I was wondering if anyone out there could help me with a few questions that I have been trying to answer for some time. I am an WWI aviation enthusiast who has been researching MvR for some time. This past May I got the chance to travel to Europe and visit the site where MvR was shot down as well as the many other historical sites around that area. I also was able to go to the IWM to see Richthofen's DrI 425/17 engine and the two small pieces of fabric from that plane the museum has on display. I am now interested in trying to travel to the other museums (RCMI toronto and Austraila) to see the other Richthofen artifacts on display. My first question is does anyone know of any where that one of the insignias off of 425/17 may be. I wrote to Norman Franks (a wonderful man to speak to about such questions) and he stated that RCMI Toronto had one of the insignias taken from MvR's plane and that another one was recently actioned in London. The problem is I have never seen a photograph of either of these examples and I don't know who bought the one in London (hopefully a museum so everyone can enjoy and research this item). If anyone out there has or is aware of photos of these pieces it would be great to know about them. Another question that I have been curious about is the wonderful collection of the late Pat Carisella. I was told that his daughter now has these items but I'm not sure. Anyone out there know? Lastly, the U.S. Airforce museum has a webpage that depicts a piece of fabric that is suposed to be from Richthefon's plane 425/17. The website is
www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/early_years/ey4b-3.jpg. This example of fabric is not red and therefore could not be from Richthofen's last plane. Does anyone know the background on this item and why the Airforce would put out false info (as a former serviceman I know the military can be screwed up at times but there is just to much data out there to prove that Richthofen's aircraft was indeed red). Finally, I am new to this forum and I do not mean to ask questions that have already been discussed so please excuse me if this is the case. Thanks for reading and thanks for such interesting dialogue on this forum.
Phil