OLAF

I wouldn't dismiss the Be2 so fast - it was very good at what it was designed for. It just wasn't designed for aircraft vs aircraft fighting and sadly they kept using them for years after it was obvious that air warfare had evolved........ However, there are some in the country that might be available to be towed/disassembled - http://ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk This pair just moved to Bicester.

:-) Had me going until the link opened!

Such lovely, lovely lorries :-) I couldn't get to Old Warden, but I'm hoping that there will be a few vehicles at Sywell this coming sunday. As for camels, the NAW camel moved to Shuttleworth last year and is being fettled. I think the one in the background of one of the pics is the Brooklands camel. It has been known to come north to Old Warden before for engine runs (presumably forestalled by the weather in this case). Really looking forward to the prospect of multiple flying camels!

That Albatros looks lovely - they've done a brilliant restoration job on it considering its age and use since Cole Palen built it. A pretty thing, but that wing would terrify me. When they need to put extra struts on the struts to stop the wings fluttering that's never a good sign I've yet to visit Old Rhinebeck in person (one day!) but I've heard their DVII is particularly authentic, and so would be a good one to use as a reference. Unlike the Albatros it has an original engine doesn't it? If you are still wanting to use the shot down Wusthoff plane as a reference point, it's worth checking out the Wingnut wings model kit website - Wingnut are owned by Peter Jackson and informed by his collection of replicas and originals, and they have a lot of reference photos on the site. A couple of these are alternative views of that Wusthoff Fokker, showing the plane and trailer in different poses. I hadn't seen these pictures anywhere else - http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/productdetail?productid=3081&cat=1

Not sure if it's been mentioned before, but a few years ago the Museum of Army flying at Middle Wallop (I think) had a mobile exhibit of some kind where they'd have some ground personnel and part of a fake 2-seater fuselage. I remember seeing them at an English Heritage event at Kelmarsh Hall several years back. They provided some ground 'context' for an aerial display by these super people - http://www.greatwardisplayteam.com/. Not sure if it was a team-up, or just the co-location of the events' WW1 bits components.

That looks fantastic Not sure if this will help, but if you are still keen on a DVII fuselage, there is apparently someone in the UK building one. It was news to me, but on the CAA registration site there is a notice of a DVII project - http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=detail&aircrafttype=fokker&dataindex=12 This might be a part-scale replica (there's a company in the US that makes kits, some full-scale, some smaller, built along ultralight principles, and they have a UK importer), but the weight suggests to me that this is/will be a full-scale. Could be there's already a fuselage out there that you could borrow - or more probably someone who can give you some real world feedback on making one.

Hi - sorry it’sbeen a few days. There some more info on Wusthoff here - http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/people/60215-kurt-wusthoff.html, including a quote from the memoir I remembered seeing your picture in. It seemsexactly who shot him down was the source of some dispute! As for picturesof DVIIs without their wings, there’s some good build pictures on that forum. The‘Aerofile’ site has plenty of detail - http://www.aerofile.info/wordpress/ and a lot of detail pictures ofpreserved/replica DVIIs - http://www.aerofile.info/wordpress/index.php/nggallery/page/1?page_id=703 There’s alsoa whole thread of them on the Warbird Information exchange: http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=379317#p379224 The PioneerFlight Museum in Texas built a flyer a few years back and I think it wasintended to be the Wusthoff plane. They have build/project photos on their siteas well - http://pioneerflightmuseum.org/index.shtml Hope this helps [QUOTE=Charawacky;407085]The DV11 is appealing, especially as a famous one is depicted already on a trailer. What does the DV11 fuselage look like with wings removed? Tom

But then Fokker had a financial incentive to use the rotaries as he'd bought the company back in 1916 Actually a non-flying 'flying razor might be an easier build than a DVII. Smaller, probably easier to construct, easier to rig the wing if you want to show it intact. There have been a number of recent flying replicas of the 'razor' and in the same way as the others there will be plenty of 1/4 scale RC plans around to give you an idea of how easy it will be to build. On the other hand the DVII has the mentioned-in the-armistice kudos, and the particular one in the picture does have a story with it - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_W%C3%BCsthoff. On a totally different tack, there may be full-size replicas out there, but just not of a DVII or DVIII. A couple of recent films have seen prop replicas built for ground scenes - 'Flyboys' and 'The Red Baron'. The props from the first one ended up in the Manston history museum. The Red Baron was a German production, and it did not break any box office records. I got the DVD and one of the features was on the number of 1:1 scale albatrosses and Fokker Dr1s they made. It might be worth an email to the film company: http://www.german-films.de/filmarchive/browse-archive/view/company/company/niama-filmstuttgart/ to check whether they have something sitting in a warehouse that would save you the hassle of building your own.

There seems to have been quite an interesting effect with the 'outsourcing' of engines - the Thulin engines are an example of better workmanship, but there were lots of problems in other companies when engine volumes ramped up and outside manufacturers were involved. Some British-made Clergets apparently didn't perform nearly as well as French-made ones, whilst others were fine. Some French licence-built Hispanos were apparently terrible and downright dangerous, but engines from the original company were fine. It must all have seemed a bit of a lottery to the pilots, and since engines wore out much faster than aircraft the supply implications must have been interesting! One of the German Aces had a standing reward of wine for anyone who'd bring him an intact French engine for his Dr1, but this was as much to do with the phasing in of the Mercedes-engined DVII and resulting lack of any spare rotary engines - German, Swedish or French!

