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Victory 39

Event ID: 186

08 April 1917

50.374427174474945, 2.849540056779906
Vimy

Source ID: 13

Under the guns of the Red Baron, Norman Franks, Hal Giblin and Nigel McCrery

ISBN: 9781898697275

Combat Report: 1640 hrs, Vimy, this side of the lines. BE2 No. A2815. Occupants: Both killed, name of one – Davidson. Remnants distributed over more than one kilometre. I was flying and surprised an English artillery flyer. After a very few shots the plane broke to pieces and fell near Vimy, on this side of the lines.

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  1. source: Inside the victories of Manfred von richthofen – Volume 1, James F. Miller, Aeronaut Books, 2016

    1. Lothar von Richthofen described either this or a similar inflight breakup of one of Manfred’s victories appearing “as if someone had shaken out a sack of large and small bits of paper,”

    2. A discrepancy exists regarding the exact model of BE.2 shot down. Although identified as a BE.2 g in the combat casualty report, A.2815 falls within Contract No. 87/A/571 for the BE,2.e. The BE.2e had a redesigned tail and shorter span lower wings than previous models, and thus had one less set of interplane struts, To meet the demand for the BE.2e, earlier BE.2 c and d models were modified to BE.2e standards. This begat a supply and maintenance problem that resulted in a directive issued October 1916 stating modified BE.2c airplanes would be re-designated BE.2f, while rebuilt BE.2d airplanes would be redesignated as BE.2g.

    Thus, if A2815 was built as an e, how/why would it be modified to a g—a machine upgraded to e standards—if it were an e already? That would mean upgrading an e to e standards, which makes no sense. The reason for the combat casualty listing as a B.E.2g is unknown and likely nothing more than simple error.

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