AIRCRAFT COLOURS AND MARKINGS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR ERA

Fokker F.I / Dr.I Triplane


Possibly the most recognized aircraft of the entire First World War, the Dr.I has a fame far beyond the meager number built - 320. Its fame is probably derived from its use by one man famed in both truth and fiction - Manfred von Richthofen, aka Snoopy's adversary, the Red Baron.

With the success of the Sopwith Triplane in Spring 1917, IDFLIEG directed the German aviation industry to come up with a triplane of their own. Whereas most companies just added a third wing to an existing design, Fokker went them all one better by coming up with a cantilevered wing that required no bracing wires. The result was a compact aircraft that exhibited superb maneuverability and climb, both of which covered the fact that it was S L O W.

The first three triplanes were designated F.I 101/17 to 103/17, and the latter pair were delivered to the pre-eminent pilots of the time - Richthofen and Voss in late August 1917. Production Dr.Is followed in October. The deaths of Gontermann and Pastor because of wing failures led to the Dr.I being withdrawn from service by the start of November. After strengthening, the Dr.Is returned to service in January 1918, and with the introduction of the D.VII in May/June it again was withdrawn, although a few remained in use with aces like Jacobs.

As originally delivered the Dr.I had a streaked finish on all upper surfaces with the streaks being accomplished by use of a 3" brush stroked vertically on the fuselage sides and diagonally on the wings and tail. Undersurfaces were light blue, with a thin wrap around effect on the lower fuselage and the tailplane. Struts were either light blue or olive. Cowl was initially aluminum, but soon olive.

The national markings went through many changes. All crosses were initially on white fields (although the lower wing MAY have been on a CDL field), with the F.I having its fuselage cross in a more centralized location than the Dr.I. The first change was the ordering of the wing and fuselage crosses to carry a 5cm outline. This was accomplished by painting over the crossfield - many Dr.Is also had the tail overpainted. With the introduction of the Balkenkreuz in March/April 1918, the earlier Eisernes Kreuz was initially redone by doing straight lines between the tips of each curve, later these were changed to overpaint the tips and based from the overlapping centre portions. The final variation was to have the black portion extend to the edge of the fuselage or wing and the white not surround the entire cross, but rather look more like that of the Second World War. These are pretty general descriptions, and many variations will be noted below.

The best single source on the Dr.I is Alex Imrie's "The Fokker Triplane". This has both a technical as well as operational history of the type with many photos. Albatros has published a Datafile, Datafile Special and a Jagdstaffeln Markings Special on the type. The Squadron/Signal Fokker Dr.I In Action has many good photos, however almost ever single one is miscaptioned and the text is best disregarded.

 


 


As delivered
white fields to all crosses

 

 


As first modified
5cm outline to all crosses
although rudder was supposed
to be left white

 


As per order of 17 March 1918
Cross and outline proportions
varied considerably from unit to unit
with outline ranging from 5 to 15cm


 


Fokker F.I 102/17
Ltn Kurt Wolff
Jasta 11
September 1917
Source: Speculative

Fokker F.I 103/17
Ltn Werner Voss
CO, Jasta 10
September 1917
Source: Aces and Aeroplanes No.1


Fokker Dr.I 152/17
Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen
OC, JG.I
March 1918
Source: OTF 3/3
REVISED 12/05

 


Fokker Dr.I 425/17
Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen
OC, JG.I
March 1918
Source: Ferko: Richthofen


Fokker Dr.I 425/17
Rittmeister Manfred von Richthofen
OC, JG.I
April 1918
Source: OTF 3/3

 


Fokker Dr.I 404/17
Hptm Adolf von Tutschek
OC. JG.II
March 1918
Source: OTF 3/4




Fokker Dr.I400-599/17
Oblt Bruno Loerzer
OC, JG.III
April 1918
Source: Dan-San Abbott

 

 

 

 


Fokker Dr.I 214/17
Ltn Wilhelm Papenmeyer
Jasta Boelcke
February 1918
Source: Imrie - Fokker Dr.I
bands are reversed

 


Fokker Dr.I 213/17
Ltn Friedrich Kempf
Jasta Boelcke

Source: OTF 4/4

 


