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Asking for new airplanes

Event ID: 582

Categories: 

Richthofen, Beyond the legend of the Red Baron, Peter Kilduff, Arms and Armour, 1993

02 April 1918

50.05015019082827, 2.979976991363916
Lechelle

Source ID: 33

Richthofen, Beyond the legend of the Red Baron, Peter Kilduff, Arms and Armour, 1993 p.  195 

ISBN: 1854091271

“That evening, Richthofen wrote to his old friend Oberleutnant Fritz von Falkenhayn at the Kogenluft office in Berlin:

After a long time I come once again with a question. When can I count on Fokker biplanes and with the super-compressed engines?

The superiority of British single-seater and reconnaissance aircraft makes it even more perceptibly unpleasant here. The single-seaters fight coming over and stay up there. One cannot shoot down five to ten times as many if he were faster. During the offensive we liked the low cloud ceiling (100 metres), because at low altitude the triplane has its advantages. We could not fly at all with the super-compressed Siemens engine, for, as we discussed, two hours to get from 50 up to 700 metres. So please give me news soon about when we can count on new machines.

The need has become very great now, as every emergency landing in the old bombarded area of the Somme wastelands leads without fail to a total wreck. After aerial combat, frequently one must land urgently; consequently, very many wrecks.”

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