Your favorite obscure operational planes
Hey all, I'm curious as to what are some of your favorite obscure or rare planes that flew at least one combat mission during the Great War.
I'm partial to the Junkers D.I and the Hansa-Brandenburg W.29, but I'm sure there are lots of other cool (or maybe totally uncool) rare planes that folks here know about. Please list them here!
I like the early Gotha G.I. 3 seater with great fields of fire but a clunky bird for sure.
I'll plug the Hanriot HD.3. 260hp radial engine, two synchronized guns, two flexible guns, and only a bit bigger than a SPAD 13. With all its weight concentrated in a small area, it was probably fairly maneuverable. It showed up very late in the war, so only eighteen were active at the Armistice, though three hundred had been ordered.
Well, I guess gimme a Hansa Brandenburg W.33 or a Pfalz D.VIII
You'll like this then Chris...Originally Posted by malachi
Well, I guess gimme a... Pfalz D.VIII
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
I like the Fokker D.VI as an oddity. In game it uses the U manoeuvre deck, A deck guns, & has 14 hp. It's quite handy in a dogfight.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker_D.VI
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
Oh wow, thanks, Dave. Awesome video
Very nice Zoe - mine's a little more gaudy than that; it got on the table last Wednesday night.
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...ainting-Thread
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
While I try to use primary source photos to base my colour schemes on, sometimes going to ridiculous lengths to do so... far less than half of all WWI aircraft appear in any photos. That means that as long as a colour scheme is plausible - such as the red, white and black of Prussian national colours - not even fanatics for historicity can say it's wrong. Or even probably wrong.Very nice Zoe - mine's a little more gaudy than that; it got on the table last Wednesday night.
https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...ainting-Thread
What I can say is that it looks spectacular, and is well executed. An ornament to the game, and I'd love to see it on any table I play on. Bravo, sir.
I thankyou
It was going to have lozenge wings but issues with my fingertips prevented successful fitting so I defaulted to this after it had sat at my workstation for many months.
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
It sure looks it Peter. Possibly even more ungainly was the UWD seaplane version. Only one of them was built, but apparently it participated in a bombing attack on Dover in 1916!
Anybody got love for any other obscure naval aircraft?
Siemens Schukert R1 would be my favourite to use if I want to field a strange one. That tail is just all wrong .....
Actually I've always felt that twin tapering fuselage looked delicate and graceful, sort of like a dragonfly with two bodies...Siemens Schukert R1 would be my favourite to use if I want to field a strange one. That tail is just all wrong .....
I flew a 1/144 model kit of one back when I was using my Red Baron rules set. Unfortunately it mysteriously disappeared at some point.
Pfalz Dr.1 for me - only ten or so reached the Front, but I've got one of them!
Cute little beastie!
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
not familiar with ww1 experimentals to make a choice. i suppose id also go with the fokker dVI since its in the dvii lineage.
I have to agree with Tim. Pfalz Dr.1 for me - only ten or so reached the Front.
Did a bit of checking, but I'm not sure the sources are reliable.Pfalz Dr.1 for me - only ten or so reached the Front, but I've got one of them!
Cute little beastie!
The Pfalz Dr.1 (Apr '18) was faster than the Fokker Dr.1 (introduced in Aug '17) and the Sopwith Triplane (Jan '17). It supposedly had a faster rate of climb than both? Supposedly, the engine was not reliable during trials. And perhaps, by the time it was in trials, other planes were flying faster, so pilots didn't favour the manuverability over speed. MvR wanted the maneuverability he discovered in the Fokker, so it was adopted, where the Pfalz wasn't?
What could have been...
Mike
"Flying is learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss" Douglas Adams
"Wings of Glory won't skin your elbows and knees while practicing." OldGuy59
Had the same engine as the Siemens Schuckhert D.III, the 160hp Siemens Halske Sh.III engine, with the same reliability issues. Production problems at the Siemens works, and poor quality lubricating oil, gave the Sh.III engines a life expectancy of only seven to ten hours before pistons began to seize. Probably not what you'd want in a fighter aircraft !
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens-Halske_Sh.III
Sapiens qui vigilat... "He is wise who watches"
Well, all the German Rotaries were having the same issue; lack of good quality castor oil, which had to be imported.
Also (according to Grey and Thetford), it offered no better performance than the Fokker Dr.I.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
Been kicking this one around for a while-I think it's come down to the Friedrichhafen G-III. Probably only "obscure" because of British bias. You see, the airplane was actually quite numerous among the twin-engined bombers in service, but as far as I can find out, none was ever used to bomb England. When they were used for strategic bombing, it was France that suffered.
But, with a greater load-carrying capacity than the Gothas, and a reportedly more robust airframe than the Gothas, (it is said that more Gothas werer lost in crashes than were lost in combat), and sometimes carrying an 'extra machinegun for the co-pilot, it does seem a superior aircraft than its more famous cousin.
Does the Bristol M.1C Bullet monoplane count?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_M.1
I would say so; limited production, and exiled to the sideshows (Middle East and Macedonia theaters) due to an officially unofficial distrust of monoplanes by the RFC brass and admin.
Karl
It is impossible for a man to begin to learn what he thinks he knows. -- Epictetus
Yes, definitely obscure yet operational. Shame it didn't get more use.
would the taube observation kite be obscure enough?
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