Fokker Dr.I
Ltn Paul Baumer
Jasta Boelcke

Source: Fokker Dr.I In Action




Fokker Dr.I 157/17

Jasta Boelcke
March 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I in Action


Fokker Dr.I 409/17
Ltn Wilhelm Papenmeyer
Jasta Boelcke
March 1918
Source: Imrie - Fokker Dr.I
Bands are reversed

 


Fokker Dr.I 195/17
Ltn Hermann Vallendor
Jasta Boelcke
March 1918
Source: OTF 4/4

Fokker Dr.I 204/17
Ltn Paul Baumer
Jasta Boelcke
May 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I In Action


Fokker Dr.I

Jasta Boelcke
May 1918
Source: OTF 4/4

 

 


Fokker Dr.I

Jasta Boelcke
Spring 1918
Source: OTF 4/4



Fokker Dr.I 413/17
Ltn Carl Bolle
Jasta Boelcke
May 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I In Action.


Fokker Dr.I 493/17
Ltn Friedrich Kempf
Jasta Boelcke
May 1918
Source: OTF 4/4

 

 


Fokker Dr.I
Ltn.d.r Kruger
Jasta 4
May 1918
Source: Dr.I Jasta Markings Special


Fokker Dr.I 586/17
Ltn Ernst Udet
Jasta 4
June 1918
Source: Windsock 8/4
REVISED 01/07

 


Fokker Dr.I 558/17
Ltn Hans Joachim von Hippel
Jasta 5
May 1918
Source: Dan-San Abbott
Colours are in doubt

 

 


Fokker Dr.I
Vzfw Franz Hemer
Jasta 6
March 1918
Source: OTF 5/4

Fokker Dr.I 403/17
Ltn Johann Janzen
Jasta 6
March 1918
Source: C&C(GB) 5/3


Fokker Dr.I 586/17
Ltn Hans Kirschstein
Jasta 6
Spring 1918
Source: Windsock 8/4
REVISED 01/07

 

 


Fokker Dr.I
Vzfw Franz Hemer
Jasta 6
March 1918
Source: Dr.I Js Markings Special

 


Fokker Dr.I 450/17
Ltn Josef Jacobs
Jasta 7
May 1918
Source: Dr.I Datafile Special

 


Fokker Dr.I 470/17
Ltn Josef Jacobs
Jasta 7
June 1918
Source: Dr.I In Action

 

 


Fokker Dr.I 144/17
Ltn Eberhard Stapenhorst
Jasta 11
January 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I in Action

Fokker Dr.I
Ltn Hans Joachim Wolff
Jasta 11
March 1918
Source: Dr.I Js Markings Special


Fokker Dr.I 163/17
Ltn Hans Karl von Linsengen
Jasta 11
March 1918
Source: Imrie - Fokker Dr.I
REVISED 12/05

 


Fokker Dr.I 502/17
-
Jasta 11
-
Source: Dr.I Datafile Special
REVISED 12/05

 


Fokker Dr.I
-
Jasta 11
March 1918
Source: Dr.I Js Markings Special


Fokker Dr.I 454/17
Ltn Lothar von Richthofen
Jasta 11
March 1918
Source: Imrie - Fokker Dr.I
REVISED 12/05

 


Fokker Dr.I 155/17
Ltn Eberhard Mohnicke
Jasta 11  
March 1918
Source: Dr.I Js Markings Special
REVISED 03/07

 


Fokker Dr.I 588/17
Ltn Richard Wenzl
Jasta 11
April 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I in Action


Fokker Dr.I 545/17
Ltn Hans Weiss
Jasta 11
April 1918
Source: Imrie- Fokker Dr.I

 

 


Fokker Dr.I
Vzfw Ulrich Neckel
Jasta 12
March 1918
Source: OTF 9/3
REVISED 01/07

 


Fokker Dr.I 217/17
Oblt Blumenbach
Jasta 12
March 1918
Source: Imrie: Fokker Dr.I
REVISED 01/07


Fokker Dr.I 436/17
Ltn Paul Hoffman
Jasta 12
March 1918
Source: OTF 4/1
REVISED 01/07

 

 


