[WWI] Fokker DVII Fuselage Lozenge

[Andy Bannister]

I thought D.VII fabric was a single large piece with only the one seam on
the bottom? As I understood it this was pre-laced into a 'sock' (for want of
a better word) and then pulled over the framework from the rear. For this
reason I have always assumed the lozenge was the same top & bottom on the
fuselage.

Or am I getting confused with another aircraft manufacturer's covering
procedure...?

Andy 
 
CEO, Editor in Chief, Choreographer, Teaboy
www.warpedplastic.co.uk 


> -----Original Message-----
> From: wwi-bounces at wwi-models.org 
> [mailto:wwi-bounces at wwi-models.org] On Behalf Of Diego Fernetti
> Sent: 14 November 2009 23:45
> To: wwi at wwi-models.org
> Subject: Re: [WWI] Fokker DVII Fuselage Lozenge
> 
> 
> Without being an expert taylor, I'd dare say that the shape of the  
> fuselage needs seams along the lower (and upper) fuselage 
> longerons to  
> provide a snug, wrinkless fit. And since the seams at the upper  
> longerons don't seem to produce ruptured fuselages, why the lower  
> longerons would?
> Of course, I don't deny that the underside can be made of "upper  
> colour lozenge" just that the underside pieces must have been sewn  
> from different pieces than the fuselage sides. Perhaps it was more  
> economic to use just a single kind of fabric... wonder if that's the  
> reason! I read somewhere that the fabric covering were 
> sub-contracted  
> by factories.
> D.
> 
> 
> Reenviado dave fleming <dave.fleming2 at dial.pipex.com>:
> 
> > Bill Shuey has posted this on Britmodeller
> >
> > http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=39535
> >
> > "Here is a heads up to anyone modeling a Fokker D.VII..
> >
> > At a meeting of the Society of World War I Aero Historians at   
> > Udvar-Hazy museum on October 31 I got a chance to
> > examine photos of the surviving portions of the original 
> hexagonal   
> > fabric from the Museum's Fokker D.VII. Everyone
> > has assumed that the underside of the wings, stabilizer/elevator and
> >  fuselage of Fokker D.VIIs were in either the 4
> > or 5 color under surface colors. It turns out the wings and   
> > stabilizer/elevator yes, the fuselage...NO!
> >
> > For those about to ask, yes, this is the U.10, Fok. D.VII (oaw)   
> > 4649/18 from Jasta 65 as depicted on page 2 of
> > Anthology 2 and in a color profile on page 31 of Anthology 3.
> > The Museum's D.VII fuselage was completely covered in the upper   
> > surface colors, including the under surface. When
> > the Staffel's mechanics painted the fuselage gray they apparently   
> > decided that it was a waste of the Kaiser's paint
> > and their time to paint the underside.
> >
> > Most color renderings of D.7s show the fuselage under surface in the
> >  under surface colors, looks like an example of
> > too much logic. I became suspicious of the under surface colors   
> > after seeing the fabric covering drawings in the
> > three Fokker D.VII anthologies from Albatross publishing. The way   
> > Juanita Franzi's drawings show the covering of
> > the fuselage, it is cut from three pieces running 
> lengthwise along   
> > the fuselage with a sewn seam along each
> > fuselage side, and then laced together down the fuselage underside.
> >
> > It stands to reason that if the Air Service insisted on the   
> > underside of the fuselage being in the under surface
> > color pattern they would have to have made the covering in 
> 5 pieces   
> > with a sewn seam running along the bottom
> > fuselage longeron on each side. This would have been more   
> > complicated and time consuming to produce and a seam
> > along the longeron would have been subject to more stress as the   
> > fabric shrank and would have been a point for
> > failure of the stitching due to the stress.
> >
> > I'm posting this because we are being promised the Fokker 
> D.VII kit   
> > to end all D.VIIs from Wingnutz and this one we
> > want to get right. I am aware that there are a lot of models and   
> > illustrations out there that don't show it this
> > way.
> >
> > As I said, this is an O.A.W. built aircraft. Now I have a 
> question.   
> > Is there anyone up North in Canada who can get
> > a close look at the D.VII in the Knowlton Museum up there??   
> > According to the Albatross Anthologies that bird still
> > has it's original fabric in place, albeit with some patching and   
> > repair, and it is an Albatross built aircraft.
> >
> > I'm not even going to speculate what this may mean for the under   
> > fuselage colors of Fokker D.VI and E.V/D.VIII
> > aircraft. :-("
> >
> >
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------
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> >
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> >
> >
> >
> 
> 
>