Fokker Eindecker - Flights at Wycombe Air Park

OK, Gang, here’s a great flash from the past video we dug out of my "Home Movies” from back in 1987.
This was when I was in England doing some first flights in the DeHavilland Mosquito, and I got to fly a Fokker Eindecker replica!
Expect a Mosquito video at some point, and enjoy!
Enjoy!
Kermit Weeks
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Kermit Weeks

[@smithwesson373]

"Start that fokker!" Thats pure gold! Hahaha

[@vincedesborough6595]

Loved it when Kermit said "Start that Fokker!" 🙂

[@stephenhenion8304]

Once the Eindecker became airborne, it was a 100 year leap into the past. No visible reference of today. Your passion for aviation is inspiring.

[@Grossman2868]

Every pilot who has ever flown an old war bird must have those 'so this is what he saw' moments. What a privilege, thanks Kermit!

[@blancolirio]

Cool blast from the past!

[@MrDdaland]

I'm amazed at the progress in aircraft in roughly 25 yrs- 1915 eindecker- 1940 Mosquito

[@stevehammond7485]

1960 space travel!

[@robertsklenka5823]

Or to 1944 and the ME-262

[@jensleck547]

@@robertsklenka5823 greatest improvment👍

[@BradBrassman]

....1969 Apollo. The day man walked on the moon, I watched the footage with my grandad who said, "when I was your age, man still hadnt flown, and in my lifetime not only has he done this he has now reached the moon; just think what they'll do in your lifetime"

[@SearTrip]

Think about the rate of advance in the last 200 years. 1819, SS Savannah first steamship to cross the Atlantic, 50 years later, 1869, US transcontinental railroad and the Suez Canal both opened, 50 years later, 1919, First aerial crossing, NC-4, non-stop crossing, Alcock & Brown’s Vimy, and round trip crossing, R-34, of the Atlantic, 50 years after that, 1969, Apollo to the Moon.

[@leerogers6423]

Doug's sense of humor was legendary. A very rough Percival Proctor was described as ''making it's own spare parts as it flew along''

[@stevenicoson6670]

Neat aircraft. You did great with it. Good old England. Looked to be flying great. You got the stick touch for sure. Thanks for showing. Retired Air Force veteran.

[@SteamerEdge]

Fascinating to watch this classic old Aircraft in the air. What a privilege it must be to Pilot one. Looks like a bit of hand-full in the Air. I know the RC Wing-Warper models of the Eindecker are a bit of a hand-full to fly. Thanks Kermit for sharing your amazing old movies.

[@bondisteve3617]

Thanks Mr. Kermit. G'Day to all there.

[@TheMissendenFlyer]

So great to see you flying at one of my (very!) local airfields....and one that I know so well....

[@gilbertdavies]

Nice to see the old bird fly again.+ a Nice "daisy cutter" by the young AEB. So too, by Kermit. I never flew the E3, but did/sign off quite a few annuals. I believe Anthony Fokker designed a cam & mechanical linkage interupter gear after looking at a shot down Moraine Saulnier which had deflector plates fitted. Quite draughty just running-up, so just as well its not that fast. Thanks for posting.

[@kgs42]

Very evocative of the early days of air fighting ..... especially the first flight on the misty day.

[@glencrandall7051]

A wonderful piece of history, even though it's a replica. When will we learn to hang on to retired aircraft for historical reasons? Way too many historical aircraft completely gone. A shame. We need more folks like Kermit Weeks.🙂🙂

[@mattharte7334]

Really love these films from your past they’re very cool. Thanks for posting

[@fettlerjohn3419]

Wow absolutely fantastic 👍🏼 ✨

[@martinsaunders7925]

Learned to fly here. Was called Booker airfield then. Personal Plane services built the airplanes for the movie " those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines". Also partly shot there.

[@Hooligan-F8F]

Doug Bianchi also wrote some terrific magazine articles - great sense of humour! Left us far too soon...

[@SuperReasonable]

I was at Booker at that time flying a gliding competition. The Mosquito was amazing to watch and hear…

[@storytimedavidcollins2897]

Thanks again for all that you have done and do for flying community.

[@flyingfortressrc1794]

That was really cool to watch. Thanks Kermit.

[@TheIronbark]

Best part of the videoi is Kermit yelling out "start that Fokker"

[@Liddledriver]

A design that holds up over 100 years later. Amazing.

[@3holer01]

Kermit, your life is amazing!

[@davelewandoski4292]

Thanks for sharing your passion Kermit!

[@malcolmpowell9164]

Thanks for posting. 👍😊😊😊

[@jhaedtler]

Love you videos! Thank you so very much!

