The guy to the left is my great-granfather Ernst Fastenrath. He constructed and built the plane and also the engine on his own from 1911 to 1913. He flew occasionally near Plettenberg (some 25km south-east of Dortmund), always trying to improve the (ever nameless) airplane. In the end, he upgraded the engine from 3 to 4 cylinder, but crashed the plane soon afterwards. The wings were sold to a friend, who built a new fuselage and continued flying until the outbreak of WWI. The 4-cyl.-engine survived until today and is currently “on loan” as an exhibit to the local flying club.
At the beginning of WWI, my great-grandfather joined the army and ended up due to his experiences in aviation as a airplane-mechanic. During the first stage of the war, he was later tranferred to twin-engined bombers, his work was maintaining the plane of the crew Schroeder (Pilot) / von Richthofen (“Franzer” = Navigator / Observer).
I knew you´d fail … you never had any chance. :p
Okay, why not. I shall wait until tomorrow … “Nacht zusammen!”
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