The Fokker DR1 during World War I was born out of the philosophy that maneuverability and climb provided advantages over your foes. When war broke out all over Europe in August 1914, the nations’ generals scrambled to obtain current battlefield intelligence. At times, ground information provided to the General Staff was days and sometimes weeks old. Many blunders occurred, and lives were lost because of inaccurate and outdated information. Enter the aircraft in warfare in 1914. Pilots and observers, experts in map production, were directed to fly over the battlefields and gather as much information as possible for the most recent intelligence. Of course, each belligerent would try to deny the other the air. Many early aviators believed that the airplane could also be used for that denial of the air.
Born was the first pursuit and attack aircraft in history. Giulio Douhet was an Italian airpower theorist during World War I. His vision was to use bomber aircraft, not to attack at the front of the battlefields but to attack deep into enemy territory. Douhet believed it was more valuable to attack an enemy rail station or bread factory than to attack soldiers at the front. Breaking the citizens’ morale would hasten the end of a conflict such as the war raging through Europe. Air strategists like Billy Mitchell would finally lend credence to this theory during and after World War I. While the pursuit fighter clashes increased at the front, where the Knights of the Air gave rise to a new type of one-on-one warfare, Douhet also theorized about those actions. He compared two pilots in their aircraft fighting to the death over No Man’s Land as a hawk and raven. The hawk insatiably wants to catch the raven as it fights for its life. The only advantages the raven has is altitude, maneuverability, and speed. From theories like this came the fastest-growing technology in World War I. That was aviation. If one’s aircraft could climb faster and turn tighter than his opponent, it would put their enemy squarely in the gunsights of the soon-to-be victor. And from theories like this, the Fokker DR1 was born.
Manfred von Richthofen, who would eventually go down in history as the Red Baron and the most successful World War I pilot with 80 kills, would also lose his life in a DR1. Richthofen’s first two kills with the DR1 occurred on September 1, 1917, when he shot down two enemy aircraft flying DR1 102/17. Richthofen exclaimed that the Fokker DR1 “climbed like a monkey and maneuvered like the devil.” Douhet’s aerial warfare theories, comparing the hawk and raven struggle in the air, had come true. After several different aircraft flown by Richthofen, which included the Albatros D.II and D.III, the DR1 would become his favorite mount. But DR1 425/17 would be the aircraft he died in on April 21, 1918, in the Somme River region. Was it Captain Roy Brown of the British Air Service who fired the final shot while the Red Baron chased Brown’s squadron mate Wilfrid “Wop” May? Or was it the Australian ground gunner Cedric Popkin who sent the Red Baron toward the ensuing controlled crash landing? The debate, to this day, continues between historians on who pulled the trigger that sent the one bullet that ended Richthofen’s life. The Fokker DR1, although slower than many aircraft by the end of World War I, remained the most maneuverable and deadly. This is what drove fear into the Allied World War I pilots who might have crossed paths with the all-red triplane while performing their aerial duties. Because of this aircraft’s incredible history and success, the decision to complete the restoration of The Red Baron’s Fokker DR1 replica at the Illinois Aviation Museum was an easy choice.
The Illinois Aviation Museum obtained our latest artifact from the Tennessee Museum of Aviation in Sevierville, Tennessee. The construction of the Fokker DR1 began as a static-display aircraft but could not be finished by the first builder.
Reconstruction work commenced on the DR1 during the fall of 2021. After several members of the museum’s board of directors made the trip to Tennessee to place it on a flatbed trailer and haul it back, it came to its new home. As the pictures indicate, the restoration included a complete cockpit make-over with replica instruments, belts, and harnesses. New replica guns were built. Much of the heavier wood used in the initial construction was replaced with aluminum. All the original fabric was stripped and replaced with very light 104 uncertified aircraft fabric. The originally constructed wings could not be used, so new wings were built, including new lightweight aluminum ailerons. The wings were constructed much like the original DR1 wings, with box spars, wood ribs, and rib lacing. Aluminum replaced the original mahogany leading edges.
Our volunteer restoration team, led by Dan Christine, completed this replica in July. The Fokker DR-1 will provide a step back in time to when the skies turned deadly during World War I.
