The Man - Kurt Wolff

Oberleutnant Kurt Wolff was born on February 6, 1895 in Greifswald, Pomerania. He received his pilot's badge in late 1915, and by late 1916 he was posted to the woefully unsuccessful Jasta 11. For many months, Wolff, like many of his squadron mates, failed to find success in the air. Wolff's luck took a turn, however, when command of Jasta 11 was given over to Manfred von Richthofen. Under Richthofen's leadership, Wolff (and Jasta 11) thrived and became an efficient and effective scout pilot. His 33 aerial victories included 4 victories on April 13, 1917, and 3 victories on April 29, 1917.

Nicknamed "zarte Blümlein" (delicate flower) by his squadronmates, Wolff's youthful looks and frail physical stature masked his deadly skills as a combat pilot. Karl Bodenschatz, in his history of JG I entitled Jagd in Flanders Himmel, wrote this about Wolff:

"Jasta 11: Leutnant Kurt Wolff. At first glance, you could only say 'delicate little flower'. A slender, thin, little figure, a very young face, whose entire manner is one of extreme shyness. He looks as if you could tip him backwards with one harsh word. But below this friendly schoolboy's face dangles the order Pour le Merite. And so far, these modest looking eyes have taken 30 enemy airplanes from the sky over the sights of his machine guns, set them afire, and made them smash to pieces on the ground. This slender youth is already one of the best men of the old Richthofen Staffel 11."

Although subordinate to his squadron leader, Wolff developed a close friendship with Richthofen and became one of the Baron's closest friends. When Richthofen was appointed leader of the newly formed JG1 in June of 1917, Wolff was given command Jasta 11.

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The Airplane - Fokker F.1 Triplane

When Manfred von Richthofen went on leave in early September of 1917, he allowed Wolff to fly his own personal aircraft in his absence. The airplane was a new machine - one of two prototype Fokker F.1 triplanes that had just been assigned to the front. Known by its werke number, 102/17 (number 103/17 had been assigned to Werner Voss), the F.1 prototype was the forerunner of the more famous Dr.1 triplane.

Although the two Fokker F.1 prototypes were very similar to their Dr.1 cousins, there were a few visual differences between the F.1s and the Dr.1s that allow us to differentiate the two types from each other. Among those differences were the facts that:

• The F.1 prototypes used a horizontal stabilizer with a curved leading edge. On the Dr.1s, the leading edge was straight.
• The F.1 prototypes did not carry wingtip skids on the lower wings as the Dr.1s did.
• The aileron horns on the F.1s were shaped slightly differently, as was the trailing edge of the top wing.
• The cowlings of the F.1s had a "lip" on the back which wrapped around the rotary engine.

Kurt Wolff met his death while flying Fokker F.1 102/17 on September 15, 1917. Eight days later, Werner Voss would meet the same fate while flying 103/17 in a famous aerial battle against pilots from RFC 56 Squadron ("Last Dance of the Hussar"). Although several depictions have been made of Voss' famous fight, no one that I could recall had ever attempted to paint the fateful end of Kurt Wolff and 102/17.