I'm adopting a wait and see attitude on this. Too many RFC reports of
combat with Eindeckers, mentioning tan coloration or natural finish. The
marginal power reserve of the Eindecker series would seem to preclude
the use of colored dopes ( they're heavier than you would think!) and
lean more towards the minimum varnish over the fabric.
>
Flying quality linen, after all, comes in a
>variety of hues ranging from near-hospital white to rich cream. A layer
>of clear dope tends to darken that color slightly, and then proceeds to
>"yellow" or "brown" (to various degrees) with age. I have both read and heard
>(Drinker, you might want to jump in on this one) that during the Great War
>Irish linens, often used by the Brits, tended to be lighter in hue (*broadly*
>speaking), whilst those in use in Germany and France tended to be darker,
>and A-H somewhere in between.
No one ever accused the Germans, especially Fokker, of using high quality
fabrics to cover their aircraft. The finest material appeared on the
printed fabrics. They had to be to accept uniform dye lots. Most painted
fabric samples I've seen and examined have been of rather poor quality
compare with French or British material.
I have seen one sample claimed to be from an E-111 and it is now quite
brown, mostly owing to the darkening effects of the overvarnish and
80 years of aging..............
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