Godwin von Brumowski – Austro-Hungarian Fighter Ace 1889 / 1936 Pt2
The following month, February, When Flik41J was established on the Italian Front as Austro-Hungaria’s first dedicated fighter squadron, Brumowski was chosen to lead it. He spent nine days in March flying sorties with his German Allies of Jagdstaffel 24 to learn German fighter tactics before taking over command of his unit. While here he met The Red Baron, Manfred von Richtofen; von Brumowski would later paint his own aircraft all red to copy The Red Baron.
Brumowski continued amassing victories through May ending the month with a total of eight. At this time, he was flying a single seat fighter, the Hansa – Brandenburg D1. Although better suited to Aerial combat than the C1 It still had its deficiencies, The pilots vision was partially obscured, The single machine gun was not synchronised to fire through the propeller arc and the aircraft was not an easy aircraft to fly, it was prone to go into a spin at any altitude. In July 1917 Flik 41J lost eleven of its Hansa – Brandenburg D1’s in flying accidents, it’s nickname somewhat aptly became ‘The Flying Coffin’ Also worthy of a mention, at this time the Austro- Hungarians were fighting on two fronts, The Eastern against Russia and her allies and the Southern Front against Italy and her allies. Most of the Air fighting was done either over mountains or other hostile terrain, so if you were shot down, your chances of survival were slim.
In August 1917, von Brumowski scored a remarkable run of victories, being credited with 12 confirmed and 6 unconfirmed victories, between the 10th and 28th 0f August. Two of these victories on the 19th and 20th were due to the partial transition to a newer aircraft, the Albatros DIII with synchronised twin machine guns. On the 20th he scored once with the Albatros and twice with the D1. By the end of August the transition was complete, all of his further victories would be scored flying the Albatros.
To Be Continued……..
(C) Damian Grange 2018
Enjoyed it!
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Thank you, I am trying to select the ones with the more interesting stories!
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Nice read 💯
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Thank you so much for your interest!
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I didn’t know until I read this post that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had any flying aces.
You don’t hear much about that country having had flying aces.
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They actually had quite a few, They fought on two fronts against the Russians and her allies in the East and the Italians and allies in the South. I think people in general think only of Germany as the enemy, when it was actually Germany, Austro – Hungary and The Turkish Empire. There are others I may feature in due course.
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