Fokker Eindecker with bombs

[Tim R-T-C]

Hi all,

 

I'm building my first WWI aircraft, a pair of Fokker Eindeckers in Turkish markings as they appeared at the Seige of Kut , 1916. The references refer to them dropping bombs.

 

To anyone with more knowledge than me (so anyone then...)

 

I'm guessing this would probably have been just grenades dropped from the cockpit. I have seen pictures from later war planes of racks fitted to the edge of the cockpit to hold the grenades, does this seem plausible at this time?

 

Would the machine guns have been removed to lighten the weight? There were few active allied fighters in theatre at the time, just recon flights.

 

Many thanks.

[Old Man]

 

Here are a couple of places to try. The first is the Aerodrome forumand you may catch the eye of Josef Scott, who is the authority on the Eindekkers

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/

 

The second is the air war section of The Great War forum, where the subject of the Turkish air force comes up fairly often.

1. https://www.greatwarforum.org/forum/25-air-personnel-and-the-war-in-the-air/

It is likely no racks were employed. Even on two-seat German machines at this time it was common for light bombs (10kg or so) to be carried loose in the cockpit and hoisted over the side. Given the relative positions of pilot and wings, this would have been tricky, though. If I recall correctly, there was a panel in the cockpit floor that could be opened for a downwards view, and this might have served the turn.

 

There would be no need to remove the gun, though ammunition might be stinted. It would be safe enough. English machines devoted their efforts to flying in supplies, and I am not aware of any fighting scouts among them. 'Escort' would simply be another two seat machine, unencumbered by sacks of flour and such. The principal business of Turkish/German fighting scouts here was interrupting the air lift operations.

 

What kits are you intending to build?

[Tim R-T-C]

10 hours ago, Old Man said:

 

What kits are you intending to build?

 

Many thanks for the details, I'll browse those forums tonight, maybe already discussed.

 

I'm making the Valom kits in nano-scale. Its for a GB on KG144 but I will post the end result here once completed.