft. Today offering is a few of the aircraft which fought in the Second Greco-Turkish War. There will be more of these aircraft to come.

When the Treaty of Versailles was signed on November 11 of 1918, it was called the war to end all wars. With hindsight we can see just how out of touch they were. All the treaty did was set the stage for even more warfare, both in the long and short term future. The combination of shifting fortunes of nations a rise in nationalism in the Baltic, and availability of weapons left over from WWI was a recipe for a new string of smaller but no less fierce wars.

When Turkey was reeling from their ill-fated participation in WWI, Greece saw an opportunity for expansion. Even though Turkey had been on the losing side of the Great War, their army still had more troops and armament than the Greeks. The Turks crushed the Greek forces and the Treaty of Laussane formalized the cessation of hostilities in 1923. In the end this military misadventure proved to be a mistake which would topple the Greek monarchy and bring about military rule. The Second Greco-Turkish War would bring about the current state of affairs in the Middle east.

This Turkish Bre.14.A2 has a fairly standard French camouflage pattern. The aircraft bears the new red square and star and crescent rudder markings.


The basic fuselage scheme is similar to the Turkish example shown above. Notable is the black wavy line over-painted on the Greek insignia on the fuselage. The rudder is painted in the standard Greek identification pattern.


The paint scheme is more muted on this example and the serial numbers on the rudder have been over-painted. Like the previous aircraft the forward section is bare metal.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Germany - Jasta 6 Fokker D.VII

Three Fokker D.VII Jagdgeschwader Nr.I Jasta 6


I had a 3 day weekend so I took time for rest, relaxation and consolidation. For a change of pace I am posting some of a series aircraft from Jasta 6 I've been working on. In between all the chaos I have also been busy working up some Turkish and Greek planes from the Greek Turkish War for my main profile gallery which should make one of my readers happy.


This airplane is an early D.VII flown by Richard Wenzl who commanded the Jasta in part of 1918. What sets it apart from other Fokker D.VII in Jasta 6 is the streaked khaki paint scheme on the fuselage instead of a lozenge pattern. The wings are covered in a 5 colored lozenge pattern fabric. The forward fuselage and tail plane are painted with the distinctive diagonal black and white stripes associated with the jasta. As with many example in Jasta 6 the wheel covers are also done in a striped pattern.


The scheme is similar to many Jasta D.VII. The fuselage is covered in a 4 color Lozenge and the wings in a 5 color pattern. The black and yellow stripes are the personal markings of the pilot, Ltn. Werner Noldecke.


Once again this D.VII is the basic Jasta scheme. The white shield with a spade on it is the personal insignia of an unidentified pilot.


History of Jagdstaffel 6


Royal Prussian Jagdstaffel 6 was founded on 25 August 1916. It was one of the original units of the Luftstreitkräfte, which was the forerunner to the Luftwaffe. The jasta was formed from Fokkerstaffel Sivry, itself an early attempt to use the new winged weapons of fighter aircraft. On 29 September, it was assigned to 2 Armee and refurbished with Albatros D.I fighters.


When Manfred von Richthofen formed Jagdgeschwader 1 on 24 June 1917, Jasta 6 moved to Markebecke on 2 July to join them. The squadron would remain part of the Flying Circus for the rest of the war. In June, July, and August of 1917, the jasta lost a commanding officer per month to enemy action, even as the unit moved from one hot spot to another. It also struggled with technological problems, as it needed genuine castor oil to lubricate the rotary engines of its airplanes.


Jasta 6, at the end of the war, moved back into FEA 9, Darmstadt. On 16 November 1918, they disbanded and passed into history. They had been credited with 196 confirmed aerial victories, at the cost of ten pilots killed in action, 9 wounded in action, two killed in flying accidents, four Injured in flying accidents, and two pilots taken prisoner of war.


Although most notable aces in the squadron rose to command at one time or another, Franz Hemer and Kurt Küppers served in its ranks and earned honors without succeeding to the helm.


When the squadron was formed, it had eight Fokker Eindeckers, mostly Fokker E.IVs, which it used for its first month of operations. It added Albatros D.Is on strength in September 1916, and had at least one Fokker D.V assigned. Albatros D.IIIs were put into service in March 1917. By June 1917, Albatros D.Vs had been added to the squadron's roster, as well as Fokker Triplanes. Many of the aircraft wore a unit marking of black and white stripes on their elevators; personal insignia went on the fuselage. On the later triplanes, the engine cowling was painted scarlet and white in a petal pattern. By May 1918, the unit was re-equipped with some Fokker D.VIIs. In August, it received some Fokker D.VIIIs, but had to withdraw them from service due to lack of castor oil to lubricate their air-cooled rotary engines.


