Kurt Wintgens
Thread Starter
Kurt Wintgens
I've been reading about this WW1 German fighter ace, the first pilot to score a kill with a synchronized gun flying through the prop. Photographs show him wearing spectacles. Was this an exception EG due to eyesight deterioration after training, or did the convention of military pilots requiring uncorrected 20/20 vision not exist then?
Dr Jekyll,
Several German WWI pilots wore spectacles. One I’m familiar with is Otto Kissenberth.
The reason I know about Kissenberth is that I discovered that his last combat victory was while flying my Grandfather’s Sopwith Camel! He was subsequently badly injured when he crashed the Camel and never flew on operations again.
Ive always felt rather sorry for Lt. Reece, the pilot of the SE5a that he shot down. What RFC pilot would have been suspicious of a Camel coming up behind?
The details of how a Camel came to be flying in German markings are here:
One hundred years ago today, my grandfather, the "Musical Tommy" was shot down
Several German WWI pilots wore spectacles. One I’m familiar with is Otto Kissenberth.
The reason I know about Kissenberth is that I discovered that his last combat victory was while flying my Grandfather’s Sopwith Camel! He was subsequently badly injured when he crashed the Camel and never flew on operations again.
Ive always felt rather sorry for Lt. Reece, the pilot of the SE5a that he shot down. What RFC pilot would have been suspicious of a Camel coming up behind?
The details of how a Camel came to be flying in German markings are here:
One hundred years ago today, my grandfather, the "Musical Tommy" was shot down
