Photo by Peter Eliasson  #avgeek    

Originally shared by E-pic.se

Fokker Dr.1
http://www.e-pic.se/Aircraft/Aircraft-sorted-by-type/Fokker/Fokker-Dr-1/

The Fokker Dr.1 had problems with wing failure.
On 29 October 1917, Leutnant der Reserve Heinrich Gontermann, Staffelführer of Jasta 15, was performing aerobatics when his triplane broke up. Gontermann was fatally injured in the ensuing crash landing. Leutnant der Reserve Günther Pastor of Jasta 11 was killed two days later when his triplane broke up in level flight. Inspection of the wrecked aircraft showed that the wings had been poorly constructed. Examination of other high-time triplanes confirmed these findings. On 2 November, Idflieg grounded all remaining triplanes pending an inquiry. Idflieg convened a Sturzkommission (crash commission) which concluded that poor construction and lack of waterproofing had allowed moisture to damage the wing structure. This caused the wing ribs to disintegrate and the ailerons to break away in flight.
On 18 March 1918, Lothar von Richthofen, Staffelführer of Jasta 11, suffered a failure of the upper wing leading edge during combat with Sopwith Camels of No. 73 Squadron and Bristol F.2Bs of No. 62 Squadron. Richthofen was seriously injured in the ensuing crash landing.
Postwar research revealed that poor workmanship was not the only cause of the triplane’s structural failures. In 1929, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) investigations found that the upper wing carried a higher lift coefficient than the lower wing – at high speeds it could be 2.55 times as much.

This machine is built and flown by Mikael Carlson.
Mikael has built replicas and restored old aircraft since 1982. His first project was the training aircraft Ö1 Thumbelina from 1919. He used an original engine and original parts and some new parts from original blueprints, and built with origninal maufacturing methods. He has built two Blériot XI, a Fokker Dr. 1 and a Fokker D.VII, all airworthy. On 25 July 1999 Mikael Carlson flew across the English Channel in one of his Bleriot aircraft, 90 years after Louis Blériots epic flight.

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