Paul F. Baer - Ace of Aces

Paul F. Baer

Born on January 29, 1894 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Paul F. Baer was the first United States Air Service "Ace of Aces." Baer, much like Frank Luke later in The Great War, went on a scoring tear from March 1 to May 22, 1918 that saw the destruction of nine confirmed and eight probable aircraft in less than three months, all while serving with the 103rd Aero Squadron.

Baer did not have any victories as a member of the Lafayette Flying Corps in Spa.80 but would have gained valuable experience, serving with the French squadron from August 1917 to January 1918. He also received an extensive amount of training prior to joining Spa.80. Some histories Baer is listed as a member of Spa.124, the famous Lafayette Escadrille, and while he was assigned to the unit in January 1918, it was during the period in which Spa.124 was transitioning from a French to an American unit - seeing no flying - and hence Baer is not listed as one of the thirty-eight Americans that made up that famous squadron.

While in French service Baer flew this patriotic themed SPAD VII

The 103rd Aero, formed from seventeen former Lafayette Escadrille pilots, would initially be assigned to Groupe de Combat 21, a French group in which the 103rd formed the only American component. The 103rd would not be assigned to an American group until July 1918 as part of the Second Pursuit Group, before moving to the Third Pursuit Group. The four squadrons each took on a squadron distinctive Indian head design with the 103rd retaining the Sioux Indian head from the Lafayette Escadrille.

Baer's beautiful 103rd Aero SPAD VII 

Baer was described as fearless and an accomplished pilot, having attacked larger formations of enemy aircraft on at least two occasions. Due to his aggressiveness and success in the skies over the Western Front, Baer would be highly decorated by both the French and American air services, earning the Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Légion d'honneur, and the Croix de Guerre. Baer was described as fearless and an accomplished pilot, having attacked larger formations of enemy aircraft on at least two occasions.  Unlike some more accomplished aces, Baer shot down mostly signal seat fighters. However Baer would be shot down on May 22, 1918 and taken prisoner until the armistice. This last action is captured as a scenario in Colorful Skies 2 (titled American Ace).

Confirmed and unconfirmed victories

After the war Baer continued flying in a variety of capacities, even trying to form a squadron of American volunteers to fight in the Polish-Russian War. His final flying employment was in China, piloting floatplanes, and while flying a floatplane at Shanghai on December 9, 1930, upon takeoff Baer's plane hit the mast of a junk in the Yangtze River and crashed. Baer's body was eventually returned to Fort Wayne, where he is buried in Lindenwood Cemetery.

There is one book that features Baer's life, what little is known about it. In 2017, Tony Garel-Frantzen released his book Hoosier Aviator Paul Baer: America's First Combat Ace (History Press). It is an okay effort, relying a little too heavily on a letter Baer wrote after the war that focused on his time as a prisoner of war, the letter being printed in full, which takes up several pages of the book. The author could have used other primary sources (such as Gorrell's History of the American Expeditionary Forces Air Service, 1917-1919) to add more to Baer's story as a combat pilot with the 103rd Aero. However, the book is a solid effort and is, as mentioned, the only currently available title on Baer.

Delving Into 1/200 - First Order

YouTube video HERE

In reviewing the several scenarios I have for The Great War (from both Colorful Skies and Billy's Boys) and after having an excellent chat one evening with Mike at Table Top Flights, I have placed my first order for 1/200 scale planes that are printed with a 1/144 scale post in order to use with the Wings of Glory peg system. I also ordered several of Mike's clear propeller blades to use on these planes.

Nieuport 28

I have decided to go late war Western Front for now, with eleven Nieuport 28s, eight SPAD XIIIs, and eleven Fokker D.VIIs. This gives me the flexibility to create ten scenarios featuring Nieuports vs. Fokkers, and another sixteen featuring the SPAD XIII, again against those same Fokkers. I think this is plenty to work on at this time, although eventually I'd like to recreate some Belgian and Lafayette Escadrille actions.

SPAD XIII

The SPADs will be painted as the 103rd Aero, the Nieuports as the 27th Aero, and I might do a quasi-historical Bavarian scheme for the Fokkers as a bit of an homage to my Bavarian heritage, unless I can get some late Jasta 18 decals made, which I think Bernhard at Sieben Schwaben Spiele Decals will be getting around to creating due to recent conversations. These various squadrons are not specifically featured in all twenty-six scenarios I will be able to host, but the two American choices are some of my favorites from the war. 

Fokker D.VII

Wright Flight AAR

We had three tables a-rolling for the last Wright Flight gathering, with about four players per table. The other two featured balloon busting, while my table went for Albatros D.IIIs fighting Lafayette Escadrille N.17s during Bloody April. 

