Fokker E.V / D.VIII with Gnome Monosoupape 160 hp

[Olham]

After a long time, I'll post this video again.

It is said to show a Fokker D.VIII with a 160 hp Gnome Monosoupape.

That would be the same modification, that Theo Osterkamp from MFJ II ordered for his craft.

 

The regular Oberursel with 110 PS must have been far too weak.

Osterkamp wrote, that the craft was very agile, but too slow.

 

Edited October 10, 2011 by Olham

[CaptSopwith]

As always my friend, nice find. Really enjoyed the video - it was a nice break from grading!

[33LIMA]

Nice clip there. It's very manoeuvrable on the ground, despite not having a tailwheel fitted, like some replicas. I wonder does it have a steerable tailskid, don't see any sign of that; if not, just a quick burst of power, and round she goes.

[Olham]

Thank you both, guys!

The Fokker E.V / D.VIII had much the same rudder as the Fokker Dr.1 Triplane.

It is just a mounted rudder, without the tail fin.

That seems to give both craft an extreme agility in horizontal turns (the Dr.1 could

even perform the "flat turn", which means fully kicked rudder made her turn round

"on a plate" in flight, without even banking.

[33LIMA]

Didn't all the DVIII's have a small DVII-type fin, even the V26 and other prototypes? quite small in relation to rudder sizer tho. No dihedral on the wings probably also helped.

 

Anyway, speaking of turns, while I was on hols I read the luridly-titled (for the paperback edition) but rather good 'Fighter Aces of WW1' by Joshua Levine and in the many first-hand accounts, there are some from student pilots, including some who were trained during even early-wartime ab initio civilian flight school training, to turn with rudder only, and to avoid banking at any cost, this bad habit only being corrected during later RFC training. One of the many reasons I think super-AI, who fly their planes to the limit, obey all orders efficiently, are at least adequate shots, and never make serious mistakes, would be less than entirely realistic, especially in WW1, barring the few really experienced pilots in each squadron. I'm quite happy often encountering what McCudden termed 'dud Huns' (or 'dud Lords' if flying for the other side). And am not at all interested in the claims of MP players about the superiority of flying against fellow humans - whose flying is polished without regard to the need to get pilots to the front quickly, enconomise on petrol etc and is, moreover, entirely untroubled by freezing cold or anoxia, let alone by any threat of imminent death. Give me half-decent 'bots', any day.

Edited October 10, 2011 by 33LIMA