Hauksbee

Jim: Your Smileys speak volumns! I agree; The History Channel has deteriorated terribly. Especially when they attempt to put a scientific gloss on vampires, sasquatches and chupacabras under the heading of "Cryptozoology". And the programs are all the same. After stomping through the countryside for a week or so, they show you a vague hole in the ground, which may or may not be a footprint, plus some blurry photos. Then they all declare the effort a great leap forward in the field and vow to come back next summer. However; they also have a parallel channel called "History Channel International" in which they keep both feet firmly planted on the ground. I took your recommendation and bought "The Red Baron's Last Flight". Do you have a release date for your book yet?

So, Jim...no new 'smoking gun' to stand all our received wisdom on its ear? But what's your feelings about Olham's suspicion that the RFC pressured Roy Brown to assert a claim? In his report, Brown stated that he got off a long burst into the red triplane, and that it went down. Upon looking at the map again, I was mildly shocked when I saw "the Crash Site" indicated. All prior information had von Richtofen coming down over the village of Vaux-sur-Somme which sits up on the north bank of the river. Even the History Channel showed the brick factory & chimney with the Dr.1 skimming low, passing it, and landing in the field beyond which gently sloped toward the water. How does this square with your research? Then there's the "lone gun-man" theory. Everything I've read, video included, pays passing tribute to this possibility and, as you point out, there's no way to confirm or deny. Rifles and machine guns both used the .303 round. If any one bit of evidence might tip the verdict to Cedric Popkin, it's that another observer has von Richtofen's plane touching down about 22 seconds after crossing Popkin's position. The History Channel narrator claims that after a bullet has passed through both lungs, 22 seconds is just about right for how much life you have left. .

Here's a graphic I made over the British map that accompanied the report on von Richtofen's death. As I recall (I didn't re-read the report today) Brown only got one pass at MvR, from behind (approx. 4 o'clock) and slightly above. He crossed over MvR's flight path and banked right. They are now running parallel. Brown, no doubt, is intending to set up for a second shot. By now von Richtofen has crossed over into the Aussie side of the lines. He's overshot Cedric Popkin's position. Popkin remembers his Lieutenant shouting "Shoot! Shoot!" but he couldn't get his gun to bear in time. In an instant (or two) Von Richtofen has crossed over Robert Buie and "Snowy" Evans. He realizes he's in deep shite and turns back. Now is when Popkin gets a second chance. The bullet that killed von Richtofen came from the right, and below, struck a rib below his right armpit, ricocheted and passed through both lungs. Unless Jim Miller has new evidence, I think Popkin's claim is the only one that satisfies the evidence. I also find it quite possible, (as Olham surmises above) that the RFC might have pressed Roy Brown to assert his claim even though he knew it dubious. (for the good of the Service and all that sort of thing...) I remember that in the History Channel account, they had May's son speaking. He said that by the time questions were arising, his Dad, (May) had said Roy was in poor health and simply didn't want to talk about it. The Death of Manfred von Richthofen.doc

Well done, sir!

"Götterdämmerung "...the Twilight of the Gods. The northern mythos held that the gods, while powerful, were not immortal and, in time, the forces of evil and chaos would break out in a final cataclysm. It's hard to say whether Hitler actually believed it, but in the last days his attitude was one of vengeful petulance: "If I can't have it, then nobody will!". All along the front as the Wehrmacht retreated, units were ordered to practice a 'scorched earth' policy against the civilian population. Museums and architecture suffered heavily, but anything that was beloved by the local population was fair game. As to your second question, Hitler always considered himself an artist. In the early days he made frequent reference to a future date when he would be able to set aside the burden of politics and devote himself to art. He had Albert Speer design a monumental city center for Berlin. It was to house the world's greatest art museum. There was a similar project for his home town of Linz, in Austria. Again, there was to be a huge art museum. Long before the beginning of the war, there was a department in the Nazi government that surveyed European museums and listed the art treasures that would be seized when war came. There was nothing haphazard about the looting; it was an essential pre-programmed part of the conquest. If you get Netflix, check out "The Rape of Europa". It's a brilliant account of this, and, includes the work of "The Monuments Men" (The George Clooney film) In addition, each year there was a grand National Art Exhibit in Berlin which Hitler felt he alone was fit to judge. Each year he bought a large number of the paintings for his private collection. ( He fancied chaste nudes, rural landscapes with happy peasants, family scenes, etc.) Since 'the boss' had an art collection, it became fashionable for anyone who wanted to be in the inner circle to gather their own collection. Hermann Göring (especially) plus Speer, Himmler, Goebles (and on down the line) competed to build their own collections, even filching items destined for state exhibit.

