The Aerodrome Forum

Hi all, Early Vickers guns mounted on aircraft used fabric belts, and the Speed 7 (at least) had a reel mounted on the left side of the cockpit to collect the belt as it was emptied. Can anyone tell me how it worked? I have to assume it was spring loaded to maintain tension on the belt. Was there a ratchet of some sort to keep it from unwinding? Any details or photos would be great! Thanks, -Drew

Dear all, another current thread reminded me of a subject I've wondered about before. In a letter to his friend Fritz Falkenhayn dated 18. July 1917, Manfred von Richthofen complained about the current inferiority of German aircraft to the enemy's, and then asked (loosely translated): " What about Fokker, for example? He has two aircraft that are superior to the Albatros, and neither is being issued. There is his cantilever biplane with the inline engine. It is definitely faster and has... Read more

Last week just before I left town for a few days, I received a long slender package from Airdrome Aeroplanes. It is the rudder kit that I recently ordered. If you looked in on the other thread where I asked questions about comparison with the AA and Lee N 17, I noted that I had ordered the Lee plans and had ordered the AA rudder kit. My intent was to test the waters to see if I was up to the full build project. I have not even opened the rudder package yet, but to be honest, I am pretty... Read more

Just got back from milling Spruce destined for my Camel project. Still buzzing. I will post photo's in a couple of days. The difficulty was always going to be finding long lengths of clears suitable for spars. I think we have promising timber for all but the 4 longest at 3.7m & 4m. Some interesting stuff (at least to me!). Finding a miller to mill the logs to our specs is not easy. Any reasonable size mill wants to process volume which means cutting planks at speed and ignoring detail... Read more

I was just curious, because there are not that many of them. But what are your favorite WW I aviation movies and what are not. I'll start. The top three movies I liked. Ones that I'll watch over and over. 1. The Blue Max - Since it is based on a fictional character, not much to worry about regarding historical accuracy. 2. Flyboys - Oddly, I really liked this movie, even though it is fiction, it is inspired by fact. 3. Von Richthofen... Read more

The website SCRIBD is selling a digital copy of my book Fokker Aircraft of WWI Vol.7 Postwar from Aeronaut Books illegally! It seems that these ‘publishers’ take your work that someone presents as their work and then digitises it and sells it without permission of the author or publisher. Aviation is a small niche book section of which WWI aviation is an even smaller niche. Having your work plagiarised in such a manner is not only a disservice to the author, the publisher, the artist who... Read more

Looking to buy, rent or borrow Col Bob Gardner's German Propeller Makers of World War One, part 2 and part 3. Especially part 2. Thanks Craig

Over the years a few members here have been so kind as to share with me digital scans of drawings showing dimension details and cross sections for the 100 hp Oberursel U.I engine. After much study it appears all of these drawings are for what I'm calling the early version. Below is two sets of images showing what I call the early and late versions. I have only run across a few photos showing the early version. Most Fokker E.II, E.III and D.II photos I have collected use the later version... Read more

Culpeper Nieuport The 28 can finally hold itself up. Sharp eyes will note a support under the tail 'cause we have yet to figure out the tailwheel spring attach.

Were there any aerial victories achieved by Russian pilots flying the Anade, Lebed‑12, and Grigorovich M‑5 aircraft?

The website SCRIBD is selling a digital copy of my book Fokker Aircraft of WWI Vol.7 Postwar from Aeronaut Books illegally! It seems that these ‘publishers’ take your work that someone presents as their work and then digitises it and sells it without permission of the author or publisher. Aviation is a small niche book section of which WWI aviation is an even smaller niche. Having your work plagiarised in such a manner is not only a disservice to the author, the publisher, the artist who... Read more

Hi everyone, Browsing through the forum, including some very old threads, it occurred to me that it might be worth pointing out explicitely that the famous Dicta Boelcke are based on implicit assumptions that are just as important as the Dicta themselves. One popular English version of the Dicta Boelcke begins with the key statement: "Try to secure all advantages before attacking." Implicit: You normally will only be able to secure some advantages, and you will... Read more