Knights of the Sky (2 Viewers)

[wayne556517]

I got the D.VII today and it is a beauty. The best so far. It is heavier and bigger than the previous planes. Can't recommend this one highly enough. If you only buy one of John's planes this has to be it.

Great pics that is superb,stop posting pics getting harder to say no................

 

[lancer]

Thanks for the info Al. Good stuff. So after reading your post I think John should do one of these planes. If I recall some of them were whicker baskets (or style of) for the front seats. Do you have any pictures of these?

I'll look and see about the pictures, Matthew. I don't have as much printed material as I used to, after breaking up the library I had. As to the wicker seats, these were widely used in early war aircraft, although I can't tell you how common wicker seats actually were. If JJD were to do pusher aircraft, I think that it would be quite a challenge. Pusher aircraft were large, ( the FE2b was huge), and because of the nature of their construction, had very complicated rigging schemes. The rigging schemes might not make them a cost effective model. A good question to put to Mr. Jenkins.:wink2: -- Al

 

[lancer]

Thanks for the info Al. Good stuff. So after reading your post I think John should do one of these planes. If I recall some of them were whicker baskets (or style of) for the front seats. Do you have any pictures of these?

Hi Matthew. I have looked at some of the few sources I still own and I can confirm, thru photo evidence, that wicker seats were used in the BE2c and the Bristol F2b, for a certanti. In the case of the BE2c, both the pilot and observer had wicker seats and the F2b's pilot seat was wicker, but I don't know about the observer's. The photos were in the Albatros Publication series Windsock Datafile, #42; RAF BE2c, and Windsock Datafile Special, Bristol Fighter, vols 1 & 2. -- Al

 

[45thdiv]

Hi Al,

Thanks for checking up on those pusher planes. The one I am thinking of is a very early 1915 (or 1914 ?) plane, and the entire plane where the pilot sat and the wings were mounted to, as well as the engine looked like a wicker basket. Sort of like they took an observation balloon gondola and put wings and an engine on it. Of course I could be totally wrong, it's been 20 years since I "think" I saw it and maybe I'm just not recalling it correctly. I will try to see if I can find what I think it was. If I recall it was a single seat plane. Yes, we will have to see about "speaking" to John about the early war planes.

Matthew

 

[Combat]

Al-
Any idea why Kempf had two Fokker Dr.1's (213/17 and 493/17)?

 

[lancer]

Al-
Any idea why Kempf had two Fokker Dr.1's (213/17 and 493/17)?

This is because the planes were assigned to Kempf at different times. Tripe 213/17 was the earlier issue as the maltese style cross dates it to pre-April 1918, while tripe 493/17 has the post-April straight edge cross style. Even though these are two different aircraft assigned at different times, it was not unusual for pilots to have access to more than one personnel plane at a time, mainly because of aircraft attrition. Markings on the pilots multiple planes were usually different to some degree. Richthofen went thru several triplanes, all with different markings. The one he died in, #425/17, was the only all red one he flew. Aircraft attrition was the major factor in pilots flying so many different planes and markings were as varied as the number of planes. -- Al

 

[Combat]

This is because the planes were assigned to Kempf at different times. Tripe 213/17 was the earlier issue as the maltese style cross dates it to pre-April 1918, while tripe 493/17 has the post-April straight edge cross style. Even though these are two different aircraft assigned at different times, it was not unusual for pilots to have access to more than one personnel plane at a time, mainly because of aircraft attrition. Markings on the pilots multiple planes were usually different to some degree. Richthofen went thru several triplanes, all with different markings. The one he died in, #425/17, was the only all red one he flew. Aircraft attrition was the major factor in pilots flying so many different planes and markings were as varied as the number of planes. -- Al

Thanks Al. Any idea what happened to 213 or was it still in service when he got 493. Kempf seems like a rare case to have been in service so long and only got 4 kills and without getting himself killed. Maybe he wasn't a good enough pilot to be an ace or bad enough to get shot down.

 

[lancer]

Thanks Al. Any idea what happened to 213 or was it still in service when he got 493. Kempf seems like a rare case to have been in service so long and only got 4 kills and without getting himself killed. Maybe he wasn't a good enough pilot to be an ace or bad enough to get shot down.

Don't know 213's fate right off-hand. Kempf was a Kette leader (3 to 6 aircraft) and was a very well respected flight leader. That he survived the war speaks for his skill and I suspect that pilots like him are the backbone of any fighter force where the top aces pile up the vast majority of the kills and the other 90% are just the solid base around the aces. Haven't really made a study of Kempf so I don't know a whole lot more about him. -- Al

 

[45thdiv]

I read that Kempf served in WW2 as well, died in 1966. I have no idea how his record was in WW2. Maybe one day I'll get time to research.

Matthew

 

[Combat]

I read that Kempf served in WW2 as well, died in 1966. I have no idea how his record was in WW2. Maybe one day I'll get time to research.

Matthew

There is remarkably little info available on Kempf and I even see people on the aerodome forum asking questions about him without much success. The plane itself seems to have been more famous than him because of the slogan painted on the wing. One thing to look for with this plane (which isn't clear from the picture) is that the fuselage area on the underside of the tail on the pilot's left should be painted white and on the right it should be black extending almost to the national markings. The only additional tidbit of information that I can find on 213/17 is that it was apparently delivered to Kempf around Jan. 12, 1918.

 

[lancer]

There is remarkably little info available on Kempf and I even see people on the aerodome forum asking questions about him without much success. The plane itself seems to have been more famous than him because of the slogan painted on the wing. One thing to look for with this plane (which isn't clear from the picture) is that the fuselage area on the underside of the tail on the pilot's left should be painted white and on the right it should be black extending almost to the national markings. The only additional tidbit of information that I can find on 213/17 is that it was apparently delivered to Kempf around Jan. 12, 1918.

