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Red Baron Fokker Triplane Model Is Almost as Big as the Real Thing

World War I is like the cradle of the aeronautical industry. Before that, people weren't sure what planes were good for, and they certainly didn't know they could be used to kill each other. The red Fokker Dr.1 triplane is undoubtedly the most famous warbird of its time, and it's still remembered a century later.
Red Baron Fokker Triplane Model Is Almost as Big as the Real Thing 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
Not everybody is into model aircraft, but we're sure that all can appreciate a scale model that's almost the size of the real thing. Standing taller than a man and equipped with period-correct features, this remote-controlled machine is built to 65% scale. That means the frame is 3.7 meters long, and the span of the largest wing is 4.7 meters.

Fokker's three-winged layout was designed to make the aircraft more maneuverable. But it's the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, who decided to paint his aircraft red as a direct challenge. German's top ace only started flying missions in the Fokker in 1917, and just 19 or his 80 kills were achieved in this model. But everybody associates the two.

The first aircraft used in WW1 were crude machines designed only for recognizance. It was a gentlemanly time and sometimes pilots from opposing sides waved at each other as they passed. But pretty soon, the need to keep troop movements secrete started, and they began to shot hand pistols and lobbed grenades.

The first fighters had their machine-guns placed on the top wing because otherwise the bullets would shred up the wooden propellers. The Germans invented a timing mechanism whereby the guns would only shoot when the blades were out of the way, while allied airmen installed steel plates to protect their props until they captured an enemy machine and copied its system.

The DR.I was powered by a 9-cylinder rotary engine producing 110 horsepower. It had a top speed of 185 km/h at sea level (115 mph) and range of only 300 kilometers (184 miles).

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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