The Red Baron flies again GP takes to skies in plane he built over 9 years
A DOCTOR has taken to the skies in a First World War triplane he spent nine years building in tribute to his hero the Red Baron.
Dr Peter Brueggemann, 53, emulated German fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen when the replica Fokker Dreidecker Dr.1 fighter took off from Felthorpe airfield in Norfolk.
German Dr Brueggemann obtained permission from the Civil Aviation Authority to fly the fixed-wing plane after strict safety checks.
He reached speeds of 110mph at 3,000ft before landing in front of supporters as well as a representative of the German Luftwaffe.
The GP, who has been nicknamed the Red Baron of Norfolk by his patients in Holt, said: “When I got the permit to fly there was excitement but also trepidation because I realised I actually had to fly it now, it was no longer a dream. I was sat on the runway and I asked myself, 'Should I do this?' But you have to commit to it so I put the engine on at full power and went for it.”
After a “scary start” getting the plane under control, Peter took off and said it was “amazing to have the sensation of exactly what it was like to be a pilot 100 years ago”. The doctor's idol was a baron from an aristocratic Prussian family who was credited with 84 victories during the war.
Enemy
He was finally shot down and killed in April 1918, dying a German national hero at the age of 25.
“It was Richthofen's idea for the plane to be painted red because he wanted to be seen fairly quickly by the enemy and for them to be afraid of him because they knew he was the only pilot with a red plane,” said Peter, who even acquired a title of honour from the independent territory of Sealand, off the English coast, to enable him to fly as Baron von Brueggemann.
The father-of-two, who is married to English wife Sue, forked out £70,000 to build the Dreidecker, which even features two fake Spandau machine guns.
Since all the original aircraft were destroyed or lost, the amateur pilot used technical drawings from 1976 by US aviation fanatic Ron Sands as a blueprint for his Red Baron plane.
Apart from installing a modern engine, he sourced the same materials from a century ago to build it and even used his skills as a doctor to sew together the wings of the Dreidecker using needles and forceps.
Peter added: “My dream now is to fly the triplane to Germany next summer as it has been adopted as a mascot by a unit of the Luftwaffe who have von Richthofen as their symbol.”