The Nieuport 28 was a graceful looking aircraft. It was relatively fast and manoeuverable. Yet it had a serious flaw that gave it a dangerous reputation. That was in a steep dive you could lose the upper wing fabric. This was experienced on a number of occasions by James Norman Hall, Eddie Rickenbacker, and James Meissner, all of whom suffered this mishap, yet survived.
The Pfalz D.XII was the successor to the Pfalz D.IIIa series fighter. They were received in late summer 1918, this one being flown by Leutnant der Reserve Paul Vogel. Vogel had arrived at Jasta 23b on May 4, 1918 and had a short but eventful career there. On July 12, 1918 he was wounded and sent to hospital. He returned after a few days and on July 25 claimed an S.E.5a but did not receive credit. Later that day he was shot down in flames, but parachuted to safety. This activity was repeated again when Vogel was forced to jump from his burning aircraft. The parachute again saved him. His luck ran out, however, when he encountered two S.E.5a aircraft and was shot down and killed. The aircraft looks like it was under control when it landed but lost its landing gear and was somewhat battered. It was not damaged enough to prevent the British from assigning it a 'G' number and featuring it in Flight magazine.
The above profile originally appeared on the rear cover of the Cross & Cockade Journal, vol. 21, no. 3. Chuck Sterns was the artist.
