Fokker DR.1 Triplane - Jasta 11 - Ltn Werner Steinhauser

Fokker Dr.1 564/17, Ltn Werner

Steinhauser, Jasta 11, Jagdgeschwader 1,

Cappy Aerodrome, France, 21st April 1918 -

Last combat sortie of the Red Baron

Flying one of the six Jasta 11 Fokker Dr.1 fighters

which climbed away from Cappy Aerodrome

in the mid-morning of Sunday 21st April 1918,

Werner Steinhauser was beginning to develop into

an extremely gifted aviator under the guidance of

his inspirational Commanding Officer, Manfred

von Richthofen. When he initially joined

the unit in early 1918, he only had

a solitary observation balloon victory

to his name, but now that he found

himself in the company of some of

the Luftstreitkräfte’s most gifted fighter

pilots, he began to show real skill and

poise during combat situations and

as a consequence, his victory tally

was increasing. Flying alongside

von Richthofen in his own

distinctively marked personal

Fokker Dr.1 fighter on the morning of the 21st April,

Steinhauser would be involved in the intense fighting

with the Sopwith Camels of RAF No.209 Squadron which

ultimately resulted in the death of his mentor. The famed

‘Flying Circus’ never really recovered from the loss of von

Richthofen and from this date, an ever increasing number

of Allied fighters in the air at any one time would result

in the loss of the majority of their most successful pilots.

Going on to score a further six aerial victories after this

fateful day, Werner Steinhauser would himself be shot

down and killed near Neuilly on the 26th June, just three

days before he would have celebrated his 22nd birthday

Contenido

1 x Aircraft, 1x Stand