Good points on the black and white paint. Looking closely at the JJD photos, it appears that the white paint on that section of the fuselage does indeed appear to be there. I cannot tell about the black, but I would assume if the white got done, so did the black. There should also probably be a two tone cowling, ie., a black cowling with the flat face of the cowling being white. This was a standard Jasta Boelcke ID, also. -- Al

 

[Combat]

One last observation on the Kempf plane is that I think there should be more space between the K and the national markings on the fuselage such that the white boundary of the marking reaches the tail. It's a bit too far forward now. See the third and fourth picture of the actual plane on this website. A minor detail: http://www.fokkerdr1.com/213_17.htm

 

[Combat]

I had a chance to met with John today at the Open house. He had the finished Kempf plane and prototype of an SE5. Both beauties.

 

[lancer]

I had a chance to met with John today at the Open house. He had the finished Kempf plane and prototype of an SE5. Both beauties.

I'll bet they are.^&cool Did you happen to mention about the fuselage cross location on the Kempf plane? The photo of the model shows it to be too far forward, as you mentioned earlier. There are several easily available photos of the actual plane which shows that the white field of the cross is ended at the line of the rear tailplane. Can't wait for SE-5 to hit the shelves as it is one of my favorite planes. Did John happen to mention which pilot's SE-5 he would be doing first? -- Al

 

[Combat]

John has developed some new display holders for the planes. They basically hold the plane slightly aloft to give the appearance of being in flight. Should work out well with the new cockpit pilots. I get the impression he will be making them available.

 

[lancer]

John has developed some new display holders for the planes. They basically hold the plane slightly aloft to give the appearance of being in flight. Should work out well with the new cockpit pilots. I get the impression he will be making them available.

This is a really interesting development. I am glad John decided to do the half pilots for the cockpits, as well. -- Al

 

[Louis Badolato]

John has developed some new display holders for the planes. They basically hold the plane slightly aloft to give the appearance of being in flight. Should work out well with the new cockpit pilots. I get the impression he will be making them available.

They are made of clear plastic, and can be adjusted to display the plane climbing, diving, turning, etc., so you can set up dog fights if you like. John had a prototype of the SE5a on the tail of a Fokker DR1 TriPlane on these stands, and it looked quite good.

 

[6th Wisconsin]

They are made of clear plastic, and can be adjusted to display the plane climbing, diving, turning, etc., so you can set up dog fights if you like. John had a prototype of the SE5a on the tail of a Fokker DR1 TriPlane on these stands, and it looked quite good.

Wonderful news!!!! Just what I wanted. These stands will allow for more variety in the way the different planes are displayed. Now, if someone could do props you could change out between static and spinning!

 

[Terp152]

Great news regarding the SE5! Where are the Spads? Don't get me wrong, I see the glass half full ^&grin I have already ordered the cockpit pilot figs. Diecast aircraft have used the inflight stands for some time. Nice aspect for displaying although I prefer my aircraft on the ground (less chance for an "inflight mishap" if you know what I mean). Chris

 

[lancer]

I was a fortunate man last night. I was invited to the home of fellow forum member 45div (Matthew) for a dinner and evening with his guest John Jenkins. Meeting Matthew, John, and Matthew's lovely family is the highlight of my year. The dinner, fixed by Matthew's wonderful wife, was delicious. Before and after the dinner was spent in Matthew's hobby room (full of TS of all sorts, and superbly displayed) talking with John Jenkins, who I found to be a very friendly, quiet and unassuming gentleman who loves what he does. I was not sworn to secrecy about what was discussed so I will say that we WW1 aircraft collectors are going to be a happy group. I was able to see, first hand, the prototypes that John has had on display and that were photographed and shown on the Open House thread. It was a huge thrill to be able to handle and examine these figures and talk with John and Matthew about them. The Prussian Grenadier is beautiful with the usual outstanding JJD detail. He is to be part of a series involving the battle for the church, discussed in the other threads. The British Dragoons are very action packed and dramatic in person and as an added benefit, the riders will be interchagable with the different horses of the other dragoons. There are Royal Ecossois figures to go with the Culloden series, as well, and these look great, waiting for action. The new Rogers Rangers are really good with fine detail and poses. John also had the new Sudan prototypes and these were just as dynamic as the others. Quite a lot of great stuff in the pipeline. As to the WW1 aircraft, John really likes this series and he is very knowledgable about it. He greatly impressed me. The new SE-5 is fantastic with, upon close examination, outstandingly accurate detail and no errors to be seen. It is going to be, IMHO, the best aircraft John has done yet, and is slated to be Mick Mannock's aircraft. I requested that he consider a McCudden version and a Voss Triplane as future releases (in fact, I asked for all of 56 Squadron's B Flight from that famous dogfight^&grin) and John didn't exactly say no.:wink2: John has many, many ideas for the WW1 series with several different aircraft in mind. I will not go into detail here because I don't want to give anything away. The new aircraft stands are quite sturdy and will be issued for future aircraft, but are not suitable for those already released. The stands are to be adjustable so that the models attitude can be changed, if desired. I would like to thank John for a remarkable and extremely generous gift that he gave me. He is a real gentleman. The whole evening was just a remarkable experience for me, getting to meet and dine with Matthew, his family, and John, and to be able to sit and talk with them. It is an evening I will remember, always. Matthew, thank you and your family for being such gracious hosts. -- Al