Editing Manfred von Richthofen (section)

==Piloting career==
{{Quote box|align=right|width=30%|quote="I had been told the name of the place to which we were to fly and I was to direct the pilot. At first we flew straight ahead, then the pilot turned to the right, then left. I had lost all sense of direction over our own aerodrome!&nbsp;... I didn't care a bit where I was, and when the pilot thought it was time to go down, I was disappointed. Already I was counting down the hours to the time we could start again."|source=<small>John Simpson, quoting Richthofen's own description of his first flying experience.<ref name="McAllister 52-3">McAllister 1982, pp. 52–53.</ref></small>}}
Manfred von Richthofen had a chance meeting with German ace fighter pilot [[Oswald Boelcke]]<ref name="McAllister 54">McAllister 1982, p. 54.</ref> which led him to enter training as a pilot in October 1915.<ref name="McAllister 54"/> In February 1916, Manfred "rescued" his brother Lothar from the boredom of training new troops in [[Lubin|Lüben]] and encouraged him to transfer to the ''Fliegertruppe''.<ref name="Kilduff41">Kilduff 1994, p. 41.</ref> The next month, Manfred joined ''[[Kampfgeschwader]] 2'' ("No. 2 Fighter Squadron") flying a two-seater [[Albatros C.III]]. Initially, he appeared to be a below-average pilot. He struggled to control his aircraft, and he crashed during his first flight at the controls.<ref name="McAllister 54"/> Despite this poor start, he rapidly became attuned to his aircraft. He was over [[Verdun]] on 26 April 1916 and fired on a French [[Nieuport]], shooting it down over [[Fort Douaumont]]<ref name="McAllister 54"/>—although he received no official credit. A week later, he decided to ignore more experienced pilots' advice against flying through a thunderstorm. He later noted that he had been "lucky to get through the weather" and vowed never again to fly in such conditions unless ordered to do so.<ref name="McAllister 54-5">McAllister 1982, pp. 54–55.</ref>

Richthofen met Oswald Boelcke again in August 1916, after another spell flying two-seaters on the Eastern Front. Boelcke was visiting the east in search of candidates for his newly formed ''Jasta 2'', and he selected Richthofen to join this unit, one of the first German fighter squadrons.<ref name="McAllister 56">McAllister 1982, p. 56.</ref> Boelcke was killed during a midair collision with a friendly aircraft on 28 October 1916, and Richthofen witnessed the event.<ref name="McAllister 56"/>

Richthofen scored his first confirmed victory when he engaged Second Lieutenant Lionel Morris and his observer [[Tom Rees (British airman)|Tom Rees]] in the skies over [[Cambrai]], France, on 17 September 1916.<ref name="Swopes">{{cite web |url=http://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/the-red-baron/ |work=The Red Baron Archives |title=This Day in Aviation {{ndash}} September 17, 1916 |date=17 September 2013 |first1=Bryan |last1=Swopes |access-date=4 June 2014}}</ref> His autobiography states, "I honoured the fallen enemy by placing a stone on his beautiful grave."<ref name="Der rote Kampfflieger">von Richthofen, Manfred et al. [https://books.google.com/books?id=mxUZAAAAIAAJ&q=der+rote+kampfflieger ''Der rote Kampfflieger''.] Deutscher Verlag (Ullstein), 1933.</ref> He contacted a jeweller in Berlin and ordered a silver cup engraved with the date and the type of enemy aircraft.{{efn|Similar cups had been ''officially'' awarded to some earlier pilots on their first victories, although the practice had been discontinued by this time.}} He continued to celebrate each of his victories in the same manner until he had 60 cups, by which time the dwindling supply of silver in blockaded Germany meant that silver cups could no longer be supplied. Richthofen discontinued his orders at this stage, rather than accept cups made from base metal.{{efn|Burrows has suggested that he was simply bored with the procedure and that this was an excuse to discontinue it.}}

His brother Lothar (40 victories) used risky, aggressive tactics but Manfred observed maxims known as the "[[Dicta Boelcke]]" to assure success for both the squadron and its pilots.<ref>English 2003, p. 62.</ref> He was not a spectacular or aerobatic pilot like his brother or [[Werner Voss]], he was a noted tactician and squadron leader and a fine marksman. Typically, he would dive from above to attack with the advantage of the sun behind him, with other pilots of his squadron covering his rear and flanks.

[[File:Lanoe Hawker.jpg|thumb|upright|Major Lanoe Hawker VC]]
On 23 November 1916, Richthofen shot down his most famous adversary, British ace Major [[Lanoe Hawker]] VC, described by Richthofen as "the British Boelcke".<ref name="Burrows p. 103">Burrows 1970, p. 103.</ref> The victory came while Richthofen was flying an [[Albatros D.II]] and Hawker was flying the older [[Airco DH.2|DH.2]]. After a long dogfight, Hawker was shot in the back of the head as he attempted to escape back to his own lines.<ref name="McAllister 57">McAllister 1982, p. 57.</ref> After this combat, Richthofen was convinced that he needed a fighter aircraft with more agility, even with a loss of speed. He switched to the [[Albatros D.III]] in January 1917, scoring two victories before suffering an in-flight crack in the spar of the aircraft's lower wing on 24 January, and he reverted to the Albatros D.II or [[Halberstadt D.II]] for the next five weeks.

Richthofen was flying his Halberstadt on 6 March in combat with [[Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.8|F.E.8s]] of [[No. 40 Squadron RAF|40 Squadron RFC]] when his aircraft was shot through the fuel tank, by [[Edwin Benbow]], who was credited with a victory from this fight. Richthofen was able to make a forced landing near [[Hénin-Beaumont|Hénin-Liétard]] without his aircraft catching fire.<ref>Guttman 2009, p. 64</ref><ref name="Kilduff7">Kilduff, p. 79.</ref>  He then scored a victory in the Albatros D.II on 9 March, but his Albatros D.III was grounded for the rest of the month so he switched again to a Halberstadt D.II.<ref>Guttman 2009, pp. 64–65</ref> He returned to his Albatros D.III on 2 April 1917 and scored 22 victories in it before switching to the [[Albatros D.V]] in late June.<ref name="Burrows p. 103"/>
[[File:Fokker Dr1 on the ground.jpg|left|thumb|Richthofen's all-red Fokker Dr.I]]

Richthofen flew the celebrated [[Fokker Dr.I]] [[triplane]] from late August 1917, the distinctive three-winged aircraft with which he is most commonly associated—although he did not use the type exclusively until after it was reissued with strengthened wings in November.<ref>Grey and Thetford, 1970, p. 100.</ref> Only 19 of his 80 kills were made in this type of aircraft, despite the popular link between Richthofen and the Fokker Dr.I. It was his Albatros D.III Serial No. 789/16 that was first painted bright red, in late January 1917, and in which he first earned his name and reputation.<ref>Guttman 2009, p. 63.</ref>

Richthofen championed the development of the [[Fokker D.VII]] with suggestions to overcome the deficiencies of the then current German fighter aircraft.<ref name="baker">Baker 1991</ref> He never had an opportunity to fly the new type in combat, as he was killed before it entered service.
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