That's the one - I remember the picture from a memoir of one of the pilots in that squadron (I must check to try and find it). If 22ft is OK, the top wing is only 3ft longer, and the wings should be very easy to rig - they're cantilever, so there is no rigging. The same was true of the Triplane Dr1, which is shorter, and has a shorter span (but has more wings in the first place :-)). There are plenty of plans available - builders of full scale flyers use sets frfom Jim Kiger's replicraft - http://www.replicraft.us.fm/plansets.htm and from Ron Sands for Dr1s. The same plans are often used for flyers and for large scale RC models, and that might be another option - plans sets for 1/4 scale models are easily available on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fokker-DVII-1-4-Scale-Plan-I-C-Power-Model-Aircraft-Plan-PLAN241-/120956383347#ht_1145wt_1011. A good source is http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/replica-aircraft/ as there are members there who are currently building all manner of replicas, but quite a few DVII and Dr1s. Of course if you do build something like this, you'll have children (of all ages) climbing on it!:-D

If your heart is set on a Pfalz it might be tricky, although they are quite beautiful. Of the two in NZ, one is a converted Tiger Moth, and the other a more accurate (and shorter) design by a chap called Ray Hilborne. They were both built in the mid sixties for 'The Blue Max' with George Peppard, James Mason et al. The most recent replica was a fiberglass job built for the successor company of Pfalz werke, which IIRC is currently in a museum in Speyer. The 'replica' section of theaerodrome forum should help you here - they've got members building Albatros projects, although no Pfalzes at the moment. Apparently once you're tooled up to produce these monocoque fuselages they're fairly easy to make in volume, but as a one-off it may be harder to produce (of course, if you're going to work in modern materials it might be easier). Depending on how you want to display this, it might be worth considering a Fokker DVII or Dr1. They're more angular, if you want to have wings they're wireless so easy to rig, and plans (if you want them) will be much easier to find. I don't know if it's on this or the other thread, but the picture of the Fokker DVII with a skull on the side displayed on the back of a trailer strikes me as a wonderful potential display - plus you wouldn't need to build an undercarriage

I finally saw War Horse, and some of the replicas used seemed OK. I think the Dennis is the truck in the background after the auction when the old French Farmer and Joey's owner are talking? It did seem pretty authentic. After GWT's comments I kept an eye out for the German trucks, and they were a mixed bunch. Some seemed quite good in general size/shape if a little generic, although I'm certain that I saw some of the Ford Transit-based Berliets used in Flyboys- http://s12.zetaboards.com/The_Trench_Line/topic/129216/1 albeit painted field grey. I agree that originals are preferable - as well as the Dennis I think I saw some moving background Model Ts in War Horse, and they just looked 'right'. Here's hoping that something practical yet a little more authentic-looking can be arrived at for future films in spite of the accountants. If the tank can be so very well-done, why not the trucks? OLAF

Hi Sorry for not doing this before - I've been looking at the forum for a while, but started posting only recently. I'm interested in all kind of MV, but especially WW1. I have a great passion for WW1 aircraft and early aviation, and got interested in MV sideways through some of Mr Gosling's super articles in the magazines. I picked one up to look at RAF leylands, and was hooked I live in NW England, and attend the occasional airshow but no MV shows,.... yet. Cheers OLAF

I think that ebay fuselage might have looked a little small on your trailer Definitely worth keeping your eyes and ears open for such things. If nothing else the era is being filmed more and more and so there will most likely be more film props out there! If scout troops are interested in them, maybe that's another option! It'd make a good project to research a prototype and build the cockpit section or full fuselage. It would definitely be interesting to have a full scale aircraft to complement the tender. I think this is something that can get missed out when people think of WW1 flying - everyone thinks of the aircraft, but there's less focus on the massive logistical and repair systems that helped keep them up in the air. Most of the planes spent most of their lives on the ground after all. I went to an English Heritage event a few years back where there was a ground display to accompany the Great War Display Team, including one of their Se5a replicas, and it was great - you could see the kids getting enthused because there were objects and artifacts there and people to priovide a bit of context. I think the ground display was by the Museum of Army Flying, and they were using a mocked up part fuselage of a two-seater (Might be worth checking if they don't want it any more?). However long it takes, good luck on the trailer - if I ever hear of a fuselage I'll let you know. Cheers OLAF

Just for information there's a replica 1916 Thorneycroft advertised on Milweb at present: http://www.milweb.net/classifieds.php?type=3 According to the webvert it's master-craftsman made. I don't pretend to the incredible expertise of the world-class authorities on this forum, or the practical skills of an accomplished prop-builder, but it does not have me completely convinced. It got me thinking about the portrayal of WW1 military vehicles on film and television. I know that the film-makers will always want something representative but convenient, whereas those of use who can 'spot the difference' would prefer much more faithful replicas or else originals used. With the number of WW1-themed productions likely to increase in the next few years with the upcoming anniversary, what are the odds of us being able to watch them without finding fault? Is it possible to build a truly authentic-looking replica without modern wheels? Are originals now too precious to endanger? What do members here think?