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Triplane and Se5a on deisplay in Washington, USA


Blue-Max-Triplane

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I would like to share some photos of the Blue Max Triplane, as well as the other planes that it keeps hanger space with. The story of this Dr.1 is a deep one, filled with flying fame and intrigue as well.

I have a site up as well

 

http://www.blue-max-triplane.org

 

Hopefully, this will bring a few smiles-

 

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Hi, there used to be a 'Blue Max' museum at Booker Airfield, High Wycombe with some of the ex-film planes - run by a chap called Tony Bianchi who I understand was a well respected film and stunt pilot. It then moved to the 'Flying Aces' museum at Compton Abbas Airfield.

 

I assume you know all about that collection!

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Tony is one of the god ones out there. Many of the birds are spread out all over the place, but Peter Jackson has 3, and I have gathered up three as well. Still though, there are others out there.

 

I have leads on the Luciole as well- It is fully restored and sitting in a friends garage in the US. Others are in Belgium, South Africa, and I think there is a D7 in Atlanta Georgia USA.

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Sir Peter Jackson has several 7 Dr1s. He owns about 30 WW1 aeroplanes altogether, including many very rare types that still have the original WW1 engine and most in his collection are still regularly flown. PJ is obsessed with accuracy and authenticity and he is now re-manuafacturing "new' WW1 aeroplanes that are identical in every miniscule way to the original WW1 planes, including the rotary engines which he has reverse-engineered and now produces in his own factory! (just Google "The Vintage Aviator"). New Zealand is the only place in the world where you can see a flight of 7 Fok Dr1s flying alongside an authentic rotary-powered Sopwith Camel, Sopwith Pup, Avro 504K, Nieuport Bebe and Fok D8. He also has a Mercedes-powered Albatros DVa, a Beardmore-powered FE2B, two Bristol Fighters, a DH5, two BE2's, a Breguet and three Hispano Suiza-powered SE5a's! His museum at Omaka is widely recognised as the best in the world and his annual airshows are simply mind-blowing to any WW1 aero nut like me.:nut: His next airshow is on 21st January at Hood aerodrome and I can't wait! :-D. The Dr1 and SE5a shown in your picture are both innaccurate, as their noses are far too long, to accommodate modern engines.

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Hello Kufra Kiwi:

 

I have been familiar with what Mr. Jackson's team has been doing for many years. They have invited me to participate in things there, and I was not able to make the Omaka airshow this year due to scheduling conflicts. They are a nice group of folks, and have plenty of experience with recreating things to exacting standards. Did you know that they totally re manufacture engines for these birds as well. Complete re manufacturing of engines that were otherwise impossible to find. Their group just built a complete flying Mosquito as well for Mr Gerald Yaegen from Virginia.

 

As for your critiques of the aircraft in my collection- These are all movie props, and were never intended to be exact replicas. The value is that they are the actual stars of the very films that inspired Mr Peter Jackson to become a film maker to begin with. Without seeing the Blue Max as a child, Peter Jackson may never have entered the film business. That is from his mouth, not mine.

I am collecting movie props, not copies. These are totally original as to what they were made to be- Movie props.

The Triplane, just so you know, is an exact copy built from original Fokker Drawings in 1966. I have the drawings here in my office, and the aircraft right next door in the hanger. The only difference is the engine, (SH-14 built in 1923) and the fact that there is a deck behind the cockpit that accepted a movie camera. The Se5a (of which I have two) has an engine cowl that does in fact house a modern engine. It happens to be much smaller than the original Se5a engine, but you already know that. It is actually about half the size. Still though- it is exactly as it was originally built- and as it appeared on the screens that gave these specific airframes their fame- not like the other copies out there. These are original, and I will restore them to how they were seen on screen, in part driven by the same exacting standards as the folks in NZ.

 

Peter Jackson has three of the former Blue Max Collection pieces. Two are the Pfalz replicas, and the other is one of the Russeau built Fokker D7. Of course, there are many other collectors there at OMAKA that have WWI aircraft, and Mr.Jackson has other birds in his own collection as well. I was talking about the three that he has that were part of my Families collection. Glad you are proud of things there. It is the best static museum display that I have ever seen, and the airshows are spectacular. I will surely be there flying sometime in the future, so perhaps you can see these "inaccurate" birds in person.

 

The 2011 airshow at OMAKA had seven Dr.1 replicas flying formation (although not all are owned by Mr. Jackson)- the largest group in the air together since WWI. Having hundreds of millions of dollars helps.....

Edited by Blue-Max-Triplane
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Thanks for that - I did not realise you were trying to restore them to their appearance in the movies that they originally starred in. But in any case I think having a longer nose helps with directional stability compared to the original planes, and building or restoring old planes usually involves some compromise in the interests of safety anmd convenience. Good luck with your restorations.

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As a slight case of threadjacking here, he's got 10 replica Lancasters built for his Dambusters film.DamsMovie.jpg(Possibly a Wellington in the background too?)Also replica tanks for his film Panzer 88.5647416306_a13371efe1.jpg

Edited by Pzkpfw-e
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As a slight case of threadjacking here, he's got 10 replica Lancasters built for his Dambusters film.DamsMovie.jpg(Possibly a Wellington in the background too?)Also replica tanks for his film Panzer 88.5647416306_a13371efe1.jpg

 

Now that is going to be SPECTACULAR to see. Wow. The Tanks are one thing, but that many Lancs in one spot is stunning.

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