A mock World War 1 'Duel in the Air', or 'Dogfight' between 'opposing' British and German 'Knights of the Sky' - The Great War Display Team. Filmed at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford during the Summer Airshow 2023.
Aircraft :-
Fokker Dr1 Dreidecker (Triplane) - The Dr1 was a direct attempt to copy the successful Sopwith Triplane. Armed with two forward firing Spandau machine guns, it was very manoeuvrable, and a favourite mount of a number of German aces such as Werner Voss and Manfred von Richthofen. Richthofen said "it climbed like a monkey and was as manoeuvrable as the devil." It entered service in 1917 with Von Richthofen's Jasta the first to be equipped. 320 were built.
The team has two Fokker Dr1s - 403/17, G-CDXR, flown by Will Greenwood, replicates the Dr1 flown by Lieutnant Johann Janzen [13 victories] of Jasta 6, of JG1. It has the unit markings of a black/white striped tail and black cowling, with Janzen's personal marking of a 'white snake' line on a black band, edged with white on the rear fuselage. Janzen became 'Staffelfuhrer' [Leader] of Jasta 6 and survived a crash-landing, when the control cables of his Triplane were shot away in combat.
Fokker Dr1, 556/17, G-CFHY, flown by Peter Bond, replicates that flown by Leutnant Ludwig "Lutz" Beckmann of Jasta 6 in March 1918 which was then based at Lechelle. Beckmann survived the Great War having shot down 8 allied aircraft. He went on to win the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross in WW2 and commanded a transport unit of the Luftwaffe flying aircraft such as the JU52 in Russia.
Avro 504K, 'Olivia', G-EROE flown by Matthew Boddington - This Avro 504K is a replica built by Argentinean company, Pur Sang Aero Historic. It was their second build of the type.The Avro 504K was chosen as a subject due to the type being the first aircraft to be manufactured (under licence) in Argentina. The FAibrica Militar de Aviones - FMA (Military Aircraft Factory) of Cordoba built around 34 Avro 504s from 1928. In Argentina the aircraft carried the registration LV-X430. This replica appeared in the UK in 2010 and was sold to Eric Alliott Verdon-Roe Trading as 'British Aviation' in February 2016. It is now registered G-EROE.
Junkers CL1.1801/18, G-BNPV, flown by Mike Collett.
The Junkers CL1 was a ground-attack aircraft, based on the Junkers J8 but with an extended fuselage to carry a gunner. First flying in late 1917 it was accepted by Idflieg, which oversaw all German military aviation, but only 47 were built by the time of the Armistice. It was the first ever cantilever monoplane and had a metal frame with corrugated aluminium skin. It entered service on the Russian front in mid 1918 as a ground attack aircraft with 3 machine guns and an ability to drop sticks of grenades.There aren't many two-seaters in the Team and one of the occupants in this one is a dummy.
This aircraft is a modified Bowers Fly-Baby, remodelled to look like a typical CL1. It was originally built in 1988 by John Day, first flying with the Team in its modified form in 2003.
Nieuport 17/23 Scout, N1977, G-BWMJ, flown by John Gilbert -
This Nieuport 17 is a full size flying replica. It was built from 1992 to 1997 by Robert Gauld-Galliers and John Day. It had a film role in the 2006 film Flyboys – about the young American volunteers of the Lafayette Escadrille. It's powered by a 165 horse power Warner Scarab 7-cylinder radial engine. The aircraft is now owned and flown by John Gilbert and is one of several WW1 reproduction flying aircraft based at Stow Maries.
The markings on this aeroplane are dedicated to N1977 of the Escadrille Lafayette, which was flown by Sergeant Robert Soubiran. Soubiran was an American aviator during World War One and was one of the first Americans to arrive in France in 1914, enlisting with the French Foreign Legion. He was one of 38 Americans who went on to join the Lafayette Escadrille. He later attained the rank of Major in the U.S. Air Force.
Two Royal Aircraft Factory SE5 7/8th scale replicas - Matthew Linney in his SE5, F8010, G-BDWJ and John Gammidge's with his SE5, F5459, G-INNY.
The RAF SE5, originally with a 150HP direct-drive Hispano-Suiza engine, first flew in November 1916. Only 77 of these were built before the engine was replaced by a geared 200HP version. The type went into squadron service in March 1917 and, with another engine change to the 200HP Wolseley Viper, they continued in service right up to the end of the war, with a total of 2765 built by armistice day. It was very robust and the first British aircraft to have 2 guns; a Vickers machine gun in the fuselage and a Lewis gun on the top wing. It had a superior performance at higher altitude than the Sopwith Camel and was also faster.
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