A recent post to my WORLD WAR ONE collection. This is a famous photo of WWI German ace Werner Voss posing with his Fokker Dr.I Triplane. He, along with Manfred von Richthofen, were the first pilots to receive a Triplane fighter. While Richthofen is usually associated very strongly with the Fokker Dr.I, Voss was the true exponent of the aircraft and he flew it brilliantly even in his final dogfight where James McCudden praised him for his skill and courage.

From Wikipedia: [McCudden’s] flight engaged a Fokker Dr.I flown by the 48-victory ace Werner Voss and an Albatros piloted by Carl Menckhoff. Voss, aided by the frequent jams of his opponents’ guns, avoided being hit and drove two S.E.5’s out of the fight before being fatally hit by Rhys-Davids. McCudden’s account of this fight has become famous:

“He was very low … still being engaged by an SE … the pilot being Rhys-Davids. I noticed the triplane’s movements were very erratic … I saw him go into a steep dive … and then saw the triplane hit the ground and disappear into a thousand fragments.

As long as I live I shall never forget my admiration for that German pilot, who single-handed fought seven of us for ten minutes and also put some bullets through all our machines. His flying was wonderful, his courage magnificent, and in my opinion he was the bravest German airman whom it has been my privilege to see fight.”

Read more about McCudden at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_McCudden

Originally shared by Pete Panozzo

German ace Werner Voss and his Fokker Dr. I Triplane – a famous colorized photo