Voss triplane

alex_revell · 1 December 2007, 03:30 AM

Going through my old, very old, files, looking for something in respect of the Voss victory list, I came across this in the file of the 9th Wing War Diary, obviously misfiled by me at some stage. It is what looks like a zeroxed sheet from the PRO. It's headed Transcript 1 and goes on:

R:O. Do not remove fabric.
September 1917
Type examined -
Triplane which was
shot down by a
flight of S.E.5s
Total wreck.
Crew - killed (1) 03/17
Little of this machine is intact to
enable a fully detailed description at
this time but the following points
are worthy of note. The machine is one
the New Triplane Scouts which have
been reported active in the Sector
during the past Four weeks.
The fuselage is of alloy tubing covered
with fabric, whilst the wings are of
wood,fabric covered. The Le Rhone
engine is covered with a cowling, or rather
partially covered as the cowl is not a full one
possibly to asist cooling as are the
two holes in the Front/Top of same.
The machine features a new attempt
by the enemy at camouflage. The entire
upper and and side surfaces are doped a Greenish
Grey. This colour taking the form of streaks
at various angles. The under surfaces are a
light Greyish Blue.

This is exactly as the report is typed, with the strange line breaks. The only difference is that the 'h' in Rhone has been typed on top of the letter o, which I cannot do. The remarks regarding the cowling are interesting. Can anyone suggest a possible explanation for the 03/17 after the Crew - (1) killed.
Viewing it in the post the two lines 'possibly' to 'two holes' are formatted in line with the previous lines. They should be indented in about eight spaces.

Scott · 1 December 2007, 04:55 AM

More like this?

Code:

R:O. Do not remove fabric.
September 1917
Type examined -
Triplane which was
shot down by a
flight of S.E.5s
Total wreck.
Crew - killed (1) 03/17
Little of this machine is intact to
enable a fully detailed description at
this time but the following points 
are worthy of note. The machine is one
the New Triplane Scouts which have 
been reported active in the Sector 
during the past Four weeks.
The fuselage is of alloy tubing covered
with fabric, whilst the wings are of
wood,fabric covered. The Le Rhone
engine is covered with a cowling, or rather 
partially covered as the cowl is not a full one
      possibly to asist cooling as are the 
      two holes in the Front/Top of same.
The machine features a new attempt
by the enemy at camouflage. The entire
upper and and side surfaces are doped a Greenish
Grey. This colour taking the form of streaks
at various angles. The under surfaces are a
light Greyish Blue.

alex_revell · 1 December 2007, 06:21 AM

Thanks Scott, that's exactly it. How did you do that!

Alex

JFM · 1 December 2007, 07:31 AM

The "03/17" may refer to that plane's serial number, 103/17. Perhaps the entire number was unreadable due to crash damage and/or castor oil weathering.

alex_revell · 1 December 2007, 08:25 AM

JFM
Good spot. As it was in the line about the crew I didn't think of that. \You're probably right.

Tim West · 1 December 2007, 08:27 AM

Judging by later photos of 103/13 it appears that the stenciled markings had faded considerably by then as well as being really gunked up by the time Voss was killed.

Btw...who are what is the PRO?

alex_revell · 1 December 2007, 08:49 AM

Tim,
PRO is the British Public Records Office. It's now been renamed for some reason and is,I believe, called the National Archives.

Scott · 1 December 2007, 10:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alex_revell

How did you do that!

Alex

Hi Alex,

I wrapped CODE tags around your original text to maintain the spacing:

[php]

Code:

place text here

[/php]

Scott

StephenLawson · 1 December 2007, 10:35 AM

Streaks on upper surfaces and sides. The lt. blue undersurfaces (only?) Hhhhmmm. looks like CDL under the streaking.

tcrean7828 · 1 December 2007, 11:43 AM

Mates,

Thanks for the Voss info. I feel like it is Christmas with the wealth of data as of late and if I would just get a few questions answered about the Voss brothers (TAZ) I would be extreamely gratefull.

Keep it comming folks - I am loving every moment of it.

What happened to the 2 pieces of the wreckage removed that were photographed? were they discarded or where they put somewhere? are they in someones collection?

cul

tcrean7828

tom

P.S. thanks Alex, for getting the ball rolling on this one.