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Gotthard Sachsenberg, MFFA I, April–November 1916
Austro-Hungarian Navy, Abwehrflugstation Altura, Austro–Hungaria, 1918
The second most successful fighter of the
German Navy started his flying career as an
observer in the Freiwilliges Marine-Fliegerkorps.
In December 1914, he was transferred to
Marine-Feldflieger-Abteilung I. In the first half
of April 1916, the unit took over this D.III number
LF196 and it most likely became the aircraft of
the then newly trained fighter pilot Gotthard
Sachnsenberg. The aircraft was left in gradually
accumulated oil stains and other dirt and,
according to photographs, was put "on its nose"
by its pilot during an emergency landing near
Ostend. We do not know when this happened,
but the aircraft was subsequently taken to the
airfield in a dismantled state and continued to fly
until the end of November, when most E.IIIs were
retired in favor of new Halberstadts.
Within the Austro-Hungarian Air Force and
Navy served Fokker E.IIIs with the designation
A.III. Some of them had the Austro-Hungarian
Schwarzlose machine gun installed instead of
the original German LMG. However, this was not
the case with this aircraft. This one was armed
with the LMG machine gun, but it was the Navy
version with simple gunsight and a slightly
different perforation of the barrel housing.
The A.III Fokkers were gradually withdrawn to
training units, where they served during the
last year of the war. This was also the case with
this aircraft, which served for training at Altura
airfield. There, on February 24, 1918, the Brno
native Leodegar Ustynek fatally crashed during
a training flight. When shooting on a target,
the engine failed, the aircraft lost speed and
crashed from a height of about 50 m. Interestingly,
there are two types of crosses used on the
aircraft. While on the wings there was an older
type, on the fuselage a newer one was used.
For the bottom surfaces, historians are inclined
towards a light blue color.
KITS 04/2024
INFO Eduard58
April 2024