New Painting - Richthofen and FE2d

[Russell Smith]

The latest from my easel. The scene depicts the wounding of Manfred von Richthofen on July 6, 1917. During an attack on a flight of FE2d's from 20Sq RFC, Richthofen singled out 1 machine - A6512 flown by Capt. Douglas Cunnell and Lt. Albert Woodbridge - and began to press his attack. Cunnell spotted Richthofen and turned the lumbering F.E.2 to face Richthofen head-on, tactically taking away Richthofens advantage. Rather than break off, however, Richthofen chose to maintain his calm and press the attack. At an estimated distance of 300 yards Woodbridge opened fire on Richthofen. According to his account of the battle, Woodbridge could see his bullets striking the barrels of Richthofens Spandaus. Somewhere within the 3-4 second span of his attack Richthofen was struck in the back of the head. Although his his skull was not penetrated, a single bullet had grazed his head from the rear (suggesting that the hit may have actually come from the friendly fire of one of his own men following him), blinding him and nearly knocking him unconscious. Cunnell and Woodbridge watched in amazement as Richthofens machine passed directly under them, turn over and fall out of control.

Richthofen survived this encounter, falling several thousand meters before regaining his senses and setting his Albatros down hard in in a pasture full of thistles. Badly wounded, however, Richthofen would not fly again until August 16.

My lighting references for this project were the Wingnut Wings Albatros and FE2b kits. I took them outside and painted directly from them as reference.

The Eagle and the Butterfly
45" x 22.5"
oil on linen



A detail shot. Manfred von Richthofen slumps unconscious after his head is grazed by a bullet.



Woodbridge firing from the FE2.



MvR's signature red.



The sky was full of Germans from several different units.

[APG85]

BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

[JohnB]

Talk about coincidences...I was just reading an account of tha tfight last evening in Aces Falling: War Above The Trenches, 1918 by Peter Hart.

[Chappie]

Great painting! I've read two WWI Ace biographies- Richthofen and Luke. I have one on Rickenbacher as well but just have not gotten to it.

All I have to say is that WWI aviators had real cajones. Dead of winter, flying at 17,000 feet and dogfighting with a hyopxia induced headache. Real avaitors.



Chappie

[Dragonflydh90]

WOW Russell. That is fantastic.

Every time I go in to the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre I cant help but marvel at your wonderful paintings Russell, keep up the good work.

[fritzthefox]

I am increasingly fascinated by the variety of approaches aviation artists use to visualize aircraft...from photographing real models to descriptive geometry (ack!) to 3D modeling tools. The more I learn about art, the more the mantra of "whatever works" seems to apply. Funny that I should learn so much about art from a website about airplanes.

Great stuff! Love the lighting. Keep up the good work!

[Russell Smith]

Thanks so much guys. I'm glad to see folks picking up books on the WW1 pilots. When I got hooked on WW1 subjects about 10 years ago I was amazed at how many GREAT stories there were from that era that I had never heard before.

[Dave Homewood]

That is a stunnng artwork, you have really captured the action and drama!

[AvroAvian]

Great subject Russell and beautifully executed. I like how you have captured the billowing coat of the FE2d's gunner.
Until I saw photos of TVAL's FE2d in flight (with appropriately dressed crew ), I had no real appreciation of the difficulties the WWI crews operated under. I believe there is no seat for the gunner in the FE2; he basically sits on the floor. From our perspective, nearly one hundred years later, you would think they were quite mad to do a lot of things they did, but I guess they didn't know any better at the time.
I have been reading a lot of WWI period books lately and the stories continually amaze me.
My favourites so far have been:
Winged Victory, by V.M. Yeates
Sagittarius Rising, by Cecil Lewis (who went on to be a founder of the BBC)
The Sky on Fire, The First Battle of Britain 1917~1918, by Raymond H. Fredette

[JDK]

Very good Russell.

I believe there is no seat for the gunner in the FE2; he basically sits on the floor.

If I understand correctly, there was a wooden ammunition box 'seat' he could squat on, but in flight he was mostly standing to either fire forward or aft, his Lewis being normally mounted on one of two 'poles' depending on which direction he needed to fire.

He did have a 'monkey strap' to hold him to the aircraft, but nothing more than that and I imagine the observers were often thrown about (and out) by combat manoeuvring, Archie (ack ack) and the rest. IIRC, one Fee pilot grabbed his hard-hit observer by one hand while he was dangling over the side of the aircraft and flew all the way home and landed clutching onto the mortally wounded man.

Photo demonstrating the observer's firing positions in the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2d. The observer's cockpit was fitted with three guns, one fixed forward-firing for the pilot to aim, one moveable forward-firing and one moveable rear-firing mounted on a pole over the upper wing. The observer had to stand on his seat in order to use the rear-firing gun.

Imperial War Museum catalogue number Q 69650

Despite the quoted caption, calling it a 'seat' is generous; and depending on the task, I suspect it was rare Fees were carrying three guns. When on night bombing raids (!) I very much doubt it.

Regards,

[Russell Smith]

Thanks again guys.

My favourites so far have been:
Winged Victory, by V.M. Yeates
Sagittarius Rising, by Cecil Lewis (who went on to be a founder of the BBC)
The Sky on Fire, The First Battle of Britain 1917~1918, by Raymond H. Fredette

Great choices. All classics!

Very good Russell.
If I understand correctly, there was a wooden ammunition box 'seat' he could squat on, but in flight he was mostly standing to either fire forward or aft, his Lewis being normally mounted on one of two 'poles' depending on which direction he needed to fire.

He did have a 'monkey strap' to hold him to the aircraft, but nothing more than that and I imagine the observers were often thrown about (and out) by combat manoeuvring, Archie (ack ack) and the rest. IIRC, one Fee pilot grabbed his hard-hit observer by one hand while he was dangling over the side of the aircraft and flew all the way home and landed clutching onto the mortally wounded man.

Actually James, there wasn't a seat there. As you can see in the photo, the ammunition box isn't big enough to sit on so the gunner did sit on the floor. During non-combat flight, doing so also provided him with a slight bit more protection from the wind than he would have if he were to try and sit up on the ammo box. As for the "monkey strap", I believe that's a TVAL invention. I'm pretty sure those weren't used during wartime, although I have no doubt that some crewmen may have attempted to rig something similar.

[AvroAvian]

As for the "monkey strap", I believe that's a TVAL invention. I'm pretty sure those weren't used during wartime, although I have no doubt that some crewmen may have attempted to rig something similar.

This would not surprise me, as I have seen photos of ropes being used to tie some enterprising individuals into their seats before seatbelts came into common use. Some pilots pre-war even believed that they would risk less injury if they allowed themselves to be thrown free from an aeroplane in a crash.

The other story that comes to mind about seat belts, or the lack thereof, is Capt. Louis A. Strange, the first fellow to fit a machine gun to an aeroplane. There is a passage in his book "Recollections of an Airman" where he relates being thrown out of his Martinsyde Scout, whilst attempting to change an ammo drum on the upper wing mounted Lewis gun. He managed to hang onto the gun whilst the aircraft was spinning and fight his way back into the cockpit (freckle pucker factor 10+! ), only to be berated by the boss on his return for kicking the crap out of the seat and instruments.