A long while back we ran a series of posts on the 1st Aero Squadron. Today we continue our look at the 1st with a post-war photo showing one of the most interesting types to be flown by the outfit at any point during its existence.
During the First World War, the Fokker D.VII proved to be one of the most formidable aircraft employed by any nation in that conflict. And one of the stipulations of the armistice agreement after the war was that Germany hand over all examples of the type to the allied nations. The USA acquired more than 140 D.VIIs for evaluation, testing, and training by the Army and Navy, with numerous outfits receiving one or more examples.
One of the aforementioned outfits was the 1st Aero Squadron, and today we present a photo showing one of their D.VIIs in flight over Long Island, New York in July of 1924 with First Lieutenant Eugene Barksdale behind the stick.
And a closer look...
Barksdale Field, Louisiana was named after the Lieutenant, who was killed on August 11th, 1926 while spin testing a Douglas O-2 at McCook Field, Ohio.
Fade to Black...
