FOKKER Dr.1 TRIPLANE - DELUXE FULL KIT
The Fokker Dr.1 Triplane needs no introduction as perhaps the most recognisable aircraft from WW1, made infamous by Manfred von Richthofen - the "Red Baron".
This Legends of Flight Deluxe kit includes everything you need (apart from a battery, battery chargerf and a few tools) to assemble a 23.5" (597mm) wingspan Dr.1 - all presented in a delightful red wooden "ammo box" presentation crate.
Perfect as a retirement gift, special birthday present or Christmas gift for anyone with an interest in real engineering.
THE "RED BARON" FOKKER Dr.1 TRIPLANE
When the Sopwith Triplane began to appear over the Western Front in early 1917, it quickly proved itself superior to the more heavily armed Albatros fighters then in use by the Luftstreitkräfte - despite the Sopwith having only a single Vickers machine gun.
In April 1917 Anthony Fokker inspected a captured Sopwith Triplane and subsequently instructed Reinhold Platz to build a Fokker Triplane, the prototype of which was further modified by Fokker to improve the operation of the flying surfaces. The revised Triplane went into production as the Fokker Dr.1 Dreidecker and entered service in the autumn of 1917.
Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen first flew a Dr.1 in September 1917. Rittmeister Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen, the “Red Baron” is one of history’s most famous fighter pilots. He scored nineteen of his eighty victories in a number of Fokker Dr.1 Triplanes. Seventeen of his victories were all achieved in a six-week period from March 12th to April 20th 1918, during Operation ‘Michael’, Germany’s last great offensive on the Western Front.
This kit is based on the Fokker Dr.1 425/17 aeroplane that Richthofen was (most likely) flying when he scored his final two victories on April 20th, 1918, and also the one in which he was shot down and killed the following day, thirteen days before his 26th birthday.
The Dr.1 remained in service on the Western Front until it was replaced by the superior Fokker D VII in May 1918.
Only 320 of the Fokker Dr.1 Triplane were built, partly due to quality control issues that resulted in some suffering top wing failures. This, together with the requirement that the aileron attachment points needed to be strengthened, resulted in the Dr.1 being grounded during November 1917 for the rectification work to be carried out.
Three triplanes are known to have survived the Armistice. One was retained as a testbed by the German Aviation Research Institute at Adlershof. After being used in the filming of two movies it is believed to have crashed sometime in the late 1930s. A second Triplane, in which Richthofen obtained three victories, was displayed at the Zeughaus museum in Berlin. This aircraft was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid during World War II.
In 1932, Fokker assembled a Dr.1 from existing components. It was displayed in the Deutsche Luftfahrt-Sammlung in Berlin. The aircraft was also destroyed in an Allied bombing raid in 1943.
Now there are only a few original Dr.1 parts remaining in museums around the world.
UK SHIPPING
Most orders are shipped via Royal Mail’s Tracked 48 service.
For larger or heavier orders, we use UKMail/DHL to deliver your package on a Next Working Day service.
Shipping is free to UK Mainland addresses for orders over £30.00, otherwise we charge £6.00 for Royal Mail Tracked 48 parcels and £12.00 for UKMail/DHL Nest Working Day.
INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING
Smaller items
Items that fit within Royal Mail International Tracked Medium Parcel parameters (59cm x 17cm x 15cm weighing less than 2kg) can be sent to most countries outside the UK.
For example up to 3 of our smaller 18” wingspan kits can fit into one of these parcels.
A parcel like this currently costs around £14 to Europe and around £18 to send to the USA and will take up to 3 weeks to arrive. This is because Royal Mail hands over the parcel to the local Post Office service for your country who have to clear it through customs and then deliver it to you.
The Royal Mail tracking code also transfers over to the tracking for your country’s postal service.
Larger items
For items that do not fit within Royal Mail International Tracked Medium Parcel parameters, we use standard international couriers such as DHL, FedEx and UPS.
These companies use something called volumetric weights to calculate the cost of shipping.
For example, a Balsa Basics RC bundle kit that measures 102cm x 34cm x 16cm and weighs 2.5 kg is actually calculated at 14kg!
This makes these very expensive to send outside the UK - a large kit can cost nearly £40 to send to France.
