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Lt. Olivier freiherr von Beaulieu-Marconnay, Jasta 19, Stenay, France, September 1918
378/18, Lt. Ernst Udet, Jasta 4, Monthussart Ferme aerodrome, France, June 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.
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.
KITS 02/2024
INFO Eduard
51
February 2024