Richthofen's DR.I, why Red?
Maybe I'm missing something, but I've been reading "Red Baron - The Life and Death of an Ace" and discovered that Richthofen did not paint his plane Red until he took control of Jasta 11 and began flying an Albatross D. III. I believe he abandoned his DR.I several months before that and had never had it painted red.
Am I confused? Should his WoW miniature really have been an Albatross D. III?
He did fly Albatros D3s at the time he took command of Jasta 11 (Jan 1917?), and his first completely red aircraft was this type and with this squadron.
He didn't fly the triplane until Autumn 1917, and they were withdrawn for a few months due to structural problems. This was the type of aircraft he was killed flying (today's the anniversary, in fact).
I read that his fellow pilots worried tat the red paint scheme would endanger their leader. whom, quite simply they adored. Started to add red to their own planes in a 'I'm sparticus' 'no I'm spaticus' sort of moment.
British pilots over the Arras sector noticed the red plane more and more , and dubbed it la petit rouge.
I've read that he might have gotten the idea from French pilot Lt. Jean Navarre who flew a red Nieuport 11 over Verdun. It was noted how visible it made the plane. When he assumed command of jasta 11, he wanted to be visible to his pilots, hence the red plane. He had a number of different planes, not all of which were all red.
Pooh
I believe from watching the movie Red Baron, after his Jewish friend got shot down and killed, he wanted none but revenge upon the pilot who downed him. Thus the red plane. It was very much phycological warfare in a sense that pilots would be terrified when they saw it. Don't take this seriously, as the Jewish pilot was a fictious character, but a possibility in the painting of it red.
How do you like my old english? Trying it out. . . tough to spell some of the words though.
Hope I helped!
I wouldn't take *anything* from watching that blooming awful film - any passing resemblance to history is purely coincidental....
Not sure where I read it but, I remember something about him originally painting his plane red so his new jasta pilots could follow him during training. He than just left it that way.
In his book ‘Bloody April’ Peter Hart states “In a supreme gesture of confidence, Richthofen decided to adopt an all-red paint scheme, deliberately to mark himself out in the air and thereby strike fear into his enemies.”
In his book ‘The Red Baron: Beyond the Legend’ Peter Kilduff quotes the man himself: “For whatever reasons, one fine day I came upon the idea of having my crate painted glaring red. The result was that absolutely everyone could not help but notice my red bird. In fact, my opponents also seemed to be not entirely unaware [of it]” He’s talking about his Albatros DIII.
And Andy’s right. The other pilots under his command were concerned that the colour scheme would attract more than it’s fair share of unwelcome attention so they painted their aeroplanes, at least in parts, red too.
Richtofen had several Dr1s, including some all-red painted, but had some tripes painted half-red(upper wing and part of the fuselage) and one left with the basic camouflage (the prototype F1 in sept. 1917)
It had also some DVa painted half-red
I picked up a copy of Richtofen's autobiography from my local library last week. Interesting stuff!
The quote Tom Cundall mentioned about "no particular reason" is in there. Also, in this edition there is an appendix written by the Baron's brother Lothar. Lothar claims that Manfred at first experimented with camouflage patterns to make his plane harder to spot in the air, but they weren't effective, so he finally started painting his plane red "to at least be recognized as the leader by his comrades in the air."
Don't know if it's true or not, but it's an interesting story.
Cecil Lewis describes diving “headlong, guns stuttering, into the Richthofen Circus that night Ball was killed”. In his account of the action he mentions “a flight of Red Albatrosses” and recounts the British machines being “driven down beneath the scarlet German fighters”. I guess he very quickly knew exactly who he was up against but in the confusion it was nigh well impossible to tell which (if any) of the aircraft were painted all red and which were only red in parts. The ‘Spartacus effect’ in action.
The psychological effect must have been a big factor for both sides too. It certainly was for Lothar von Richthofen: “The red colour signified a certain insolence. Everyone knew that. It attracted attention. consequently, one had to really perform”.
I have to find the book...but I remember reading that he kept 2 green and red Tripes and one all red one before he died. The book stated that the all red one was mostly used for ground attack missions to keep his own troops from shooting at him. I also remember a picture somewhere of he and his brother posing infront of some planes one is marked as all red and the other is marked as being green and red. When you look closely at the difference in the grey's you can see that they are not both painted the same.
Bolke had the nose of his plane painted Red. I have read somewhere that Manfred started that as a tribute to his friend.
Oh and I would not site the movie Red Baron for any "fact". It would be pretty much like siting a Peanuts cartoon, even though the cartoon is probably more historically accurate!
Most of these films have scenes here and there which, whilst not being totally accurate, do bear a passing resemblance to actual events. For instance the scene in ‘The Red Baron’ where Richthofen trashes his aeroplane landing in a field (and then gets out and has a chat to the Roy Brown character who has also landed in the field) echoes an actual event (described by Peter Hart in ‘Bloody April’) when he shot down the FE2b of MacLennan and Greig but was ‘forced to make an emergency landing close to his recent victims. He came down to earth with a bump and had the additional embarrassment of overturning his Albatros’. “They were the first two Englishmen whom I had brought down alive. Consequently it gave me great pleasure to talk to them”. Likewise there are scenes in both ‘Aces High’ and ‘The Blue Max’ which also, er, ‘re-imagine’ actual events.
Ahhh but Manfred Von Richtofen did not do such a thing, to take a historical figure and name a film after them and then mess with their story, decide what you want to put in, i.e. HOLLYWOOD it up is not right. It gives the wrong impression of history.
Maybe they could have had him playing football with the British, or changed his dog to a beagle named Snoopy as well.
I suppose it’s just a matter of “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story” and all that ... or in this case a bad story.
Don (LGKR) and I agree WWI needs a Steven Spielberg/ Tom Hanks duo to make a great film about the war, especially aviation from both points of view.
I think it was in Eddie Rickenbacker’s book that he says the reason the Red Baron painted his plane all read was to make it easier for ground troops to confirm his kills. I personally think all these reasons played a little part in him deciding to paint it red.
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