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Lt. Emil Schäfer, CO Jasta 28, Wasquehal, France, May 1917
Karl Maria Emil Schäfer achieved thirty confirmed
aerial victories and became the nineteenth
German pilot to be awarded the Pour le Mérite.
He was one of the pilots highly respected by
Manfred von Richthofen himself, and his brother
Lothar even owed him his life when, with his
crippled aircraft he was just waiting for a “coup
de grace” from an attacking British pilot. Instead,
the enemy aircraft burst into flames just before
firing the fatal shot, and Schäfer’s Albatros raced
past! It was recognizable by the black tail that
adorned aircraft number D.2062/16, but later it
was given a red fuselage paint job, following von
Richthofen’s coloring. It is not clear whether the
black tail was covered with red paint or whether
the aircraft retained the black color. In any case,
in the photographs the rear fuselage looks darker.
We are inclined to believe the reason is that the
red paint was darkened by the overpainted black
color. With the aircraft so colored, Schäfer took
command of Jasta 28 in late April 1917 and was
shot down by a trio of attacking FE.2d’s from
No. 20 Squadron RFC on June 5. However, it is
not clear whether this was D.2062/16 or another
aircraft of the same coloring.
D.2049/16, Oblt. Hermann Göring, CO of Jasta 27, Ghistelles, Belgium, May 1917
This aircraft was used by Hermann Göring from
February 24, 1917, i.e., already during his service
with Jasta 26. At that time, its only decoration
was a black band with white bordering around
the fuselage behind the cockpit and diagonal
stripes of the same color combination on the
upper side of the upper wing. When Göring took
command of Jasta 27 in May, the aircraft received
a more distinctive livery, corresponding to the
Staffelführer’s position. The entire fuselage was
painted black, the nose and tail were white, as
were all struts and wheel discs. The crosses on
the rudder and vertical stabilizer were given a thin
black line to make their white bordering obvious
against the white background. The stripes on
the upper wing have been significantly widened
compared to the previous design. According
to some sources, these were just double white
stripes with camouflage paint between them, but
in a picture of the Albatross D.V used by Göring
a little later, the black paint between the white
stripes is clearly visible. We are inclined to think
that the stripes on the wing were black and white
on this aircraft as well.
KITS 01/2024
INFO Eduard
57
January 2024