Death of the Red Baron

[jwrich 0]

A friend emailed this link. It is interesting, using Rise of Flight, someone put a lot of work into it .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rich

Edited May 14, 2012 by jwrich

[Olham 164]

That guy, sirgisbod, is a very good "film maker" - well done!

[Flyby PC 23]

Don't think I've ever seen RoF looking better, but not sure about the film in close detail. Didn't Brown dive on MVR rather than pursue him in level flight, and have to pull away or risk hitting the deck, leaving MVR to pursue May for a few shots before he suddenly turned and landed, fatally wounded, but alive when the troops reached him, if only for long enough to utter the word Kaputt?

 

It's a beautiful film, and very well made, but I don't think he'd seen Podkin's map of the incident.

[Shiloh 12]

I had seen this some time back. If you check out his channel he also did a piece on Mannock and Voss which are well done.

[busdriver 35]

Buggsy opined

We'll never know for sure who fired the Deadly Bullet. Because with Forensic Science as it exists today, could determine where the bullet came from by comparing the position of the hole in the fusilage to the location of the entrance wound in the body

 

But that DR1 was torn to bits by the souvenir hunters of the day

Norman Franks & Alan Benett did a pretty fair analysis in their 1997 title The Red Baron's Last Flight : A Mystery Investigated

 

 

[angles1100 0]

After much research I have come to the conclusion that UK_Widowmaker did it .

 

The attached is proof positive .

 

 

 

WOOF

 

 

[Olham 164]

The resemblance is striking, indeed!

[JFM 18]

Yes, Flyby, Brown made one diving pass and left, never to return. He did not pursue MvR.

 

In my view the evidence concludes Brown did not fire the killing shot, and it's speculative that Brown even hit MvR's plane anywhere. Also, it's doubtful that MvR saw/noticed Brown's attack. Initially in my book about Richthofen I made the bold decision not to mention Brown at all because, as I say, if I mentioned every guy who took a shot at Richthofen and did not kill him, the book would have been 2,000 pages long! In the end, I (very) briefly mentioned Brown, only because he did make an attack, after all, but more so because the myth of his attack has become part of the history; it's become more noteworthy than the attack itself.

[Hauksbee 103]

Yes, Flyby, Brown made one diving pass and left, never to return. He did not pursue MvR.

In my view the evidence concludes Brown did not fire the killing shot, and it's speculative that Brown even hit MvR's plane anywhere. Also, it's doubtful that MvR saw/noticed Brown's attack.

 

jwrich: We crossed a lot of this ground about two weeks ago ( or so). Check out Page Two of this Forum and find "Who's the Aussie Who Shot Down von Richtofen"? My vote goes along with JFM...it was Popkin. There's a .pdf article in there that covers most of what's known about the incident. And a map of the event, tho' it's a bit confusing. As you can see, I've modified a section of the map, and the German lines were not that far from where Popkin stood. Lt.May, running for his life, followed by von Richtofen, passed right in front of Popkin. The gunners saw the planes coming because Popkin reports that his Lt. was shouting at him to fire, but he couldn't because Lt.May was between him (Popkin) and von Richtofen. If the map is accurate, Roy Brown catches up to the fight and makes a single pass (approximately 45 deg. deflection shot) and then banks right and flies parallel to Lt.May and von Richtofen. By now von Richtofen is taking a lot of ground fire. All three Lewis gunners were firing, and God only knows how many rifles, so as he passes almost directly over (and between) Buie and Evans, it seems that he realizes that he's in a very tight corner and he turns Lt.May loose and banks sharply right and tries to run back to his lines. Within a second or two he's presented his back to Buie and Evans, but Popkin now has a broad field of fire as von Richtofen approaches. The bullet that killed him entered from in front (at an obllique angle) and below. von Richtofen was struck in the torso (and knee). The bullet may have ricocheted off his spine as it exited the left side of his body. (It is disputed). Popkin reports firing two long bursts; a 30-sec. and a 45-sec, the latter (no doubt) as von Richtofen has made his turn and now is flying toward Popkin. I think this puts Popkin in the best position to take deliberate aim. Buie and Evans both made claims. Buie reports seeing bits flying off the Dr.I. But Buie and Evans had the same problem Popkin did: Lt.May was right between them and von Richtofen. So...as Lt.May passes overhead, suddenly von Richtofen is upon them, then overhead, then banking and reversing direction and moving away. I think that would have been a quick and confusing few moments, and not conducive to accurate shooting. Popkin, who missed on his first burst, makes good on the second. Check the .pdf article. It gives a host of pro's and con's; but I think, by a preponderance of the evidence, Cedric Popkin takes the laurels.

 

JFM: That was indeed a bold move to not even mention Roy Brown in your account. Did you take any flak from the readers?

[CaptSopwith 26]

Slightly off topic from the great discussion going on here but...

 

...these flight simulation films are really well done. I discovered the "death of" series of ROF movies a while back but hesitated to post them. I have come across another talented film maker who is working with IL2 Cliffs of Dover and he's managed to make some pretty impressive stuff. Here is one of his films about the Battle of Britain. Just thought you guys would find this interesting. Cheers!