Both N.17s had A guns, and with their superior maneuverability I thought they would have a hand up over the Germans, but the two Frommherz D.IIIs did some incredible damage. I was able, early in the game, to make a head on with camelbeagle, which resulted in four points of damage on my end. But I was able get a good reversement onto the tail of camelbeagle's Nieuport, and lit him up a bit. Then I was able to turn into the other N.17 and hit him with a +1 shot, and he drew the boom card (we play the boom card as half damage rounded down, so seven points on the N.17). While both American pilots were able to get off the board without being shot down, they both suffered 10 points of damage each.

Alas, I only snapped a couple of pictures.

We played a second game, swapping out an N.17 for a French Sopwith 1 1/2 Strutter with a random recon mission and random board edge exit point. After successfully taking photos, camelbeagle was heading for home. I lined him up nicely, did some damage, but in return took a pilot wound, which kept me from following up on the Strutter. Dan was able to get off the board while I had taken enough damage to exit as well. The other two players danced around a bit, but results were fairly inconclusive.

 

Adding More Nieuports

Shapeways on left, Table Top on right. Posts and props as well.

For some months I have had a couple of 1/144 Nieuport N.17s awaiting prep, paint, and decals. One model is a Shapeways with the improved print material, and the other is a Table Top Flights offering. With my recent efforts in adding life to three Ares miniatures, I thought it might be nice to add to my Lafayette Escadrille's stable of available Nieuports.

Preparation

Neither plane came with posts, so luckily I did order posts from Shapeways before they declared bankruptcy. A couple of cuts with the X-ACTO knife to remove the pegs from the sprue, some filing to the edge that gets glued to the plane, and then a little superglue, and the pegs are securely in place.

Comparing the two materials - Table Top is smoother and more detailed

Posts added, time for priming

After drying the next step was a coat of primer. Normally I use some AK Interactive gray that I brush on, but last time I used it it had become quite separated, and rigorous shaking yielded undesirable results. Fortunately I had a can of Testers Panzer Gray, which I have used as primer in the past, and I really love the smooth coverage Testors provides.

After priming it was on to painting.

Painting

I already have the "T" and three red bar Nieuports, plus a white band one that I converted from another three bar Ares. Another historical scheme was simply the Seminole Indian head with the national insignia. Okay, that is easy enough. But what about the second one?

My friend Dan (camelbeagle on the Wings of Glory Aerodrome) had a Soubiran version already, using decals from the Valom kit (although I am not certain if the decal's fuselage band color is correct - the decal is black, but the band might actually be red). I also know I cannot pull off letters like "ECP" as that becomes too fiddly and I do not have the ability to print my own decals. One also needs to keep in mind that many of the schemes found searching the world wide web are simply wrong. And the two books I have that include color plates cover the same aircraft I already have or cannot pull off.

And then I remembered - I had bought one of the Nieuports to do a Russian version! And I already have the Russian decals for the scheme I wanted to tackle, and it, too, is a silver doped plane. Sooo, the rest of this post will focus on the Lafayette version, which will simply be a plain plane, with national insignia and Seminole heads!

A close approximation for the silver-doped Ares Nieuport 17 is a mix suggested by Dom from Dom's Decals. Take six parts of Vallejo silver and blend with five parts Vallejo natural steel. I also thin this mix with a little water - metallic paints can be think and I would rather put on a couple of coats of thin paint than a thick one susceptible to clumping. Or, let's make it even simpler - just use Vallejo aluminium (yes, the British spelling). The Model Air range of Vallejo paints are a bit thinner in viscosity, and one does not have to mix paints, and the color is very close to the Ares Nieuports. Plus, we all know that paint widely varied during the war due to weather conditions, and different factories doped fabric differently.

One coat coverage -  the Shapeways version is so shite I am not going to even bother

After the primary color had been applied (and I only needed one coat with a few touchups after), I moved onto the rudder. I used Vallejo white and carmine red, along with Foundry Bavarian cornflower blue (shade 73A).  I was able to use masking tape for the red segment, and I tried lining up a business card to help keep the rest of the lines straight (an idea shared by CrashCraig), but it is still a bit sloppy. And it was the old "Let me fix the white. Damn, went over on the blue too much. Okay, fixed the blue, but got it in the white. Okay, fixed the white, but now I have to correct the red" sort of thing). After doing this several times, I said "feck it" and now it is what it is. From three feet away it looks decent.

