> This is a point of controversy among people interested in WW I
> aircraft markings. Most references for this particular aircraft indicate
> that it was painted red and white. Heinz Nowarra, who provided most of the
> photos for Squadron's "Fokker Dr-I in Action" , published a color profile
> in that book showing Raben's triplane to be blue and white. This is the
> only place I know of where a blue and white macine is illustrated. I have
> seen a piece of fabric purported to have come from Raben's triplane. It is
> pretty clear looking at the fabric that a coat of red paint was applied
> over a coat of medium blue.
Well, I'll have to go see if I can find the Squadron Signal book (do they
do any other WWI titles -- I thought they only did WWII to moderns...).
The one picture I have of Raben's (sorry about the typo before) is
probably from the Nowarra collection (unfortunately, it is packed up on a
moving van somewhere between Los Angeles and Pittsburgh :(
I remember that the fuselage tone was very dark, so that would be consistent
with red (although navy blue can be pretty dark too). The photo was
after von Raben had been shot down, and I don't recall if you could see
any of the undersurfaces.
An aquaitence of mine (who works at Brookhurst Hobbies) told me that the
color was blue, so he may have just peeked into the book cited above).
Since von Raben was captured (I assume that he lived after the war), did
he write a memior? Is there any literature in C&C or WWI Aero, etc... on
the "color" controversy?
Thanks,
Joe