USA TOUR Event | SAT NOVEMBER 19TH 18:00 - 22:00 UTC

[IAHM-COL]

4.) Lester: Do you want this in the fkdr1 project or shall I make my own fork?

5.) Israel: Since you play with the thought to go all Red Baron, how hard is this to make?

That is Fokker Dr.1 450/17 flown by Lt. Josef Jacobs, Jasta 7 out of St. Marguerite, paint is from May 1918.

Hi J.
This craft is not one of lester's. Feel free to push into it.

I can work on the livery

[jwocky]

Lester, btw, how hard is it to make retractable wing tip skids as the production models had as standard?

[IAHM-COL]

I'll use the Fokker DrI, Der Rote Kampfflieger
https://github.com/FGMEMBERS/fkdr1

[KL-666]

Lester, btw, how hard is it to make retractable wing tip skids as the production models had as standard?

The Red Biker Baron was still training like this?



Kind regards, Vincent

[SkyBoat]

@Vincent-- How droll! How very droll!

I was testing the Fokker Dr.1 today. Haven't decided what to fly, yet. But found that adjusting the trim makes it easier to take off, fly and land because it has a significant prop effect. I was able to (once) take off and land in one piece. Here's a screen shot of the plane in front of the Free Air hangar.

[LesterBoffo]

Oooookay ... I started to play with the fkdr in JSB ...

Some opinions needed:

1.) The plane had no brakes at all. Which made sense because it was landing on big rectangular grass surfaces which produced a lot of friction, especially when the tail skid was digging a grove through said grass. Can't do it on concrete. So, either I give it a brake, maybe connected to the tail skid, or I compensate for the lower friction on concrete and tarmac by just setting the friction coefficient of the tail skid higher ... but then, if you go down on grass it is like hitting a brick wall.

2.) Since the plane had no brakes, it wasn't controlled by brakes left and right on the runway ... thank you, Captain Obvious ... instead, it was controlled by rudder and ailerons which, at a take-off speed of less than 35 knoits had early some effect. Well, kind of. I dug in some pilot reports. The rudder had obviously enormous effect, the ailerons ... not so much. So, taxiing with rudder, or, if we decide on question 1 to equip her with breaks, rather with breaks left and right? Totally unauthentic, the original from Lester has also a puchback (I move that to the plane menu, it is for unknown reasons hidden in Equipment yet.

3.) Most dr.1s were actually not equipped with the Oberursel II (which was an inferior copy of the LeRhone Revolution) but the LeRhone itself. While on the paper, both engines are pretty similar, the LeRhone had a little higher max rpm and some more pull. The official max speed of 100 knots GS is actually only achievable with the LeRhone as it looks. the Oberursel was five knots lower. So, change to LeRhone? Tune the Oberursel?

4.) Lester: Do you want this in the fkdr1 project or shall I make my own fork?

5.) Israel: Since you play with the thought to go all Red Baron, how hard is this to make?

That is Fokker Dr.1 450/17 flown by Lt. Josef Jacobs, Jasta 7 out of St. Marguerite, paint is from May 1918.

If you can do so while keeping the CC texture work of Fighter Squadron WWI intact it would be great. The Fokker DRI did not have retractable wing tip skids FWIR, I mean maybe Tony Fokker was a clever guy at times, but Reinhold Platz did most of the design work on the later WWI era Fokkers.

They tended to be really mechanically simple aircraft. Landing the DRI should be a doddle. just keep the nose level with the horizon as you descend on idle throttle, ( activate the HUD..) when you get within 25' or less of the ground, pull the stick back *really gradually* to bring it on the mains with the nose at about 10 degrees up. let bounce a little and settle. It will eventually plant it's tail and maybe tip onto a wing a little. Those skids were there for a reason. leave the rudder and ailerons alone when on the ground while rolling to a stop. * always take off and land directly into the wind, and on the mowed grass margins of the airport..* The Oberusal URII is an exact copy of the LeRhone and it should also have similar power. They were noted for having less engine life because they substituted an ersatz castor oil made from coal tar. This is why the URII was noted as having less power, when fed the good stuff they actually ran and idled better than the LeRhone. Why not just fly the Albatros or the DI or the C.III?

[LesterBoffo]

I have not decided yet but I have a new Nieuport V strutter and a Fokker DII to play with before this next event. Honestly the AVRO 504D is still about the easiest of all of these planes to fly and handle, it was designed on the outset as a trainer. The Aviatik C.II also is a big, gentle flying pussycat. It needs a bit of rudder co-ordination because of the rather small V-Stab area, you get some adverse yaw with too much aileron, it's best to use both equally when turning.

[jwocky]

Lester,please have a look at the pic, at the lower wing under the wing tip. That's a retractable wing-tip-skid. And btw, I found the fkdr1 has it, only not animated - yet. And actually, Peter and Owen Gray list them as one of the distinguishing details between the early V.4 testversions and production DR.1s.

[LesterBoffo]

I see them. There is no indication from any of my sources that they retracted their skids. I mean if you want to try, sure. But the story from my source(s) says the wing tip skids were originally old ax handles mounted in metal clamps to the lower wing tips as skids to protect the wing in case of a ground loop (Which the DR 1 often attempted...) They didn't pivot nor did they retract inside the wing, I don't think your source is correct. The Vintage Aviation Group has 6 replica DRI's in New Zealand and none of their aircraft have retractable skids They tend to be a bit fussy about details like this.



Also watch how they land these @ 4:40 in the video, they land them on the mains and let the tail settle to the ground. 3 point landings while coming in without slowly killing speed in this plane is asking for a snap roll/stall crash. They were noted for being touchy in ground handling.

[IAHM-COL]

I'm still laughing uncontrollably at Vincent's red biker picture and witty comment about the wing skids.