While waiting on rudder colors to dry, I added Vallejo flat brown to the outer struts, propeller, pilot, and tail skid. I also painted the machinegun, motor cylinders, and propeller hub Vallejo natural steel. A touch of Vallejo medium sea gray was applied to the tires.

Decals

Now the fun part - the finishing touches that add color to the Lafayette Escadrille Nieuport 17. I used Beacon Publications decals (available from I-94 Enterprises) for the French roundels. Alas, the sizes available do not perfectly align with the Ares planes - for example the top wing roundel on the Ares plane is 7mm, while the closest size Beacon decals are either 8mm or 6mm. I went with the smaller of the two as I did not want the roundel to come across as cartoonish by being too large. Then I applied the Miscellaneous Miniatures Sioux heads to each side of the plane. In both cases I put a spot of Vallejo decal fix on the plane, and after some drying coated the decal with Vallejo decal softener, which allows the decal to conform to the miniature. After drying I then coated the plane with Vallejo gloss varnish to match the other Lafayette Nieuports.

Conclusion

This is the not first Table Top Flight plane I have painted for Wings of Glory (see HERE), and I will say that in every case the material used by Mike at Table Top really does take paint very well, unlike the Shapeways model with it obvious grainy texture. This particular Lafayette Escadrille Nieuport was a rather simple project to take on, and I completed it over the course of three days. The color is a tad off, and perhaps using the mix suggested by Dom might have resulted in a matched aircraft, but overall it works.

Mat - Deep Cut Studio

Part II - Bringing The Lafayette Escadrille to Life

As mentioned in the previous post, I am working on an easy project on a few Wings of Glory/War Lafayette Escadrille planes to bring them to a bit nicer look.

The first step to modify what will become the Haviland N.17 was to mix paints to match the Wings of War silver-doped color. Using six parts of Vallejo silver and five parts Vallejo natural steel, one can obtain a pretty close approximation. The painted over portion is a bit shinier than the rest of the plane, but this should not be an issue once I give the plane a coat of varnish.

Painted over the three red stripes on the rear fuselage, and have applied a white band

The second step was to use masking tape to paint a white fuselage band around the Nieuport. This was trickier than expected, simply because it was a challenge to hold the plane while trying to line up the tape. But, once I was able to get the two pieces in place, then I applied a coat of Vallejo white. A second coat was added, yielding this okay, but not great result. Good enough for the tabletop, but not for my OCD.

Band in place, three bars painted over

Then it was time to add the Sioux head decals to all the Nieuports. Using a little Vallejo decal fix, and soaking the Miscellaneous Miniatures decals in warm water, I was able to place the decals over the existing dull looking Seminole heads. This addition really brought some life to the Lafayette planes!

Touched up the rudder flashes a bit. Not perfect, but much better than they were initially. I then added coat of gloss varnish which was going to be followed by a coat of matte, but I like the look of the gloss enough to leave it as is. 

Complete!

The new decals are adding a splash of color

Not completely satisfied with the white fuselage band, but from three feet is works

And a video summarizing the project:

Mat - GripMats

Part I - Bringing The Lafayette Escadrille to Life

N.1844 with some bad decal placement. This will be the miniature used for a repaint.

I own three of the Wings of War Lafayette Escadrille Nieuport 17s - two marked with three red stripes on the fuselage side, and one with a "T" on the fuselage. According to Jon Guttman's SPA124 Lafayette Escadrille - American Volunteer Airmen in World War 1 (Osprey, 2004), the three red stripes on the first mentioned Nieuport are "coup marks," but in his Nieuport Flyers of the Lafayette (Albatros, 2006), the three stripes represent Captaine George Thenault's rank. Four different pilots flew N.1844 - Thenault, Lufbery, Hoskier, and Willis, so whether the personal markings represent coup marks of the Native American Indians or the captain's rank, one plane needs to be converted into a different N.17. As one of the models has the three stripes in an awkward position I will use that model for the "repaint."

Colors to be mixed for the repaint

I will be using Dom's Decals suggested mix of six parts Vallejo silver and five parts Vallejo natural steel to paint over the three stripes. Then I will add masking tape to paint a vertical white band around the fuselage to represent Willis Haviland's N.1887, which later became George Hinkle's plane with the addition of an "H" on the fuselage and red trim on the white band.

The rather dark and dull looking Seminole head will be replaced

On all three N.17s the Seminole head looks rather dull, the colors looking rather muted, almost black and white. I will be using decals from Miscellaneous Miniatures to add some color to the planes. While the decals represent the later Sioux motif, I think they will work nicely as Seminole heads and will enhance the plane's colors rather well.