[@zxbzxbzxb1]

Amazing to see, thanks for sharing!

[@iansampson2492]

Great video...I walked into that hangar in 1980....Asked the fellow in overalls standing next to tool cart if I could have a look ...take some pictures ...he said yes have a look around....I had never seen so many significant airplanes in one spot before...A Spitfire..Lord Lindsay's...a Storch ...an Italian something not sure what Caproni??...then a silver Mosquito in back....he said was getting ready for ferry flight to USA....hanging from rafters was super cool large Heinkel HE111 model....anyway it wasnt until I saw the second Indiana Jones movie that I put 2 and 2 together....I had walked into the hangar of Personal Plane Services and the chap in the overalls was Tony Bianci.....Have to dig up those pics...

[@rexmyers991]

GREAT home movies

[@robertlafnear7034]

Beyond COOL ! 🤗👍👍👍, LOVE planes like this.

[@1mmickk]

I was told that in the WW1 period, most Pilots came from Cavalry Units, as they were used to seeing the world from horseback. People were short then, so the 5 foot 4 inch Infantry were only used to seeing grass and weeds. It was thought the Cavalry would adapt quicker to understanding what they were seeing from above. They must have had a lot of respect for your skills Kermit to let you fly that beast.

[@misdangered4326]

I think it was more a case of flying the early planes was similar to controlling a horse. I even heard that trainee pilots were encouraged to ride horses to get a feel for flying.

[@christianlipp7293]

Great! I 💗💕 this Plane 💪😎

[@Frankestein01nl]

Mein Gott... you were playin around in that when i was just 12!!! Time flies, eh? Nice flying, Kermit!

[@CoppaShotta]

Very sweet. I would be very unhappy to be in that Fokker with a mossy behind me

[@sargepent9815]

Wow. Thanks for sharing

[@thedolt9215]

I love the simple elegance ofthis old plane…

[@RCPlanesAndTravels]

Thanks for your efforts!

[@steveshoemaker6347]

That how it was many years ago in the old war birds........Thanks Kermit..... Shoe🇺🇸

[@frankienv3906]

When you were younger you looked a lot like Jim Henson and your name is Kermit, too funny! LOL 🐸

[@stulynn2005]

I instantly thought of that old classic 6:25 movie and the German pilot who just got in it and took off

[@johndavey72]

It seems only a moment ago when you flew the Mosquito back to the States !!! I guess because of the potential fragility of the construction l doubt the Mossie will take to the skies again ? Thanks Kermit......or should l say Bob !

[@davidareeves]

Fokke me, this was awesome. Good to see

[@oldref65]

Great history video, always look forward to your informative video's.

[@joewilliams4142]

I was on vacation and rented a 172 at this field years ago. Nice place.

[@shoominati23]

My Favourite WW1 Ace is Georges Guynemer who flew the Spad XIII which was one of the first real forwardly modern fighters with a big powerful Hispano Suiza V8 and enough fuel capacity to have over a 2 hour endurance. Apparently the Germans contacted his Squadron and challenged him to prove himself in the air, of the 6 German planes that came, 2 fell out of the sky in flames, 2 were badly damaged and fled with the other 2. C'est Badass!

[@hdvette64]

Kermit, have you visited the Golden age air museum in Bethel Pennsylvania? I believe it is right up your alley.👍🇺🇸

[@edwardstephens247]

Go Kermit go!

[@ronmoore5827]

Thanks for sharing Kermit. Is there anything you can't fly? I bet if someone showed up with a lunar lander Kermit could fly it!

[@mickoram7524]

I remember seeing this aircraft in the sky a couple of times back then perhaps you were the pilot Kermit ( I grew up in Marlow )

[@richd8537]

It is amazing how far aircraft design and control had advanced in 12 years.

[@sluxi]

Yeah, hard to believe this was state of the art back in 2010.

[@thurin84]

that does look like fun!

[@СергейТомилов-я2д]

Спасибо!

[@edsimnett]

very fun, perhaps a shame we couldn't get to really see what made the place a "menace" as noted at 6:40 (there is a view of part of the interrupter gear in the photo of the original engine at 2:38)

[@saito125]

That's a modern replica. The "real" Eindecker didn't have ailerons, and had a full flying stabilizer, no separated elevators. Still a magnificent aircraft.

[@thegreat_I_am]

That stabiliser was a nightmare. The Eindekker rode like a farm cart.

[@johnnyappleseed738]

So awesome wonder if this plane even exists anymore?

