History Fokker D.VII (OAW) 4649/18 Jasta 65 |
I always like to take a little time to know more about the aircraft and the pilots relating to my subject. There is little known about the actual aircraft or the Pilot for that matter, but looking around the internet, and a few reference books I have managed to establish the following:
Please note: If anyone can offer more history on the Pilot or the Aircraft other than what is shown below I would be most grateful to hear from you. Please go to my contact page by clicking here.
General.
| Aircraft | Fokker DVII (OAW) Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke 4649/18 Jasta 65 |
| Pilot | Gefreiter (private) Wilhelm Scheutzel |
| Scheme | Sieben Schwaben ("The Seven Swabians") |
Brief details of the pilot.
Scheutzel joined Jasta 65 from Jasta-Schule II on 12 July 1918 and lasted until the end of the war. He scored his one and only kill when he downed a DH4 on 13 August 1918.
This particular aircraft features artwork from the Brothers Grimm fairy tale the “Seven Swabians” on each side of the fuselage and a black crest with 3 yellow (golden) deer antlers on the spine. The three antlers were the coat of arms of the Wuerttemberg Royal House, the kingdom also used the three lions of the Staufian Duchy of Swabia.
Tabulated history for the pilot.
01.09.1917 he joined "Flieger Ersatz Abteilung“ 13
18.09.1917 until 30.04.1918 Flight training at Fliegerschule Elbingen
30.04.1918 until 06.05.1918 Flieger Ersatz Abteilung 13
06.05.1918 until 30.05.1918 Armee Flug Park C
30.05.1918 until 10.06.1918 Jastaschule II
From 10.06.1918 Jasta 65
Injured in air combat on 20.10.1918 over Tichémont, France
Military hospital until 28.10.1918
28.10.1918 until the end of the War Jasta 65
Air victory on 13.08.1918 around 14.00 h English time against a DH 4 over Armaville, France.
The Aircraft.
It is certain that this OAW Fokker D.VII was supplied to the Staffel with 4 colour Lozenge all over as per factory issue. It is then unknown when it was decorated with the Schwaben schemes which are noticeably different on both sides. I have spent some considerable time studying all available images of the subject and I detect a slight difference in artistic style on each side which could suggest there were two artists, possibly in competition with each other to see who can draw the best artwork! It's pure speculation naturally but it is worthy of a mention.
I purchased Windsock Anthology 3 which includes colour plates of the aircraft and copies of the few original photographs that are known to exist. In addition I contacted Windsock directly and received a very encouraging response from Ray Rimall himself! Unfortunately there is no new information to be obtained but he suggested I tried Over the Front, a non-profit historical quarterly journal edited by Greg VanWyngarden. Most Windsock Datafiles and Specials can still be purchased from Ray at http://www.windsockdatafilespecials.co.uk/
I did receive response from Greg who was the author/contributor to the Windsock Anthology article. He provided me with some very good high quality scans from original pictures which made tracing the characters much easier. While my drawings are not finished after some 45 man hours and counting they are looking something like.
The "N" struts have been removed for clarity in these images.
Old Rhinbeck Fokker D.VII
Over the winter 2008/09 the Old Rhinbeck Fokker D.VII in the USA has been re-painted with the Sieben Schwaben characters. I contacted Al Loncto who painted the Rhinbeck machine to see what information they were using. His reply was as expected . . . . using Windsock Anthology 3 and the pictures that I was already in possession of. You have to try!
Al Loncto at work on the Rhinbeck Fokker D.VII.
It is difficult to work with the old pictures and make colour decisions from them unless you are particularly skilled in that field. I took the colour recommendations from the Windsock documentation in Anthology 3, but altered the characters somewhat to fit my interpretation of the Image files I had accumulated. There are differences, and I would like to think they add to the mystery of this most unusual aircraft's artwork.
Nigel Wagstaff
