Fokker Dr.I cockpit questions
Chris Maxfield
Books. On pgs. 120-1 they have a cutaway drawing of a Fokker you might be
able to find this book in your local library. Don't know how much help it
will be or how accurate it is but every little bit helps.
: My questions are these:
: 1) Is the Dragon Dr.I cockpit accurate?
Can't comment because I have never built the kit.
: 2) Were the seats of these aircraft generally left bare, or covered with
: something?
Don't know but given the paint schemes of these planes, that was probably
left up to the pilot.
: 3) I realize there weren't a lot of construction/painting standards for
: A/C in WWI, but how, in general were Fokker cockpits finished? Bare metal
: seats and tubing? Wood floring? What about the inside of the fabric
: exterior (the kit instructions reccomend olive drab)?
The Time-Life book shows just a bare metal seat and tubing. No wood
flooring which I would think make getting out of the thing a pain to say the
least but this may have been omitted to make the drawing clearer. They
show just canvas-no color. As far as the rest of the cockpit there is a
compass to the right of the pilot just about level with the bottom of
the seat. A Throttle to the left of the pilot about midway up on the
fusalage. Below the throttle is a tachometer. They say that there were
also oil and fuel gauges although they don't show them. They also say that
the guns had firing buttons on the control column and a remote control for
the throttle.
: 4) Was the seat itself perforated, or solid throughout?
Looks to be just a piece of sheet metal no holes.
: I do have some Fokker information from a freind (thanks, Jesse), and it
: mentions that the seat in one captured Dr.I was covered by "some sort of
: cheap pegamoid stuff." What's pegamoid (can't find it in any "new world"
: dictionaries and don't have an OED handy)?
You might want to post this in rec.aviation.military and see what anyone
can come up with.
Larry Marshall
>The Time-Life book shows just a bare metal seat and tubing. No wood
>flooring which I would think make getting out of the thing a pain to say the
>least but this may have been omitted to make the drawing clearer. They
>show just canvas-no color. As far as the rest of the cockpit there is a
I recently had the opportunity to sit in a real Fokker DVIII and they are a
pain to get in and out of but wooden floors sure wouldn't help. The problem is
that when standing on the seat it's still hard to swing your leg out of the
cockpit and down to the stirrup on the bottom of the fuselage. Getting in is
a similar set of gyrations. Short people need not apply.
----------
Larry Marshall lmar...@pnfi.forestry.ca
Canadian Forest Service Voice:(613) 589-2880
Petawawa National Forestry Institute FAX:(613) 589-2275
Chip Harrison
I remember some back issues of World War One Aero magazine that had some
excellent pictures of Dr. I cockpits. The often depicted cross bar with
instruments was a post war addition. The original had little instrumentation.
Anyway, check you local hobby shop for these (back issues are often available
as there seems to be little demand. Otherwise, try writing them - they're
really nice and helpful folks!
Chip
In article <1994Sep23....@umr.edu> ch...@saucer.cc.umr.edu (Chris
Maxfield) writes:>From: ch...@saucer.cc.umr.edu (Chris Maxfield)
>Subject: Re: Fokker Dr.I cockpit questions
>Date: Fri, 23 Sep 1994 17:12:42 GMT