[@martinschaefer9581]

Fun fact: while you are mentioning the "Oberursel" engine - this site near Frankfurt is BMW Rolls-Royce AeroEngines since 30 yrs

[@Payne2view]

Great old video but I could have done without being reminded how long ago 1987 was 🙂

[@jonnaylor3154]

Holy cow you would not get me up in that old crate for love or money! Pilots were so brave back then, I suppose they had to be.

[@oldschoolman1444]

I was wondering if they had to draw straws to see who was going to be the unlucky fellow to go first. Ha Ha!

[@jeremymellor8300]

Jeremy mellor kermit I was very interested in this I was a volunteer fore the blue max museum and remember the einderker very well .

[@nonamesplease6288]

It takes a brave man to fly an Eindecker given the plane's instability. Watching it fly, it's also hard to believe that the plane terrified allied pilots to the extent it did.

[@chriscarbaugh3936]

Great video where is she today and is she still flying? And what about the Mossie?

[@redblackvette]

Kermit are you STILL planning on building a wing warping E3???

[@simonnomis5302]

my favorite ww1 plane...love it although is a replica.

[@NesconProductions]

Kermit has had some really unique aviation experience! Certainly not the best performer in WW1 but was a pioneer (ailerons on replica I'm sure made it a lot easier & safer to fly). Oswald Boelcke mentioned scored the most Eindecker victories - 19 out of his final tally of 40. Know Eric Brown has a long established record for types (487) of aircraft flown. Curious how close Kermit is to Mr. Brown's record & do replica's count in the tally?

[@chrisdavis3642]

Let's just say replicas count..

[@jamesleonard7439]

@@chrisdavis3642 agreed.

[@plane_simple]

14:26 Did she just comment on the landing like: "Being called Kermit, he likes to hop" ?😉

[@mitchellmaerz8429]

What's really amazing is practically every world war I fighter in about 1915 to 1918 on the average they almost got 20 miles to the gallon and went 100 miles an hour. And that was over a hundred years ago. A lot of cars get 30 miles to the gallon and even though some planes can go a little bit faster a lot of them don't get any better than 15 or 20 miles to the gallon when you take everything into account of course it varies with wind speed and altitude that's why they say how many hours for 40 or 20 gallon tank. Although with all the advancement in motors and all the advancement from going to jet to rock it to electric motors when it comes to going 100 to 150 mph in the sky they rarely get better than 20 miles to the gallon

[@markhill4932]

I just wish you were in charge of the IWM , then things would really happen over here

[@motormech1h343]

Another sunny day in England

[@r.hagenau3541]

Now remember that the original Oberursel was more or less a binary engine, either full power of nothing, since power was managed via the ignition and not a carb or injection.

[@terrygrady7683]

Germans had cool uniforms for sure.

[@DeadBaron]

I made a documentary about the Eindecker back in the day. But then KZbin went to hell and copyright claimed the entire video for creative commons music from the 1910s, and they made it clear little guys should just give up.

[@Kevin-gc4ri]

I would love to see someone replicate, or restore a ww1 german taube

[@manuelespanol4560]

I ❤️ warbirds.

[@sgtstedanko7186]

Start that Fokker xD

[@randomnickify]

Me: "Must...refrain...from...making...fokker...jokes" Kermit: makes a fokker joke ;D

[@FINNIUSORION]

its so hard to get that lozenge pattern to look right.

[@mollymillions5438]

When he says this aircraft has a modern engine I guess it has a throttle, which WWI planes didn't, they were either on or off and couldn't be re-started in the air (although some of the more advanced/later WWI engines had the option to turn of the spark to half the cylinders, reducing the thrust for landing approach). Kermit would be well aware of this.

[@lambastepirate]

Hopefully got rid of the dreaded castor oil also! HAHAHAHAHA

[@mollymillions5438]

@@lambastepirate I'm guessing the modern engine doesn't rely on castor oil also. How hard were the pilots back in the day? Much respect to the old pilots (and the new).

[@johnclarke2553]

The original had a rotary engine. This one had a modern engine.

[@sw653j]

Hard to see, but it appears to be a flat opposed 4cyl...

[@martinsaunders7925]

@ molly millions. Castor oil. Castrol can still be bought today. Don't know if Castrol R. Is still sold. Had a sweet distinctive smell and was used in two cycle racing engines.

[@Toboldlygo721]

I think that’s where the rules for flying came from Oscar Boelcke. Known as Dicta Boelcke rules for flying roughly translated to Boelcke’s dictates. As far as I know this is right you have to check it for yourself🤷🏻‍♂️ ☺️

[@ronaldrose6885]

Skeeto bomber in background.all wood.

