quote:

Originally posted by starmetal:
Thanks...I knew you would have something. Very interesting story about them.

On one of the history channels they have concluded that some Australian ground soldier shot the Red Barron down. They done some forensic science and with a very high tech computer flight simulator designed by two aviation engineer flew the dog fight. As we know the Barron was chasing a British pilot when along come another British pilot high above them both and he dived on the Barren making one pass firing, then flew off as this broke the Barrens chase. The couldn't get a machine gun hit building in the all the parameters of the plane flown by the British pilot. They said the two things making a hit possible were the gyroscopic effect of the engine, being the engine turned with the propeller, making the plane very difficult to turn the way the pilot wanted, and the extreme vibration of the machine gun as it was mount a top the engine. Besides the Barren died from one bullet would that started in his right side angling upward and coming out about at his left nipple. There were three soldiers that had fired from the ground. One a rifleman, and two machine gunners with Lewis machine guns. The bullet recovered from the Barron was indeed a 303 British slug. By the way that was found in his jacket. That told this investigating team that the bullet came from a very long distance. That helped them place with of the three ground soldiers may have fired it. They figured about an 800 yard shot. Very fascinating stuff.

quote:

Originally posted by WestCoaster:

quote:

Originally posted by starmetal:
Thanks...I knew you would have something. Very interesting story about them.

On one of the history channels they have concluded that some Australian ground soldier shot the Red Barron down. They done some forensic science and with a very high tech computer flight simulator designed by two aviation engineer flew the dog fight. As we know the Barron was chasing a British pilot when along come another British pilot high above them both and he dived on the Barren making one pass firing, then flew off as this broke the Barrens chase. The couldn't get a machine gun hit building in the all the parameters of the plane flown by the British pilot. They said the two things making a hit possible were the gyroscopic effect of the engine, being the engine turned with the propeller, making the plane very difficult to turn the way the pilot wanted, and the extreme vibration of the machine gun as it was mount a top the engine. Besides the Barren died from one bullet would that started in his right side angling upward and coming out about at his left nipple. There were three soldiers that had fired from the ground. One a rifleman, and two machine gunners with Lewis machine guns. The bullet recovered from the Barron was indeed a 303 British slug. By the way that was found in his jacket. That told this investigating team that the bullet came from a very long distance. That helped them place with of the three ground soldiers may have fired it. They figured about an 800 yard shot. Very fascinating stuff.

Interesting stuff now for the real story. Roy Brown and Wop May were canucks!

On April 9 May was transferred to No. 209 Squadron of what had just become the Royal Air Force (the squadron being a unit of the Royal Naval Air Service until April 1, when the RAF was created). The squadron was commanded by another Canadian, former school friend Roy Brown, who held an enviable record as a commander, having never lost a pilot under his command. May spent most of April getting used to his Sopwith Camel, but on the 20th was in combat with a German Fokker Triplane who crashed of his own accord during their brief fight.

The next day 209 Squadron was again on patrol with similar instructions as before – May was to stay out of the fights and simply keep an eye out. Around 10 a.m. the squadron encountered a group of Triplanes and attacked them, while May flew above the flight and circled. He spotted another plane doing the same thing and decided to attack, chasing this aircraft right into the middle of the fight. Spraying rounds in all directions, his guns soon jammed and he dove out of combat. Unknown to anyone at the time, May's target was Wolfram von Richthofen, cousin of Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron. Like May, Wolfram was also new to flying, and had also been told to simply sit it out above the fight and watch.

Manfred, seeing his cousin in trouble, watched May dive out of the fight and started to chase him. This was his preferred method of attack, looking for aircraft in trouble and attacking them. However, he was also careful to never chase aircraft over enemy lines, something he had avoided in years of combat. Watching von Richthofen chasing May, Roy Brown noticed the chase from above and dove his damaged aircraft down intercepting the action just west of the Church, and firing at the red Triplane. As May noted in his combat report: "21/4/18 Camel D3326 90 minutes Engaged 15 to 20 triplanes - claimed one. Blue one. Several on my tail, came out with red triplane on my tail which followed me down to the ground and over the line on my tail all the time got several bursts into me but didn’t hit me. When we got across the lines he was shot down by Capt. Brown. I saw him crash into side of hill. Came back with Capt. We afterward found out that the triplane (red) was the famous German airman Baron Richthofen. He was killed."

May continued flying with 209 Squadron until the end of the war, and eventually claimed 1 and 1 shared aircraft captured, 6 and 1 shared destroyed, and 3 and 1 shared 'out of control'. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1918. He relinquished his RAF commission on 8 May 1919 in the rank of Captain.

WOP May went on to become a legendary northern bushpilot heres a link you might enjoy..
http://www.wopmay.com/adventures/adventures.htm

If you can actually believe that someone could hit a tiny plane flying at 120 mph at 800yds (bullet drop of about 10-12 feet!) with a 303 Lewis gun...talk about hail Mary. Sorry but I think someone is sadly mistaken engineers or not! I sincerely think the kill belongs to Cpt. Roy Brown.

quote:

However in the 1982 Falklands Campaign a British Parachute Regiment sniper did shoot down a Skyhawk with his 7.62mm sniper's rifle with one shot. But that is another history.

quote:

If you can actually believe that someone could hit a tiny plane flying at 120 mph at 800yds (bullet drop of about 10-12 feet!) with a 303 Lewis gun...talk about hail Mary. Sorry but I think someone is sadly mistaken engineers or not! I sincerely think the kill belongs to Cpt. Roy Brown.

quote:

Originally posted by tin can:
Dirty Laundry Department:

Bert Hall. As a kid reading about the Lafayette Escadrille, I noticed in several sources that the pilots would be named, their exploits recounted, and when they got to Bert Hall, it always just said, "...and Bert Hall".

Considered a bounder.