Fokker Dr.I
Ltn Herman Becker ?
Jasta 12
March 1918
Source OTF 4/1

 


Fokker Dr.I
-
Jasta 12
March 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I Datafile


Fokker Dr.I
-
Jasta 12
April 1918
Source: Imrie: Fokker Dr.I

 

 


Fokker Dr.I 217/17
Oblt Blumenbach
Jasta 12
April 1918
Source: Imrie: Fokker Dr.I

 


Fokker Dr.I
-
Jasta 12
May/June 1918
Source:

 

 


Fokker Dr.I
Ltn Herman Becker ?
Jasta 12
June 1918
Source OTF 9/3

Fokker Dr.I
Ltn Hans Pippart
Jasta 13
March 1918
Source: OTF 4/4


Fokker Dr.I 193/17
Ltn Wilhelm Schwartz
Jasta 13
May 1918
Source: Dr.I Jasta Markings Special

 


Fokker Dr.I 183/17
Ltn Hasso von Wedel
Jasta 14
February 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I Datafile
REVISED 03/07

Fokker Dr.I 198/17
Ltn Johannes Werner
OC, Jasta 14
March 1918
Source: Dr.I Jasta Markings Special

Fokker Dr.I 466/17
-
Jasta 14
May/June 1918
Source: Imrie: Fokker Dr.I:100


Fokker Dr.I
-
Jasta 14
-
Source: OTF 5/4

 

 


Fokker Dr.I 588/17
Gftr Reinhold Preiss
Jasta 14
June 1918
Source: C&C(GB) 3/3
REVISED 03/07

Fokker Dr.I
Ltn Hans Muller
Jasta 15
March 1918
Source: OTF 5/4


Fokker Dr.I 479/17
Ltn August Raben
Jasta 18

Source:

 

 


Fokker Dr.I 167/17
-
Jasta 19
February 1918
Source: Imrie: Fokker Dr.I: 49

 


Fokker Dr.I 419/17
Ltn Walter Goettsch
OC, Jasta 19
April 1918
Source: OTF: 9/3

 

 


Fokker Dr.I 503/17
Ltn Hans Koerner
Jasta 19
April 1918
Source: OTF: 9/3

 

 


Fokker Dr.I 433/17
Ltn Arthur Rahn
Jasta 19
April 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I in Action

Fokker Dr.I 504/17
Ltn Rudolf Rienau
Jasta 19
April 1918
Source: Imrie: Fokker Dr.I: 74


Fokker Dr.I 471/17
Ltn Hans Pippart
OC, Jasta 19
Spring 1918
Source: Dr.I Js Markings Special

 

 


Fokker Dr.I 465/17
-
Jasta 19
April 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I Datafile Special

 


Fokker DrI
-
Jasta 26
April 1918
Source: OTF 5/4

 


Fokker DrI
-
Jasta 26
-
Source: Fokker Dr.I in Action

 

 


Fokker DrI
-
Jasta 26
April 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I in Action


Fokker DrI
Vzfw Otto Esswein
Jasta 26
April 1918
Source: OTF 5/4


Fokker DrI
-
Jasta 26
-
Source: OTF 5/4

 

 


Fokker DrI
-
Jasta 26
April 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I in Action

Fokker DrI
-
Jasta 26
-
Source: Fokker Dr.I in Action


Fokker Dr.I 577/17
Ltn Rudolf Klimke
Jasta 27
June 1918
Source: Fokker Dr.I Datafile Special

 

 


Fokker Dr.I 146/17
Ltn Rudolf Stark
Jasta 34b
May 1918
Source: Speculative/Doubtful

 


Fokker Dr.I 521/17
Oblt Robert von Greim
Jasta 34b
June 1918
Source: Imrie: Fokker Triplane


Fokker Dr.I
Uffz Johann Putz
Jasta 34b
-
Source: Windsock 7/6

 

 


Fokker Dr.I
-
Jasta 36
July 1918
Source: OTF

 


Fokker Dr.I
-
Jasta 36
-
Source: Fokker Dr.I Datafile Special
REVISED 01/07


Fokker Dr.I
-
-
Source: Dr.I Datafile Markings Special