A Jenny at Langley

In our last installment we shared a few photos showing a Nieuport 17 that was under evaluation at Langley Field during June of 1917. As stated in that previous ish of our little cyber-rag, many a foreign type was given a look by a U.S. Army that had recently been committed to the fight, was pitifully unprepared as regards things aviation, and intent on catching up to the European powers in this area.

Aside from all the foreign types that were put through their paces, a number of domestic designs could also be found at Langley in the Summer of '17... including the ubiquitous Curtiss JN-4 Jenny. And here's a couple'a shots of one such machine. In the first view the aircraft is fitted with an experimental 'Olmstead Propeller', while in the second view it has a standard prop.

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

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A Nieuport at Langley

Shortly after entering the First World War in April of 1917, the U.S.A., woefully unprepared for war in the air, had to play a game of catch-up and began evaluating foreign aircraft to produce under license at home and for use 'over there'.

Among the many types evaluated was the Nieuport 17. The following photos show Lt. Emmanuel Lemaitre of the Aéronautique Militaire, one of twelve French airmen sent to the U.S.A. in June of 1917 as instructors, looking over Nieuport #2474 with Capt. J.C. Bartolf of the U.S. Army Signal Corps' 5th Aviation School Squadron at Langley Field in Virginia.

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

Library of Congress

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The Gang's All Here!

For our first post here in a while, we present a quickie...

The IWM caption for this photo reads:

"Officers and S.E.5a Scouts of No. 1 Squadron, RAF, at Clairmarais aerdrome, 3 July 1918."

Project 914 Archives

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Brünhilde mit Bomben für Tommy

In this installment of Stringbags we present a couple'a photos from May of 1918 which show a Halberstadt CL.II of Royal Bavarian Schlachtstaffel 27b just prior to a sortie during the Ludendorff Offensive.


In the first photo an armorer is seen loading potato mashers into a rack for use by the observer. Affixed to the spine of the kite, just behind the cockpit, is an assortment of flare cartridges.

Project 914 Archives

In this second shot the crew is mounted up and ready for engine start. The inscription on this postcard reads, roughly:

"Schlachststaffel Ready for Takeoff - The aircraft are equipped with machine guns, signal cartridges, and hand grenades."

In the background is another Halberstadt, #5, named 'Thea'. This machine was captured by New Zealand forces after being forced down near Bapaume in late August of 1918.

Source

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Balancing Act

We have no information to share about this incident... except maybe that the driver of this Camel has undoubtedly seen much better days.

Project 914 Archives

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Luft-Luft-Foto

Today we bring you a groovy air-to-air photo of one Leutnant Otto Kissenberth of FFA 9b (FFA = Feld-Flieger Abteilung) cruising over Colmar in his Fokker D.II, circa 1915.

Kissenberth went on to command Jasta 23 and score a total of twenty victories, the last of which was gained on May 20th, 1918 while flying a captured Sopwith Camel! Nine days later he was severely injured in a crash of this same Camel and his combat career came to an end. Kissenberth, an avid mountain-climber, (evidenced by the 'Edelweiss' emblem that normally adorned his personal aircraft) died in August of 1919 after a fall while indulging in his favorite pastime.

Project 914 Archives

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Totenkopf

In this installment of 'Stringbags' we present a photo showing a Siemens-Shuckert D.III in Swiss markings and adorned with a Totenkopf (skull and crossbones or, more literally, 'death's head') motif.

Your blogmeister has done only minimal digging on this one, but it seems that this particular bird, along with a few others, was deliberately flown to Switzerland in November of 1918, possibly by a German pilot named Lange of Kest 5, in order to prevent the machine from falling into the hands of Allied forces.

Project 914 Archives

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