Corgi Diecast Fokker E.III Eindecker Vfw Ernst Udet 1:48 WWI German Aircraft Display Model AA28703

• Corgi is a premier line of diecast products that feature aircraft, trucks, tanks emergency vehicles and buses that has been producing models for over 50 years..
• The Aviation Archive is a range of high quality detailed die-cast model aircraft. Each model comes complete with an individually numbered Certificate of Authenticity detailing the significant history or each aircraft..
• Pose model in flight on display stand included with the model with fixed undercarriage..
• This 1:48th scale airplane includes detailed crew figure(s), fixed undercarriage, fine rigging detail, rotatable propeller(s)/ rotor(s) and wood grain effect propeller..
• A great gift for a buff and perfect to display on a shelf or desk..

German High Command instructed its aircraft manufacturers to develop a new kind of plane, one which was intended to hunt other airplanes and cl superiority of the skies. The result of that search was the Fokker Eindecker, a mono wing fighter aircraft which represented the very pinnacle of aviation technology at that time, incorporating all the flight research data designers had managed to amass and utilizing all the very latest technological advances in aviation. With the ability to fire its machine through the arc of the propeller by using a clever interrupter gear mechanism, all the Eindecker's pilot had to do was the nose of his aircraft in the direction of his target and fire, something of a revolutionary concept in aviation, but one which wasn't as simple as this description suggests. The Eindecker was still rather primitive and relatively underpowered, making their pilots true pioneers in their craft. Early Eindecker pilots were effectively writing the rules of aerial combat as they attempted to control the skies and with each hunting unit usually being allocated three or four of the new fighters, they were still quite an exclusive group of airmen. Relegated to non-combat and reserve roles by 1917, the Fokker Eindecker would also be used by the first fighter pilots of the Austro-Hungarian and Turkish air forces during the Great War. Growing up in Munich, a young Ernst Udet was fascinated by the subject of aviation from an early age and would spend much of his free time doing whatever jobs he could at the local aircraft manufacturing company, whilst also helping to establish the Munich Aero-club. He was finally able to make his first powered flight with a test pilot from the aerodrome where he used to help out, but not before he had almost killed himself attempting to fly a glider he and his friends had built themselves. Following the start of WWI, Udet applied to join the German Army, but standing just 5ft 3 ins tall was told that he didn't qualify. He would later use his motorcycle riding skills to gain a position in a dispatch riding unit, but following an accident where he was thrown from the motorcycle as it ran over a shell crater, required a period of extensive recouperation. During his return to , Udet befriended some men who were assigned to a flying unit and convinced him to apply for pilot training, but after a couple of disappointments, discovered that the only way to guarantee acceptance in the Imperial German Air Service was to hold a civilian pilots licence. Immediately returning home and to the aerodrome a test pilot there agreed to teach him, but at his own expense and on receipt of his licence was finally successful with his application to join the Air Force. His initial posting was as pilot in a reconnaissance squadron, flying spotting and artillery ranging missions with his assigned observer. He would be awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class for flying his damaged aircraft back to his home airfield following the failure of a wing brace anchor and with his observer on the wing, holding the wing together, but was later placed under arrest for recklessly overloading his aircraft with fuel and bombs when attempting to attack the enemy. When asked to observe an early bombing mission on his return to duty, where bombs were simply thrown from the cockpit of attacking aircraft, Udet impressed his commander by basically flying aerobatics in one of these primitive aircraft, in an attempt to dislodge a bomb stuck in the undercarriage of his aircraft. On landing, he was immediately recommended for retraining as a fighter pilot. Udet's introduction as a fighter pilot proved to be just as eventful as his reconnaissance posting. Flying a Fokker Eindecker, he chose to ignore combat instructions and attack a French aircraft head on and as the two aircraft closed at speed, Udet inexplicably froze. The French airman did not miss his rtunity and fired on the German aircraft, with a bullet grazing Udet's cheek and shattering his flying goggles, but failing to score a decisive victory. Udet escaped this encounter relatively unscathed, but resolved to never give his nent such a chance again and to always fly decisively and aggressively when in combat, perfecting his fighting style and to become an ace airman at the earliest rtunity. It is thought that Udet may have scored his first aerial victory whilst flying Fokker Eindecker E.III 105/15 in March 1916, the aircraft we have modelled here and on landing, he was immediately promoted to the rank of Vizefeldwebel. Ernst Udet would quickly demonstrate his flying prowess and made good on the promise he made to himself. With his victory tally standing at 20, he was visited by a rather famous flying celebrity, a man who wanted him to join his celebrated Flying Circus, and when you are approached by a man such as Manfred von Richthofen, you definitely don't decline such an rtunity. Having witnessed Udet shooting down an Allied artillery spotter during their first combat sortie, interestingly by performing a frontal attack similar to the one where he was almost killed, von Richthofen immediately gave his new recruit command of his old squadron, Jasta 11 and he would not regret the faith he showed in him. Udet would end the war with 62 confirmed victories, the most successful Great War air ace to survive the conflict and second only in number to the great von Richthofen himself.