Markings for Fokker D.VIIF 1/48
Lt. Olivier freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay, Jasta 19, Stenay, France, September 1918
The younger of the von Beaulieu-Marconnay brothers (the elder Heinz was also a fighter pilot) was born in Berlin on September 14, 1898, and joined the 4th Cavalry Regiment (Dragoner Regiment von Bredow Nr. 4) as a cadet in June 1915. He transferred to Luftstreitkräfte and after completing pilot training he became a member of Jasta 18 on December 1, 1917, subsequently Jasta 15 on March 20, 1918. After five months of combat and 12 victories was “Bauli” appointed commander of Jasta 19 on September 2. He took with him the D.VIIF he had inherited from Rudolf Berthold. The white stylized 4D. was Olivier’s personal symbol. It was a branding mark of the horses of his former cavalry regiment. The aircraft originally had a red nose, like the other Jasta 15 aircraft, and while the red usually ended at the level of the machine gun breech, Berthold had it extended to the middle of the cockpit. After transferring to the Jasta 19 as its CO, Olivier instructed his men to paint the nose yellow to the usual line and the rest of the red overpaint in blue. This was either a darker shade or darkened by the underlying red, either way this part of the fuselage looks darker. The upper wing shows extensive repair, probably in lighter blue. On September 23, Olivier scored his 20th kill and was nominated for the Pour le Mérite but was wounded in aerial combat on October 18 and taken to a hospital with severe bleeding. He died eight days later. The decision to award him the Pour le Mérite was made just hours before his death.
378/18, Lt. Ernst Udet, Jasta 4, Monthussart Ferme aerodrome, France, June 1918
Ernst Udet is one of the most significant personalities of German aviation history. With 62 confirmed kills, he even became the most successful surviving fighter of the First World War. After his service with Jasta 37, Manfred von Richthofen, as commander of the entire JG I, put him in command of Jasta 11 in March 1918. When the Red Baron subsequently died in April, Udet took over command of Jasta 4. This aircraft probably bore registration number 378/18 (factory number 2465) and was powered by BMW IIIa engine number 1243. It was accepted at Schwerin on May 15, 1918 and was one of 22 Fokker D.VIIFs delivered to JG I on June 22. Udet test-flown this aircraft shortly before he was shot down with his famous O.A.W. produced D.VII, bearing the inscription “Du doch nicht!!”. It is very likely that this aircraft was subsequently painted very similarly, so at some point it probably received red and white stripes on the upper wing. The design shown here therefore illustrates the likely appearance of the aircraft at a certain time period. The white chevron on the top of the horizontal tail surfaces is also uncertain. Aircraft of this series were supplied with printed aircraft fabric (Flugzeugstoff), familiarly known as Lozenge, in four-color version. The fuselage, on the other hand, was originally painted with the typical green streaked paint. Aircraft 378/18 was the last D.VII to receive this finish at Fokker, all next aircraft had the fuselage covered with a fabric printed with colored irregular hexagons.
Rittm. Karl Bolle, Jasta 2, Lens Mons, France, October 1918
Karl Bolle began his flying career as a KG4 pilot, then served with Kampstaffel 23, where his observer was Lothar von Richthofen, who became successful fighter pilot later. In the autumn of 1917, Bolle was transferred to Jasta 28 and, after becoming ace with five kills, he was appointed commander of Jasta 2 on February 20, 1918. Bolle led this famous unit until the end of the war, and his score stood at 36 kills. On August 28, 1918, he was awarded the highly recognized Pour le Mérite. He remained an active pilot after the war and in 1920 was appointed director of the Transport Pilots’ Flying School. This Bolle’s Fokker D.VII bore a broad yellow stripe on the fuselage with white and black lines and was a D.VIIF version with a BMW IIIa engine from the Schwerin factory’s medium production series (series 4250/18-4449/18). The production or military number of this aircraft is not known.
465/18, Lt. Georg von Hantelmann, Jasta 15, Chéry-les-Pouilly, France, August 1918
Georg von Hantelmann was born on October 9, 1898, in Rokietnica (today in Poland) and joined the army in 1916. He joined the 17th Hussar Cavalry Regiment (Braunschweigisches Husaren-Regiment Nr. 17), which had a skull and crossbones in its coat of arms. This motif later became von Hantelmann’s personal symbol. After being appointed to the rank of Lieutenant on June 15, 1917, he was transferred to the Luftstreitkräfte and began pilot training on September 20 that year. After that, he reported on February 6, 1918, to Jasta 18, which became Jasta 15 in March. He achieved his first confirmed victory on June 6. Within couple of weeks, he became an ace. His eighth victim was one of America’s leading fighter aces of that time, David Putnam (13 kills). Another notable pilot who perished under von Hantelmann’s gunfire was Maurice Boyau, who had 21 balloons and 14 aircraft on his account. Having achieved 22 victories, von Hantelmann was decorated with the Knight’s Cross First Class and also the Royal Hohenzollern Domestic Order, however he expected to be awarded the highest decoration, the Pour le Mérite (awarded for 20 victories). He was nominated for it, but before it was awarded the war was over. Von Hantelmann’s score counted 25 kills. He achieved all of them with Fokker D.VII, making him one of the most successful pilots of that type. This example had the upper wing changed for O.A.W. one in September. After the war von Hantelmann worked on his farm and on September 7, 1924, was killed by Polish poachers he caught on his property.