'The Circus comes to Town!'
The Circus comes to Town!!
The famous Fokker Dr1 Triplane was rushed into production when the Sopwith Triplane proved so much superior to the then (mid 1917) current crop of German fighters. Richthofen, the famous (infamous?) ‘Red Baron’ - aka Snoopy - test flew the first prototype and gained two victories in his first two days of testing. He advised that the DR1 be immediately put into quantity production.
The Dr1 served with the famous Richthofen Circus which was instantly recognisable by the varied colours schemes adopted for individual aircraft. Effective for only a few months - very effective as the ‘Red Baron’ gained 20 of his victories flying the type - the Dr1 was withdrawn from service by mid 1918 after a rash of wing failures laid at the door of shoddy construction.
Image is a composite showing a section of DR1 triplanes about to fall on a pair of unsuspecting French Nieuports - photographs from various airshows and background from the archives.
The famous Fokker Dr1 Triplane was rushed into production when the Sopwith Triplane proved so much superior to the then (mid 1917) current crop of German fighters. Richthofen, the famous (infamous?) ‘Red Baron’ - aka Snoopy - test flew the first prototype and gained two victories in his first two days of testing. He advised that the DR1 be immediately put into quantity production.
The Dr1 served with the famous Richthofen Circus which was instantly recognisable by the varied colours schemes adopted for individual aircraft. Effective for only a few months - very effective as the ‘Red Baron’ gained 20 of his victories flying the type - the Dr1 was withdrawn from service by mid 1918 after a rash of wing failures laid at the door of shoddy construction.
Image is a composite showing a section of DR1 triplanes about to fall on a pair of unsuspecting French Nieuports - photographs from various airshows and background from the archives.
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