The decals to be used. I have used some on Reduced Aircraft Factory color 103rd Aero SPAD S.VIIs to great effect. See THIS POST

I also need to fixe the rudder flashes on two of the N.17s as the red portion has a bit of decal missing. 

This is a rather easy project, or should be, with really only the masking and painting of the white fuselage band presenting the hardest aspect. I should be able to knock these out over the next couple of days, in time for some Bloody April fighting at the monthly Wright Flight gathering.

Mat - GripMats

103rd Aero - Decals

Before adding decals - notice the muted roundel and rudder colors

Before Shapeways' recent demise, many of us in the Wright Flight were buying printed color aircraft from Reduced Aircraft Factory. These planes were filling in many gaps in our respective collections, but the colors, due to their very printed nature, were extremely muted or even slightly off. This was particularly noticeable in the primary color ranges, where blues, reds, and other solid colors simply do not come out as vivid as in real life. Usually the details for squadron markings and lozenge patterns were excellent, but the Sioux Indian heads on these 103rd Aero Squadron SPAD VIIs got lost in the mix. To rectify that somewhat I bought decals from Miscellaneous Miniatures to add to the planes, giving them a bit of a "pop." While the Indian heads on the decals are the early Lafayette Escadrille Seminole version, the decals came out looking rather good.

After, but before adding decal softener

The End of a Baer

Paul F. Baer in front of his SPAD S.VII

As you may or may not know, I have a great interest in the Escadrille Americaine/Lafayette Escadrille/103rd Aero. I have a few planes to represent the various stages of this squadron, ranging from two Nieuport N.11 repaints (Rumsey and Chapman), to the Thaw/Lufbery Nieuport N.17, to four SPAD S.VIIs for the 103rd Aero. Also, one of the more compelling American pilots of the war, and one who was the American Ace of Aces for a short spell, was a member of the 103rd, that being Paul Baer from Indiana.

The flight log of the 103rd Aero is an interesting read. While it might not have all the details needed to flesh out scenarios, it does in some cases provide a framework to build a scenario upon. Hence the following scenario idea, based on Baer's last flight of May 22, 1918, in which he was shot down, captured, and kept as a prisoner for the remainder of the war.

The flight took place between 8:45 (when the patrol took off) until 10:45 a. m. (when most of the patrol returned). An hour into the patrol eight enemy fighters were spotted in the Laventie region (the term monoplace being used in the log to denote single-seater) - Laventie being a few miles west of Lille. According to the log, First Lieutenant William Dugan was attacked and in turn he performed a loop and fired but ten rounds until his Vickers jammed. Fellow flight member First Lieutenant Charles Wilcox "piqued" on two of the enemy fighters, which I believe means that he had a height advantage. After firing fifty rounds he was able to shoot down one of the fighters which fell en vrille - spinning out of control. Then First Lieutenant George Turnure piqued on the tail of another German, attacking it, following it for 2,000 meters, when the German appeared to be out of control. Dugan would state that he saw a German being hard pressed by a SPAD, which could have been Turnure's potential victim. It was also noted that the patrol saw a German piquing on a SPAD. Then the report simply states that Lieutenants (Paul) Baer and (Ernest) Giroux did not return. Baer was flying a SPAD S.VII, but Giroux was flying a SPAD SXIII. The 103rd, even when transitioning the the S.XIII would often prefer to fly the S.VII as it was more mechanically reliable.

So, how would one create a scenario from such information? We have five American pilots named to face off against eight Germans. We do not know the types of planes the Germans were equipped with, let alone their Jasta (although Baer had possibly encounters the red nose planes of Jasta 18 previously). Being that is was late May of 1918, there is a chance the fighters were Pfalz D.IIIas, Albatros D.Vas, or even Fokker D.VIIs (these being the most common types in service at the time, there could be other choices as well). Most likely the enemy was not using triplanes as this most likely would have been noted in the log. We do know that Baer was credited with an Albatros on this flight so can assume that at least part of the German flight consisted of Albatros D.Vas.

Dugan was attacked, seemingly even after the Germans had been spotted. Does this mean the Germans had a position advantage over Dugan? Were they tailing the SPADs of the 103rd? How then was Wilcox able to pique on two Germans? Did he maneuver for a height advantage or was he already at a higher altitude?

I would almost suggest starting the various aircraft at random locations. Have each plane roll a die, loser starts in the middle of the playing surface, then next lowest die rolls, using the chart below, to determine their place, then next plane starts based on that position, and so on. Would make a heck of a mess of planes on the table, to be certain!

I would be curious to hear your thoughts on this potential scenario!