Fokker D.7 models..

[Bill Shuey]

Here is a heads up to anyone modeling a Fokker D.VII..

At a meeting of the Society of World War I Aero Historians at Udvar-Hazy museum on October 31 I got a chance to examine photos of the surviving portions of the original hexagonal fabric from the Museum's Fokker D.VII. Everyone has assumed that the underside of the wings, stabilizer/elevator and fuselage of Fokker D.VIIs were in either the 4 or 5 color under surface colors. It turns out the wings and stabilizer/elevator yes, the fuselage...NO!

For those about to ask, yes, this is the U.10, Fok. D.VII (oaw) 4649/18 from Jasta 65 as depicted on page 2 of Anthology 2 and in a color profile on page 31 of Anthology 3.

The Museum's D.VII fuselage was completely covered in the upper surface colors, including the under surface. When the Staffel's mechanics painted the fuselage gray they apparently decided that it was a waste of the Kaiser's paint and their time to paint the underside.

Most color renderings of D.7s show the fuselage under surface in the under surface colors, looks like an example of too much logic. I became suspicious of the under surface colors after seeing the fabric covering drawings in the three Fokker D.VII anthologies from Albatross publishing. The way Juanita Franzi's drawings show the covering of the fuselage, it is cut from three pieces running lengthwise along the fuselage with a sewn seam along each fuselage side, and then laced together down the fuselage underside.

It stands to reason that if the Air Service insisted on the underside of the fuselage being in the under surface color pattern they would have to have made the covering in 5 pieces with a sewn seam running along the bottom fuselage longeron on each side. This would have been more complicated and time consuming to produce and a seam along the longeron would have been subject to more stress as the fabric shrank and would have been a point for failure of the stitching due to the stress.

I'm posting this because we are being promised the Fokker D.VII kit to end all D.VIIs from Wingnutz and this one we want to get right. I am aware that there are a lot of models and illustrations out there that don't show it this way.

As I said, this is an O.A.W. built aircraft. Now I have a question. Is there anyone up North in Canada who can get a close look at the D.VII in the Knowlton Museum up there?? According to the Albatross Anthologies that bird still has it's original fabric in place, albeit with some patching and repair, and it is an Albatross built aircraft.

I'm not even going to speculate what this may mean for the under fuselage colors of Fokker D.VI and E.V/D.VIII aircraft. :-(

Bill Shuey

[Dave Fleming]

Interesting stuff Bill. Thanks for sharing that.

Edited November 14, 2009 by Dave Fleming

[Trubbie]

Here is a heads up to anyone modeling a Fokker D.VII..

At a meeting of the Society of World War I Aero Historians at Udvar-Hazy museum on October 31 I got a chance to examine photos of the surviving portions of the original hexagonal fabric from the Museum's Fokker D.VII. Everyone has assumed that the underside of the wings, stabilizer/elevator and fuselage of Fokker D.VIIs were in either the 4 or 5 color under surface colors. It turns out the wings and stabilizer/elevator yes, the fuselage...NO!

For those about to ask, yes, this is the U.10, Fok. D.VII (oaw) 4649/18 from Jasta 65 as depicted on page 2 of Anthology 2 and in a color profile on page 31 of Anthology 3.

The Museum's D.VII fuselage was completely covered in the upper surface colors, including the under surface. When the Staffel's mechanics painted the fuselage gray they apparently decided that it was a waste of the Kaiser's paint and their time to paint the underside.

Most color renderings of D.7s show the fuselage under surface in the under surface colors, looks like an example of too much logic. I became suspicious of the under surface colors after seeing the fabric covering drawings in the three Fokker D.VII anthologies from Albatross publishing. The way Juanita Franzi's drawings show the covering of the fuselage, it is cut from three pieces running lengthwise along the fuselage with a sewn seam along each fuselage side, and then laced together down the fuselage underside.

It stands to reason that if the Air Service insisted on the underside of the fuselage being in the under surface color pattern they would have to have made the covering in 5 pieces with a sewn seam running along the bottom fuselage longeron on each side. This would have been more complicated and time consuming to produce and a seam along the longeron would have been subject to more stress as the fabric shrank and would have been a point for failure of the stitching due to the stress.

I'm posting this because we are being promised the Fokker D.VII kit to end all D.VIIs from Wingnutz and this one we want to get right. I am aware that there are a lot of models and illustrations out there that don't show it this way.

As I said, this is an O.A.W. built aircraft. Now I have a question. Is there anyone up North in Canada who can get a close look at the D.VII in the Knowlton Museum up there?? According to the Albatross Anthologies that bird still has it's original fabric in place, albeit with some patching and repair, and it is an Albatross built aircraft.

I'm not even going to speculate what this may mean for the under fuselage colors of Fokker D.VI and E.V/D.VIII aircraft. :-(

Bill Shuey

Thats quite a convincing and logical theory. We just need another example and a lot of assumptions will go out of the window.

It would be interesting to know how the present asumption of using under surface lozenge on the fuselage began.

Why have another seam?

Trubbie

[Bill Shuey]

Thats quite a convincing and logical theory. We just need another example and a lot of assumptions will go out of the window.

It would be interesting to know how the present asumption of using under surface lozenge on the fuselage began.

Why have another seam?

Trubbie

Considering that early production D.7s from Fokker were delivered with the Fokker Green on the fuselage in stead of hex camouflage it makes me wonder if Fokker delivered the aircraft that way while awaiting a waiver from the air ministry on the under fuselage color. Many things we will probably never know for sure.

Bill Shuey