I too, believe that Cedric Popkin fired the fatal bullet. Without giving too much away, Olham, can you confirm or deny that?

You should have named this thread "Heartwarming Rescues".

Thanks for the Wiki-link...a very thorough, and chilling, account. Things are considerably worse that I'd thought. However; it must be heaven for aero engineers. They're tasked with designing an airplane that will be all things to all people, fly all types of missions, and be a huge technological leap forward. What could go wrong?

YouTube to the rescue again! A great discussion on the whole Two-engined "Zerstroyer" concept. . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3dDBgnSlzs

It was only a failure in that it was useless in its intended role: a super fighter interceptor: a fast, agile fighter with deadly firepower. A plane that would go toe-to-toe with Spitfires and Hurricanes and swat them out of the sky. Only two airplanes that I know of ever came close to this: the P-38 Lightning and the Mosquito. These two aside, two-engined aircraft don't have a chance against single-engine. Once the Luftwaffe gave up that hope, the Me-110 emerged as one of the best multi-task aircraft of the war. It was a great light bomber, ground attack plane and anti-bomber night fighter. Its success in so many different roles complicated (even doomed) the Me-210 and the 410. Both got caught up in "development hell" because too many tasks were expected of them. Olham: "loved the Me-109 vid. Wish more of it was in English, but what there was, I also found very informative. One delightful moment near the end. Me-109's were well known for being difficult to control when landing on rough grass airfields due to their narrow track landing gear. In this vid., the plane touches down, splashes through a puddle, and continues on. The rudder is only partly visible in the upper left-hand corner of the frame, but you can see it flapping back and forth, left to right, and know the pilot is working the pedals hard to keep the plane going straight. Jim: If you can get Netflix, there's a great documentary on Eric "Winkle" Brown called "Memoirs of a WWII Hero".

Who's hanging out here these days? Who's breezing by on occassion? 1. Hauksbee 2.

Here's one a friend sent me a few days ago. It's on the Hurricane. The Spitfire got all the glory, but the ol' Hurricane was the workhorse. .

Thanks, Olham. Those were both very good documentaries, particularly the first one.

Yeah, I saw this one this afternoon. You keep rooting for the poor Hurricane, hoping that he can pull away from the brutal cannon fire, but he's just hurt too bad, and running out of steam...

Here's another Team Fusion CoD that's new (to me at least.) .

I've always wanted the smaller version of the BOC badge, but I cannot get the pop-up menu to appear when I rt.-click on the BOC badge. It will appear when I rt.-click on the medals under our avatars. Is there a trick to this?

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Found this on YouTube: a Pup going through her paces. Nice camera work; the plane usually well framed. .

...and a remarkably forgiving aircraft after all those DH-2's, E.III's (Fokker and Pfaltz). I love to hear its airframe groan and creak around me in a dogfight.

Membership is by invitation. (at least, that's how I got in.) So...I hereby propose that we induct this poor lad into to our august (or, is it 'aghast') ranks. As for his qualifications, Well, he has spent a good deal of time hanging out with our lot here, (you do know what the 'B' stands for, Jim?). I urge a hasty vote and a hearty assent so Jim can get on with buying the next round.

One of the instances that impressed me about WOFF was watching a flight of Dr.1's from astern, and seeing their horizontal stabilizers fluttering from the turbulence and engine exhaust. Team Fusion and WWI? Maybe for that massive infusion of cash you mentioned.

Events took a turn for the better when the dog began to snuggle close and 'bunt' with his head. (at least that's what they call it when cats do it.)

Imagr..hic..wzxtd...hjiiuj...(laughing too hard to type!)

You can always depend on Team Fusion for a good rousing dogfight movie. You get great film editing, and the pilot chatter over the mikes is always in character for 1940. If you go to YouTube for some CoD action, always add 'Team Fusion' in the search bar. Most of the other videos are just long, boring, in-cockpit records of two or three guys flying a mission. Long wait times on the ground, long flight times to the target and back, frequently no enemy action, just players idly chit-chatting about non-consequential stuff.

I took German in High School, and it wasn't all that bad. English is, after all, a Germanic language. I was struck by how many words were the same, or similar. True, the "der-die-das" took some getting used to. What kind of writing? Are you writing for the film industry?