[Aktungbby]

NICE! in the old Red Baron game, I always felt indestructible in a D.VII The Allies agreed: "The Armistice ending the war specifically required Germany to surrender all D.VIIs to the Allies."

• • So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own home, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than himself attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil. /Luke 11, 21-22/.

  These words of the Gospel of Luke describe perfectly the terms imposed on the defeated Germany by the victorious Entente Powers. Clause four of the Armistice Terms signed on November 11, 1918 ordered the immediate demobilization of the air force and handing over 2000 (1700) aircraft, particularly the Fokker D.VII fighters. The Fokker D.VII was the only aircraft mentioned by its name. Why was that? Why was this type of plane so important to those dictating the terms of the armistice? The answer is both simple and obvious. Performance of the Fokker D.VII was superior to any aircraft used by the victorious powers. It was an aircraft that would highly influence designs of numerous inter-war fighter planes. It was good enough to remain in service with various national air forces until the mid-thirties.

  By January 1918 (the DR.I triplane was becoming dated) During the January tests, Manfred von Richthofen tested the new airplane. While delighted with its maneuverability, he found it a little unstable, especially in a dive. To improve stability, Fokker lengthened the fuselage and added a vertical rudder fin, among other changes. The result was easy to fly, maneuverable, and safe. The Red Baron endorsed it wholeheartedly. The Adlershof trials showed Fokker at his best, quickly modifying the plane to meet requirements, charming the German aces, and (most importantly) delivering a fighter that offered good, all-around performance. Manfred von Richthofen, a great influence on German fighter plane development, looked forward anxiously to the D VII: April 2, 1918:

  "When can I expect to receive the [new] Fokker biplanes with the high compression engines? The superiority of British single-seat and reconnaissance aircraft makes it even more perceptibly unpleasant here. Their single-seaters fight by coming over at high altitudes and staying there. We cannot even shoot at them. Speed is the most important factor. We could shoot down five to ten times as many if we were faster. ... Please give me news soon about when we can count on the new machines."
  

  Of course, Richthofen never flew the new machine, as he was killed on April 21st.

  Brother Lothar, understandbly overshadowed by his brother, the Red Knight of Germany, also wounded at the time of Manfred's death returned to combat in command of Jasta 11 in a Fokker D.VII July 1918 and added 10 victories to his score while being shot down three more times: antiaircraft fire and twice by those nasty Sopwith Camels. Considering the fate that befell the Red Baron, his description of his brother's severe hip wounding in his autobiography is disturbingly prescient:

  After such a struggle, especially at a low altitude, in the course of which one has so often been twisting and turning, and circling to the right and to the left, the average mortal has no longer the slightest notion of his position. On that day it happened that the air was somewhat misty. The weather was particularly unfavorable. My brother quickly took his bearings and discovered only then that he was a long distance behind the front. He was behind the ridge of Vimy. The top of that hill is about three hundred feet higher than the country around. My brother, so the observers on the ground reported, had disappeared behind the Vimy height.
  It is not a particularly pleasant feeling to fly home over enemy country. One is shot at and cannot shoot back. It is true, however, that a hit is rare.
  My brother [Lothar] approached the line. At a low altitude one can hear every shot that is fired, and firing sounds then very much like the noise made by chestnuts which are being roasted. Suddenly, he felt that he had been hit. That was queer to him....

  There is not a doubt, given Lothar's rashness in combat, that the Fokker D.VII enabled him to survive WWI combat. Considering the amount of time Lothar von Richthofen spent on the front and in hospitals, he was one of the most combat efficient and prolific flying aces of the war, perhaps even more so than his brother Manfred. Of his total of 40 confirmed victories, Lothar scored 33 in just three months: 15 in April 1917, 8 in May 1917, and 10 in August 1918.