Fokker Dr.I, Meng, 1:32, Oblt. Lothar von Richthofen, Jasta 11, 40 victories

When I was deciding in which color to build another of my triplanes, I wanted to have a Richthofen in my collection. Since the Manfreda aircraft is the most frequently built model of this aircraft, I preferred the Lothar. The Meng kit is very pleasant to build, one could say relaxing. The biggest problem was the placement of the lower and middle wings, where relatively large gaps are created when connecting to the fuselage. Otherwise, I just added a few details in the cockpit and on the fuselage.

As for the color, there are many variations of the Lothar aircraft's color, as modelers build them. So I tried to stick as much as possible to old photos, which are of such poor quality that it is very difficult to replicate the real color. I tried to imitate the canvas repairs on the fuselage a little, according to the photos, but I am not very satisfied with the result. Nevertheless, I hope you will like it.

A lot has been written about the Richthofen brothers, at least the most basic information.

Lothar Siegfried Freiherr von Richthofen (27 September 1894 – 4 July 1922) was a German fighter ace of World War I, credited with 40 victories. He was the younger brother of Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron) and a distant cousin of Luftwaffe Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, who also became a flying ace.

Richthofen joined the German Army Air Forces (Luftstreitkräfte) in late 1915. From January 1916 he served as an observer with Jasta 23, occasionally observing for Otto Creutzmann, and saw action at the Battle of Verdun. In December he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class and then began pilot training.

His first pilot assignment was on 6 March 1917 to his brother's Jasta 11. Lothar, an impulsive and aggressive pilot, unlike his cold-blooded calculating brother Manfred, achieved his first victory on 28 March in an FE 2b of the 25th Squadron of the Royal Air Force. The German high command appreciated the propaganda value of the two Richthofens fighting together to defeat the enemy in the air.

Lothar took part in the period of German domination that the British called Bloody April, and by the beginning of May he had achieved another 15 victories. When his brother went on leave, Lothar von Richthofen took command of the squadron.

During the first week of May 1917, Lothar von Richthofen claimed three more victories. On the evening of 7 May, near Douai, he led a squadron of 5 Albatros D.IIIs from Jasta 11, which clashed with 11 SE5s from the "elite" 56th Squadron RFC, including the then top English ace, Captain Albert Ball, as well as a SPAD S.VII from 19th Squadron and a Sopwith triplane from 8th (Naval) Squadron. In the ensuing battle in poor visibility amid a thunderstorm over the Bourlon Forest, both sides dispersed. Richthofen engaged the British triplane. At about the same time, Ball was spotted by his colleague from 56th Squadron, Cyril Crowe, chasing a red Albatros into a storm cloud. Ball lost control of his aircraft and crashed fatally. Although Richthofen was forced to land with his damaged aircraft, he escaped injury. The British Sopwith triplane involved in the action returned to base undamaged.

Richthofen issued a statement claiming to have shot down a Sopwith triplane. However, the propaganda value of Ball's death under fire from a German pilot was obvious, and the German high command credited Lothar with the victory over Ball. The fallacy of this credit was readily apparent. The idea that an experienced pilot like Richthofen could mistake a triplane for a biplane was absurd. Lieutenant Hailer, the German pilot on the ground who witnessed the crash and was the first German at the scene, saw no damage to Ball's aircraft. The doctor who examined Ball reported massive injuries from the crash, but no gunshot wounds. The official version, however, was that Albert Ball had been shot down by Lothar von Richthofen. Later research suggests that Ball had become disoriented and dizzy when he accidentally went into inverted flight, which clogged his plane's carburetor and stalled the engine, causing his crash.

Richthofen increased his tally to 24 by 13 May, when he was wounded in the hip by anti-aircraft fire after shooting down a BE.2 and made an emergency landing; his injuries put him out of action for five months. On 14 May he was awarded the Pour le Mérite and in September 1917 he took command of Jasta 11. In early 1918 he suffered a severe ear infection and was hospitalised in Berlin.

Returning to his unit in February, he shot down three Bristol F2.Bs on 11 and 12 March before being forced to land again on 13 March in a Sopwith Camel flown by Captain Augustus Orlebar of No. 73 Squadron. While landing his damaged Fokker Dr. 1 triplane, Richthofen struck a high-voltage wire and crashed badly, suffering serious head injuries. He was still recovering when he learned of his brother's death.

Lothar returned to service with Jasta 11 in July 1918. He achieved his last victory (DH-9a) on 12 August 1918 flying a Fokker D.VII.The next day he was wounded again in combat against Sopwith Camels, probably by Captain Field E. Kindley of the USAS 148th Squadron. Lothar may also have been shot down by Canadian RAF pilot William Stephenson, later known as the chief of World War II espionage under the code name "Intrepid". Lothar was promoted to Oberleutnant and did not see any further combat until the end of the war in November.

Given the amount of time Lothar von Richthofen spent at the front and in hospitals, he was one of the most efficient and productive flying aces of the war, perhaps even more so than his brother Manfred. Of the total of 40 confirmed victories, Lothar claimed 33 in just three months: 15 in April 1917, 8 in May 1917 and 10 in August 1918.

On 4 July 1922, Richthofen died in a crash of his LVG C VI in Hamburg due to engine failure. Also on board were actress Fern Andra and her director Georg Bluen. Both Bluen and Andra survived, with Andra spending a year recovering from her injuries.

Lothar von Richthofen was buried next to his father in the garrison cemetery in Schweidnitz, but the cemetery was razed to the ground by the Poles when the town was assigned to Poland after World War II. Today, the site is a football pitch, although von Richthofen's gravestone still exists.

A plaque commemorating Lothar is located next to the grave of his brother Manfred von Richthofen in the Südfriedhof in Wiesbaden.

Thank you for watching.

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.