[@Tusk926]

Since when does a fokker e.iii have aelerons???🤔😮‍💨

[@ronaldrose6885]

Immelman turn.

[@eamo106]

Kermit, who was the first pilot ? You did well as the second . A new engine and ailerons but still difficult. Fun share !

[@KermitWeeks444]

Tony Bianchi - it’s in the clip!

[@soki_25]

What's the disadvantages of a gnome monosoupape engine?

[@pauleaton443]

It looks like Oddball finally graduated from Sherman Tanks to vintage German aircraft..?

[@benfletcher9659]

I'm in the UK and there are very few Fokkers here! Especially Eindeckers. This one cheated it has ailerons!

[@louislamboley9167]

Does anyone know what engine that is ? It's producing 90 horsepower. Modern as in Continental or Lycoming , horizontally opposed.

[@dougg1075]

Man that thing is tiny huh?

[@guypehaim1080]

You didn't say what engine was used to power the plane.

[@thurin84]

a "spark on a lark"?

[@Firebrand55]

Hard to believe that this scrawny E Series monoplane completely changed air warfare in WW1.........for a while. With it's revolutionary firing-thru-the-prop gun , it became known as the Fokker Scourge........RFC planes became 'Fokker Fodder' Later allied biplanes made it virtually obsolete..

[@dufus7396]

Was this the first high performce monoplane ?

[@stinker43]

In the start, it doesn't appear the rotary engine cylinders are spinning. Is this rather a radial motor?

[@leerogers6423]

Continental C-85. The aircraft was built to be a practical movie replica hence it also has ailerons.

[@johnwatson4080]

Ailerons?

[@EnzoCarniato]

Bellissimo però non è la versione originale. Questo velivolo ha gli alettoni mentre nel progetto di origine le ali si sventolano tramite tiranti e carrucole.❤

[@tanyano9]

When was this filmed..? And is the replica still around....?

[@MrDdaland]

It said this was filmed in 1987

[@tanyano9]

@@MrDdaland Ta

[@Channel-os4uk]

Lozenge fabric on an Eindecker? Don't think so. Radial engine also a pity

[@ЭрикХарисотрасветадозаката]

Было бы в России столько любителей авиации первой мировой войны

[@t.m.7712]

Ailerons? Elevator flaps? NO THANKS!

[@arthurfoyt6727]

I don't think that the Eindecker had a gun that was "synchronized" to shoot throught the propeller. It shot through the prop, but if I remember correctly it just had metal wedges on the back of the prop to deflect bullets that hit it.

[@brom1857]

No, the Eindekkers DID have a synchronised gun (or 2 - or even 3, in the case of the EIV). That was its USP, and why it caused such mayhem. Earlier allied aircraft (particularly the Morane designs on which the Fokkers were based, had the metal plates on the propeller, which badly affected aircraft performance.

[@arthurfoyt6727]

@@brom1857 Nope, originally they had metal wedges on the prop roots to deflect bullets. Unfortutately the shock of impact would eventually crack the wooden prop and one plane was catured by the British and the British were first to synchronize. Maybe later versions of teh Eindecker adopted sync but the British did a syncro first.

[@brom1857]

@Arthur Foyt Sorry, that doesn't accord with the history as I have read it over many years - in fact it is a 'mirror image'. There were various patented interrupter gears, some from before the war, but they had been forgotten. The first plated propeller blades were produced by the French. Their best-known and first 'ace' was Roland Garros, who shot down several German planes in early 1915, flying a Morane so equipped, but he was captured, and his secret was discovered by the Germans. Fokker 's engineers quickly developed a proper interrupter gear as a result - and used it on the Eindekker 1, and subsequent models. Meanwhile the British, with no such gear, developed the pusher fighters, DH2 and FE2, and used a side- mounted Lewis gun on the Bristol Scout C, firing outboard of the propeller. The French used the Nieuport 11, with an overwing mounted Lewis gun, firing above the propeller The first British interrupter gear was 1916's Vickers-Challenger, well after the Eindekkers had been defeated. The Eindekkers weren't brilliant fighter aircraft, but it was their modern gun mount which made their fearsome reputation.

[@arthurfoyt6727]

@@brom1857 I read piloyt accounts and memoirs. Whether that made it into the "history books" you read is unknown.

[@brom1857]

@Arthur Foyt Think I've read most of them, too, over the years. But facts are facts - and there can be no doubt whatsoever that the French pioneered the bullet plate on the propeller, that the Fokker Scourge was the result of the first synchronised gun in service, nor that the British were way behind in developing an interrupter gear. You'd find the Aerodrome Forum a fascinating source of information on WW1 in the air.