[Laserlloyd]

Part two:

The film was made to Ireland in the surroundings of Dublin, on the ground of Weston. The landscape resembled that of the Sum it, although in spring 1918, the landscapes were to be much less green and resembling vast rather extended from mud strewn with craters of bombs and decapitated tree trunks! The sky surrounding there was encumbered also little and free from fog and another pollution. The Irish Department of Defence provides an appreciable help and more than 1000 soldiers passed two weeks to remake one of the bloodiest battles of the second world war. Turning in Ireland was endeuillé by the death of a cameraman, killed at the time of a collision between two helicopters. One of the pilots stuntmen was Derek Piggott. Several pilots reproduced the animated dog-fights film, but Piggot was the only one which agreed to turn the scene where Fokker Dr. 1 must pass between the piles of a bridge, located at Fermoy, (Co. Cork). Playing the part of two German pilots, it stole fifteen times between the most spaced piles, and ten seven times between the most brought closer that its wings passed very close to. The scene was filmed under various angles and starting from a helicopter. A herd of sheep placed near the bridge, disperses in the passing of the plane, to go up that the cascade is quite real.

Lastly, last goal not least, this film is also remarkable by the few scenes of love between the pilot commoner and the beautiful aristocrat who allow us to admire the fall of the kidneys of Mrs Ursula ANDRESS, at best of his (his) form (S).

Planes of film: The production insisted that turning uses authentic reproductions of the original planes. Last nine planes were thus built for 500.000 $, a not very important sum according to the current prices. The task was distributed between several manufacturers. Douglas Bianchi and Personal Plane Ltd Services manufactured one of both Pfalz D-III (EI-ARC, N906AC), Peter Hillwood of Hampshire Aeroplane Club, a test pilot to the retirement, built the other (EI-ARD, G-ATIJ). First was exported in Zealand News in 2001. Four counterparts of RAF SE.5 with to the 1/85° were built in England by the company Slingsby Sailplanes Ltd (c/n 1591,1592,1593,1594, EI-ARI, J, L, K) under the name of “Currie Wot SE.5”. John Bitz of Munich was charged with both Fokker Dr1, and Claude Rousseau, of the three Fokker D.VII. Last finished its work, Rousseau made a point of delivering one of its Fokker by the way of the airs of Dinard to Dublin, in three stopovers, thus showing the quality of its counterparts. These planes are besides always in-flight status in the United States (F-BNDF, EI-APV, N902AC/F-BNDG, EI-APT, N903AC/F-BNDH, EI-APV, N904AC). But this last type of plane is anachronistic and does not correspond at the time of the action which one can locate a little before the death of Richthofen, that is to say in spring 1918. Jasta 11 used only very little Pfalz D III, with dimensions of its Albatross, between December 1917 and January 1918; these apparatuses were gradually replaced by of triplane Fokker, arrived at Jasta 11 in October 1917, whereas Fokker D.VII are delivered only in May 1918.

The Irish air force lent its installations of the aerodrome of Breaking (Baldonnel) for turning. Several counterparts remained stored after film with Casement and Powerscourt House (County Wicklow); until in the years four twenties, one could see them flying on the occasion.

The decoration of the German planes, all covered systematically with a painting with rhombus of colors, leaves something to be desired. If this kind of camouflage existed well and with many alternatives, its dominant was not the chestnut and the gray as in film, but rather the green or the khaki one, according to last research. Fokker D.VII left factory with this camouflage to 4 or 5 let us tons different, of rather dark aspect, painted on the fabric, but no Fokker Dr. 1 carried this camouflage. As for Pfalz D.III whose fuselage was out of plywood covered with fabric, its photographs often shows a plane painted of clear color (the painting of factory was a metal gray “silbergrau”) and covered personal decorations. Jasta 11 had as a color of identification the red, which means that its planes were partly painted this color, generally on before fuselage.

As in any film on the First World War, the German planes systematically carry the iron or Maltese cross. In fact, only Fokker D.VII, appeared subsequently to the directive of recommending March 20, 1918 of the crosses on right board, N `never carried from there, except for some specimens of preproduction. But, with the cinema, it appears that an iron cross makes more teuton that the Latin cross… the decoration of Fokker Dr1 425/17 of Richthofen seen in film, is about correct: any red with the iron crosses, as it was in March 1918; but according to the photographs of time, the white zones of the crosses are inaccurate, just as the white rudder with half. In April 1918, Richthofen will be killed on the same plane carrying of the Latin crosses (one did not badinait with the execution of the directives in the imperial army.).

Another expensive heresy with the cinema: machine-guns. They were not actuated with the hand, but with an order placed on the handle; only, rearmament was manual. That is valid for the English machine-guns also. The models of LMG 08/15 allemandes are about in conformity, but they are fixed too much high, on a little light amounts. The true ones were fixed at the short-nap cloth of the engine cowling. When the machine-guns of Stachel are stopped, it should have used a small hammer intended to type on the cylinder heads and provided to the pilots for this purpose. Let us announce in the passing, that the German hunters could not carry bombs, contrary to certain English hunters like Sopwith Camel.

At the end of film, Morane Saulnier 230 fact of thinking indeed of Fokker E.V, monoplane parasol brought too quickly into service in August 1918, whereas he suffered from problems of rupture of wings… But the color money whose Morane in film is covered suggests a metal coating. However, the biplane Zeppelin Lindau (Dornier) D1 which killed “Willi” Reinhardt, out of metal… is this was almost entirely built a coincidence there, or the fruit of a good information retrieval?

In the middle of De Havilland Tiger Moth/Fokker and of Stampe/SE.5 (of which the c/n 1060, EI-AVU, F-BAUR, N901AC), added there to make number, one notices Caudron 277 Firefly (c/n 7546/135, EI-ARF), successively seeming a two-seater of English observation, then German.

The majority of these planes were bought in 1986 by Fighting Air Command of Hartlee Field (Texas). The four SE.5 were exported in the USA (N908, 9,10,12AC) but are not more in a state of vol. the Firefly were seriously damaged in the collapse of its hangar in Ireland, and had to be entirely restored. It currently flies in Tucson (Arizona) registered N909AC.

Christian Santoir