u/Substantial-While922

René Fonck ended WWI as the top Allied ace with 75 confirmed victories, second only to the Red Baron. I got curious about the machines behind that number, so here they are in order.

1. Caudron (1915-1917). He spent almost two years flying recon, first in the G.III, then in the twin-engine G.4. He had a Lewis gun fitted over the top wing. In July 1916 flak knocked out one engine and he made it home on the other. His first confirmed victory came in a Caudron: in August 1916 he herded a German Rumpler down until it landed behind French lines and the crew surrendered.
2. SPAD VII (1917). His first real fighter after joining Escadrille 103 of the "Storks" group. 150 hp Hispano-Suiza, one Vickers gun.
3. SPAD XII. The odd one. A 37 mm cannon sat between the cylinder banks and fired through the hollow propeller shaft. Single shot, reloaded by hand in flight. Very few pilots could use it well, and Fonck is credited with around 11 victories on it.
4. SPAD XIII (1918). His main machine: 235 hp, two Vickers guns, about 222 km/h, 8,472 built. With it he twice shot down six aircraft in one day, on 9 May and 26 September 1918. On the second day, three of the six were Fokker D.VIIs.

His method was simple: stalk a two-seater, get close, one short burst. By his own account, only one enemy bullet ever hit his plane.

Fun fact: after the war his personal plane was registered F-ONCK.

SPAD XIII or Fokker D.VII, which one would you rather fly in late 1918?

Sources: Wikipedia (EN/FR), The Aerodrome, Western Front Association.

Manfred von Richthofen — the "Red Baron" — is credited with 80 confirmed aerial victories, the highest of any pilot in WWI. Most of his early kills came in red-painted Albatros fighters, but he's most closely associated with the aircraft in these photos: the Fokker Dr.I triplane.

A few facts that always surprise people:

• The Dr.I was Germany's answer to the British Sopwith Triplane, which had stunned German pilots with its climb rate in early 1917. Only about 320 Dr.I's were ever built.
• Richthofen and fellow ace Werner Voss personally tested the first pre-production examples in August 1917.
• Despite its fame, the Dr.I was already becoming outclassed by mid-1918 — most of Richthofen's own squadron had moved on to newer biplanes. He stuck with his red Dr.I anyway.
• He was flying serial number 425/17 on 21 April 1918 when he was killed near Vaux-sur-Somme, low over the front while chasing a Sopwith Camel. The fatal shot most likely came from ground fire — a single rifle round through the chest.
• Within minutes of the crash, Allied soldiers had stripped the wreck for souvenirs — fabric, instruments, even the gunsight were gone almost immediately.
• No original Fokker Dr.I survives today. The last surviving genuine airframe (not Richthofen's, but another example) was destroyed in a Berlin museum during WWII bombing. Every Dr.I you can see today is a replica.

https://preview.redd.it/lk7ftgs5mish1.jpg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c9186434fabf8903316c7d38ce931f8b8bcd6ea

Wreckage of Richthofen's actual Dr.I 425/17, photographed at No. 3 Squadron AFC's aerodrome: