"Richthofen the Younger" - Lothar's Dr1

[Russell Smith]

I thought I might share a little painting that I just finished. Its entitled Richthofen the Younger and features the Fokker Dr.1 of Lothar von Richthofen. The tail and upper wing of this machine were thinly overpainted in yellow, while the struts, cowling and wheel covers carried the signature red of Jasta 11.

Lothar was flying this machine on March 13, 1918 when Jasta 11 ran into a flight of Bristol F2b's from 62 Sq. Lothar's machine was hit, and at the same time suffered a leading edge failure of the top wing. Lothar later stated that "My triplane suddenly became a biplane...". Despite the damage, Lother managed to glide the triplane down, but he suffered severe facial injuries upon his crash landing.

Richthofen the Younger
13.5" x 9"
oil on linen on masonite

[Dan K]

Outstanding stuff, Russell.

I reveal a thin overshadowing of envy green when exposed to this level of talent.

[Lynn Allen]

I saw your aviatar at the annual CAE SimuFlite/Flying Magazine collection of paintings in the DFW area. Well done.

[Dave Homewood]

Nice work Russ. It makes me pine for Omaka! The greatest show around.

[Lynn Allen]

I was at CAE tonight and was looking at your painting as its the first one on the left as you enter the viewing area.

Lynn

[Russell Smith]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

Dave, I'm hoping to get back down to Omaka next Easter. TVAL has added enough new birds to their collection for me to justify another trip down. I'm dying to see the DVa's as well as the new RE8!

Lynn, thanks for the CAE news. I might try to come in for the reception.

[Dave Homewood]

We must meet up next time Russ, we keep missing each other every time you're out here.

I don't know if I'm right but I got the impression from talk after the Masterton show last month that there are now more than one RE.8's there. Great to see there are now two Albatross too (as well as the third one built for Kermit Weeks).

[Russell Smith]

We must meet up next time Russ, we keep missing each other every time you're out here.

I don't know if I'm right but I got the impression from talk after the Masterton show last month that there are now more than one RE.8's there. Great to see there are now two Albatross too (as well as the third one built for Kermit Weeks).

Absolutely, Dave.

I know there's the static RE8 and now a flyable RE8. I also know that when TVAL tools up for a specific bird they don't just make parts for 1, they make parts for many. Pretty logical, actually. The SE5's, the DVa's and the FEE's are all good examples of that. It wouldn't surprise me at all if there's a 3rd RE8 and probably even another Snipe that the world hasn't seen yet.