The Red Baron Aviation Art and Photos.   

Manfred von Richthofen, the "ace of aces," managed 80 confirmed kills over World War I Europe, peaking during the "Red April" of 1917 when he racked up an incredible 22 victories. Then Britain's Sopwith Triplane appeared over the horizon, and suddenly the Red Baron was put to the ultimate test: gunsight-to-gunsight combat with a vastly superior aircraft.

In July of 1917, Manfred von Richthofen - the Red Baron - tangles with Sopwith Camels in the skies over Belgium.

1916, as a beginner, the Red Baron flys his Albatross Airplane" 110" src="images/The_Red_Baron_flys_his_Albatros_DII.jpg" border="1" vspace="4" hspace="10" align="left" width="400" height="234">

 In the autumn of 1916, while flying with Jasta 2 at the beginning of his career as a single-seater pilot, Manfred von Richthofen - the "Red Baron" - takes his Albatros D.II in pursuit of an Airco DH.2 pusher over northern France

Synonymous with the name Manfred von Richthofen - the Red Baron - is the image of the all red Fokker triplane for which he was famous. Richthofen, however, actually flew several different triplanes. This Fokker Dr.1, serial number 152/17, was the aircraft in which he scored victories 64, 65 and 66.

Flying one of his famous Fokker triplanes, Manfred von Richthofen - the Red Baron - achieves victory #67, which was his last victory over an S.E.5a, by shooting down Lt. J.P. McCone of 41 Squadron.

The CL-13 (F-86) flown by "Ace of Aces" Col. Erich Hartmann leads the first all-jet fighter wing - JG 71 Richthofen, whose aircraft all sport the spreading black tulip nose art that was Hartmann's personal emblem throughout World War II - of the West German Air Force on a 1961 mission.

After the Red Baron - Manfred von Richthofen, the highest scoring ace of World War I - is brought down on April 21, 1918, souvenir hunters immediately set upon his famous Fokker Dr.I. Many of those souvenirs still exist today.

In his trademark red Fokker Dr.I triplane, 80-victory ace Manfred von Richthofen, the "Red Baron," scores one of his three S.E.5a kills over the Western Front in 1918

 Arguably the best "brother" team of fighter aces was Manfred and Lothar von Richthofen, with 120 World War I aerial victories between them. Top WWI ace Manfred, who became known as "The Red Baron" because the Richtofen family was minor nobility and he painted his aircraft bright red, achieved 80 victories, and Lothar's reputation grew when he downed British ace Albert Ball

Fokker DR1 Specs.
Speed: 115 mph at sea level
Initial climb: 1200 feet/min at 60 mph
Power: 110 hp Oberusal Rotary
Weight: 1290 lbs loaded
Wing area:  200 sq ft

The Fokker Dr-1 Triplane was the most well known of the WW1 airplanes.  It was slow and difficult to fly yet it deadly in the hands of an experienced pilot.  This is the plane was flown by the famous Baron Manfred Von Richthofen.  One of the flight features of this airplane was that it was able to momentarily hang on its prop and shoot straight up into the belly of its enemies airplane.

the Sopwith Camel flown by Capt. Roy Brown when he chased Baron Manfred von Richthofen over the Somme on April 21, 1918 - the flight from which the famous "Red Baron" did not return.

Canadair F-86 Sabre flown by 352-victory ace Col. Erich Hartmann of JG 71 Richthofen, West German Air Force, during the Cold War

The Camel was perhaps the best Allied fighter of WWI, successfully downing 1,924 aircraft in only 16 months of fighting. It was known for being extremely agile and for having a fast rate of climb, and perhaps most notably, the great Baron von Richthofen fell to the guns of a 209 Squadron RAF Camel flown by Canadian Roy Brown in 1918