References


  1. Jagdstaffel 6. (2011, October 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:12, December 11, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jagdstaffel_6&oldid=456174564
  2. Above the Lines: The Aces and Fighter Units of the German Air Service, Naval Air Service and Flanders Marine Corps, 1914-1918. Norman L. R. Franks, Frank W. Bailey, Russell Guest. Grub Street, 1993. ISBN 0948817739, 9780948817731.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Germany - 1916 LFG Roland C.II pt.2

Early C Class Aircraft and Kagohl Units

The Kagohl (Kampfgeschwader der Obersten Heersleitung) were aerial units which operated under the Commander of the German Armies. The organization consisted to a Headquarters Staff and six Kampfstaffeln, each consisting of six C Class aircraft. They had their own ground transport and used the German railway system for rapid deployment. Their original concept, was strategic bombing of England. The flaw in the plan was C class aircraft lacked the operational range to bomb England. Instead of performing strategic bombing missions; they operated as tactical bomber units. During the battle of Verdun, They patrolled the front attempting to prevent French bomber operations against the German front. Some Kagohls also served on the Eastern front.

Kagohl 2 consisted of Kampfstaffeln(Kasta) Nr.7-12. Kasta Nr.8 was founded on December 20, 1915. The Kasta flew LFG Roland C.II, and one of the unit's claim to fame is Manfred von Richthofen served with them early in his career.



Three Roland LFG From Kagohl 2/Kasta 8



LFG Roland C.II Mont-Morville Aerodrome - 1916

This example shows some of the features of the early LFG C.II. Of note is the lack of a forward mounted gun and the round roll cage. The finish is called sky. The actual color could vary from pale blue to light gray or off-white.


This example is one of the first aircraft that von Richthofen flew in combat. He flew this LFG Roland while serving with Kasta 8 on the Eastern Front.


The finish on this example is lighter. Besides the vertical bands the finish and structure of the aircraft is the same as the previous profiles.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

France - 1917 Salmson 2a

Three French Salmson 2a

Late in the war many French Escadrille were supplied with the excellent Salmson SAL 2a. Today I am posting samples of some of the more successful units. I am working on more examples and will follow up with updates soon.

This is a very well known SAL.2a which flew in the 1st Escadrille. The insignia is a blue snail. I have no information on the crew or serial number. I used a drawing by Bob Pearson as the primary source for the marking information.


I began research on this aircraft with photo and details I found at albindenis.free.fr. This Escadrille used an elephant as their insignia. Different flights carried black, white, or the most definitive version which was a charging elephant with a green cover with gold trim. This is the insignia I used on this profile.


I used Bob Pearson's color profile and photos from albindenis.free.fr as references for this profile. The 32th Escadrille used a seagull in flight or on a naval life preserver as their insignia.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Germany - 1916 Halberstadt CL.II part 2

Burning the Candle at Both Ends

Recently I have been working outdoors in the elements. During the holiday season I end up sleep deprived and a bit fuzzy around the edges. When I get home I mainly work on finishing new master files for a new push after the new year. It has been consolidation time for me, however it is needed to avoiding wasting time and energy with changing things piecemeal instead of building the structure in a logical modular manner. The past few days I have been busy preparing for things to come. One project is working up all of Manfred von Richtofen's aircraft, I have found several lists of his planes which will give me an outline to follow. This will include the two seat aircraft he served as the gunner/observer in. I have finished a couple of the profiles for this, including a LFG Roland C.II from Staffel 8, KAGOHL 2. I will post some of them soon. Today I am posting some of the new Halberstadt CL.II profiles I have done.


This example served in Schlasta 23b during 1916. The aircraft is finished in two different camouflage schemes. The fuselage is painted with a speckled pattern and other surfaces are finished in a five color lozenge pattern.


This example has an unusual scheme. The red and white flame pattern over the speckled fuselage makes it easy to identify. All the lozenge is a five color scheme. It was a fun profile to do.



This pair of CL.II were assigned to Schlasta 23b are both painted in nearly identical schemes. Both have a female in white on the rear section of the fuselage. Nr. 2 bears the name “Brünhilde” and Nr. 5 bears the name “Thea” Both have white numbers mid-plane, a white chevron which is the Schlasta identifier. The red stripe bordered in white I am not sure what its significance is.