Ooops! Some don't even need Enemies

[Olham 164]

Damn - another video I can't see in Germany, for copyright reasons!

Edited January 26, 2012 by Olham

[Flyby PC 23]

Now Mike's pic might be on to something.

 

If that's confirmed as a British aircraft, then that's good enough as adequate proof for me. Please remember, I first only asked if we were sure the plane was British. I thought perhaps the difficulty in identifying the plane might have been because it wasn't British.

 

I didn't mean to imply anything more than that. I do know about reds in black and white pictures, (try photocopying something written on red paper), but I have seen enough pictures of French aircraft to know it's not easy to be positive if there's no context for the picture.

 

 

I might cast your minds back to my dads picture of the eastern front DC-3 Dakota with a jungle paint scheme which was actually a DC2 in Gibraltar in Spanish Republican colours. Once you know the context, it's blindingly obvious, but until you know the context, the colours are shades of grey. Red white and blue looks just the same as red yellow and purple, and lets not even think about greens...

[Olham 164]

Yer right there, Flyby - one shouldn't always trust the first obvious thought - especially in historical research.

And I read, that there were at least 2 sorts of b&w film, with different results.

[Lewie 7]

It's a UK home training unit BE2c, which had skids in front to reduce prop damage from ham-fisted landings. The real early BE2, BE2a's had a larger top wing, no rudder fin, no wing stagger, and had wing warping instead of ailerons. They also had a different stabilizer outline.

[Hauksbee 103]

When this thread started, I knew I had a similar hard luck picture squirreled away in a folder...somewhere. I finally found it. (and he's definitely not British!)

[MikeDixonUK 5]

Got to love crashing into the only tree in a completely empty field, who was flying - Dick Dastardly?

[Olham 164]

Aircraft which are "out of control" seem to be attracted by lonely trees and all sorts of other bad luck.

 

Nice picture, Hauksbee - which aircraft is this?

Edited February 12, 2012 by Olham

[Hauksbee 103]

Nice picture, Hauksbee - which aircraft is this?

Hard to say. The only real identifying feature is the shape of the rudder. Looking though a few books, I'd put my money on Aviatik B.I or B.II (if it was the Aviatik, my book says German air crews nicknamed it "Gondola" because they rocked back and forth at the slightest turbulence.) Second possibility could be a...well, there is no good second choice. The other contenders, based on rudder shape (Rumpler, L.F.G.) all had a rear gunner position, which I'm not seeing here.

Edited February 12, 2012 by Hauksbee

[Hasse Wind 46]

I think it's an Aviatik B.I or B.II It was used extensively in pilot training, and I'm sure the guy who hit that tree wasn't the most experienced pilot around.

 

EDIT: Was supposed to write Aviatik, not Albatros.

Edited February 12, 2012 by Hasse Wind

[Morris 2]

Looks like the German pilot tried to camo the plane before he attacked the enemy.

 

 

[Hauksbee 103]

Looks like the German pilot tried to camo the plane before he attacked the enemy.

Or perhaps he just wanted to park it in the shade.

[Olham 164]

He could have tried to install a permanent observation post?

[Capitaine Vengeur 263]

Got to love crashing into the only tree in a completely empty field, who was flying - Dick Dastardly?

Leutnant Prünen ?

[Flyby PC 23]

Hauksbee's picture isn't an accident, but an early kill for a very early version De Havilland Mosquito.