BOXART STORY

#7039

The firespitter

The Fokker triplane was a very rare sight

in combat units in the autumn of 1918. German

fighter units had rearmed to Fokker D.VIIs and

the vast majority of them had discarded the

nimble but slow triplane. Not so the fourth most

successful German fighter ace, Josef Carl Peter

Jacobs. The commander of Jasta 7 retained his

black Dr. I.

Jacobs became one of Germany's fighter

legends. He could already fly before the

outbreak of the war, so it is not surprising

that he immediately joined the newly formed

Fliegertruppen. After a few months of training as

a military pilot, he joined Feldflieger-Abteilung

11 in June 1915, where he flew reconnaissance

aircraft. For his actions, which included one

unconfirmed shoot-down of a French Caudron,

he was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class and

promoted to the rank of Leutnant (Lieutenant)

on February 6, 1916. Shortly afterwards he

retrained as a single-seater fighter pilot and

by May that year he became a member of

Fokkerstaffel West. He achieved his first victory

with an Eindecker there and subsequently

transferred to Jasta 22 on October 25 and

increased his score until he achieved his fifth

kill on April 16, 1917, and became a fighter ace.

Two months later he was appointed commander

of Jasta 7 and remained in that position until

the end of the war. During the year, he raised

his number of victories to twelve. And the

twelfth one might as well have been his last.

Shortly after he shot down a Sopwith Camel on

December 18, 1917, he collided in midair with an

Albatros D.V of Jasta 28, while he had his work

November 2023

cut out for him, he successfully managed to

make an emergency landing with his damaged

aircraft in a crater-strewn no-man’s land.

In March 1918, his unit received several

Fokker Dr. Is and Jacobs literally fell in love

with this aircraft. He was impressed by its

agility and rate of climb, so he decided to

keep it even after Jasta 7 rearmed during

June and July with Fokkers D.VIIs. He flew the

Dr. I virtually until the end of the war, so it is not

surprising that he became the most successful

fighter pilot on this type.

Jacobs was a very popular commander,

according to eyewitness accounts, partly

because he was always taking a care of his

men’s well-being. But he was also able to “blow

up”, especially when someone failed to follow

instructions during a combat flight. A guilty

man could count on a red-headed commander

to be waiting for him on the ground, ready to

“explain” everything properly. One of the pilots,

according to the recollection of Jacobs himself

was Vzfw. Josef Bohne, remarked during

one such “spat” that “Köbes is spitting fire”

(Jasta Colours vol. I; Bruno Schmäling, Jörn

Leckscheid). Köbes was Jacobs's nickname, an

ancient term for innkeepers from the Rhineland

who not only served guests but also entertained

them with jokes and stories. Jacobs came from

this area and the nickname said a lot about his

character. In fact, Bruno Schmäling stated in

his book that Jacobs was one of the nicest and

most charismatic WWI pilots he met.

Bohne’s remark subsequently gave rise to

a painting on both side of Jacobs’ aircraft.

Text: Richard Plos

Illustration: Kateřina Borecká

Jacobs proved his sense of humor when he

first saw the aircraft decorated in this way.

Not only he did not dress anyone down, but he

appreciated the decoration and also had his

black Fokker D.VII similarly painted.

The artwork by Kateřina Borecká for kit

cat. no. 7039 depicts a successful attack on

an observation balloon, of which Jacobs shot

down eight during the war. It could be, for

example, a shoot-down on September 16, 1918.

The devil spitting fire is depicted on the boxart

in a different form compared to the first edition

of this kit, because we have considered new

information and changed its form. As far as

his shape is concerned, it can be read from the

only surviving photograph clearly showing the

right side of Jacobs’ Dr. I. According to Jacobs

himself (who died on July 29, 1978), the devil’s

appearance on the left side was faithfully

captured by a color painting of which he kept

a photograph in his office after the Second

World War. In it, the devil had light yellow

hair and a stylized wing with a yellow hem.

So, unlike the decal in the first edition of the kit,

with the devil’s brown hair and the red hem, we

have used yellow on both sides. Although the

painting in the photograph from Jacobs’ office

does not match in shape with what is seen in

the period photograph, this is not surprising.

These were hand paintings, without any

templates, and so the difference in appearance

on the left and right sides of the fuselage

is more than likely.

INFO Eduard

39