Great War Display Team - Duxford Summer Airshow 2022

A mock World War 1 'Duel in the Air', or 'Dogfight' between 'opposing' British and German fighters of The Great War Display Team. Filmed at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford during the Summer Airshow 2022. Aircraft included:-

Fokker Dr1 Triplane - The Dr1 was a direct attempt to copy the successful Sopwith Triplane. Armed with two forward firing Spandau machine guns, it was very manoeuvrable, and a favourite mount of a number of German aces such as Werner Voss and Manfred von Richthofen, who claimed "it climbed like a monkey and was as manoeuvrable as the devil! It entered service in 1917 and Von Richthofen's Jasta was the first to be equipped. A total of 320 were built.

The team has two Fokker Dr1s - 403/17, G-CDXR, replicates the Dr1 flown by Lieutnant Johann Janzen [13 victories] of Jasta 6, of JG1. It has the unit markings of a black/white striped tail and black cowling, with Janzen's personal marking of a 'white snake' line on a black band, edged with white on the rear fuselage. Janzen became 'Staffelfuhrer' [Leader] of Jasta 6 and survived a crash-landing, when the control cables of his Triplane were shot away in combat.

The other Dr1, 556/17, G-CFHY replicates that flown by Leutnant Ludwig "Lutz" Beckmann also of Jasta 6 in March 1918 which was then based at Lechelle. Beckmann survived the Great War having shot down 8 allied aircraft. He went on to win the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross in WW2 and commanded a transport unit of the Luftwaffe flying aircraft such as the JU52 in Russia.


Three Royal Aircraft Factory SE5a 7/8th scale replicas - F8010 G-BDWJ, B595 G-BUOD, F5459 G-INNY - The RAF SE5, originally with a 150HP direct-drive Hispano-Suiza engine, first flew in November 1916. Only 77 of these were built before the engine was replaced by a geared 200HP version. The type went into squadron service in March 1917 and, with another engine change to the 200HP Wolseley Viper, they continued in service right up to the end of the war, with a total of 2765 built by armistice day. It was very robust and the first British aircraft to have 2 guns; a Vickers machine gun in the fuselage and a Lewis gun on the top wing. It had a superior performance at higher altitude than the Sopwith Camel and was also faster.

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