Old Planes in the Luftwaffe

[Zachary]

Were there many old biplanes or triplanes left over from WWI in the Luftwaffe? Were they actually used for something other than training?
Regards,
Zachary

[Logan Hartke]

Nope. Nothing. Most of that from WWI was either scrapped or given to countries like Poland.

Logan Hartke

[Zachary]

You know what?
I am so stupid! I forgot about Versailles!
Sorry
Zachary

[Erich]

Well actually Logan there were some old bi-planes, not of WW 1 vintage, if this matters.......used in the night ground attack role. Two seaters used so the observer could watch the contact of the bomb against the target at low elevation, plus with their terrible slow speed observation could be more accurate. Sitting ducks though to accurate Soviet Flak.
In actuality not all of the WW 1 planes were destroyed as thought.
Not enough of course to be used for a new rebuilt Luftwaffe.

E

[Logan Hartke]

Oh, I know that there were old Heinkels like the He 60 used, but his question dealt specifically with those from WWI.

Logan Hartke

[Erich]

There were still some old Fokkers about and were used as test beds, several chaps told me they had packed a few away in old barns and tore the fabric off to replace it with other materials, the kids playing on the air frames, thinking they were old skeltel toys of a day gone by.

E

[Logan Hartke]

Hmm. Interesting. Never did hear that before. Got any pics of 'em?

Logan Hartke

[Custermen]

several chaps told me they had packed a few away in old barns

The Champion's Fighter Museum in Messa, AZ, has an example of a WW1 fighter that is original: an Austro-Hungarian Aviatik Berg D-I. It was found in a barn. But the reason that it survived was that someone had added an extra passenger seat to it. So, it was thought to be a trainer and was not sent to the scrap heap. Only recently did someone research it and discover this treasure. The musuem acquired it and converted it back to the original configuration.
Or so the story goes.

The Aviatik Berg D-I had a large radiator on the front(like a Fokker D-7) and an distinctive brass radiator "cap" that was an expansion-condensation unit. The upper wing was low to fuselage and the wing tips have a pronounced reflex curvature at the trailing edge. Now if I could find my scan of the photo, I would post it.

Custermen

[Erich]

Logan: Nope sorry don't have a scanner.......it's on my wish list for Christmas. Even though the Versaille treaty was suppose to include all military a/c to be interned or destroyed, the order was never completed in it's entirety. with things the way they were in war ton Europe in the teens, a person could see just how easily items like this could have been transported.........on old carts and wagons covered up.

E

[Andy H]

Dont forget the Gotha Go 145 from 1934 and used in the field as a nuisance raider from 1942, and actually used by the Spanish Air Force after WW2.

[varjag]

On the operational side of things I can think of He 59 and He 60 floatplanes and the Henschel 123 dive-bomber & G/A aircraft. There must have been others though I can remember them at the drop of a hat. The Heinkel 114 seaplane was really a sesqui-plane - but also used operationally. On the training side - there were many, mostly Bücker Jungmanns and some Arado's. But none - were as old as having a WW 1 vintage.

[Ovidius]

On the operational side of things I can think of He 59 and He 60 floatplanes and the Henschel 123 dive-bomber & G/A aircraft. There must have been others though I can remember them at the drop of a hat. The Heinkel 114 seaplane was really a sesqui-plane - but also used operationally. On the training side - there were many, mostly Bücker Jungmanns and some Arado's. But none - were as old as having a WW 1 vintage.

Hs-123 and He 114 were biplanes, but they don't fit the frame of the question since they were both modern all-metal aircraft designed in the 1930s. The biplane/sesquiplane configuration had been adopted for better low-speed manoeuvrability.

IMO the Hs-123 was the equivalent of the US Navy Curtiss SBC-3 Helldiver

~Ovidius

[varjag]

Ovidius - appreciate your reply but would further look for your definition of 'sesquiplane' as I understand that the lower 'wing' of such an aeroplane does not 'provide appreciable lift' but is designed for structural or load-carrying purposes. Over to you.

[kobold]

Dont forget the Gotha Go 145 from 1934 and used in the field as a nuisance raider from 1942, and actually used by the Spanish Air Force after WW2.

http://www.walkerboyz.pwp.blueyonder.co ... _Go145.jpg


Only pic I have of that .

Dave'

for a list of some of the pics i have of axis and allied aircraft from ww2 look here - any requests ill put em online.

http://www.walkerboyz.pwp.blueyonder.co ... irlist.txt

[Edward L. Hsiao]

The Dutch had a lots of German Fokker DVIIs after the end of WWI for Germany in 1918. When the Germans invaded and occupied Holland in 1940,they may had captured some Fokker DVIIs left on Dutch airfields and put them to use as trainers.

Edward L. Hsiao