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Rumpler C.IV C.6693/16 Wood Fragment and Fabric

Ru. C. 6693/16 was forced down between Vaudoy and Rozoy on 16 February 1918.  This is a piece of fabric-covered wood from that plane.  The fabric has a thread count of 56 threads per inch.  The fuselage bears a geometric pattern of a white triangle within a black triangle which was used at least twice in Flieger-Abteilung (A) 209, once on Rumpler C.IV C. 1454/17 which was captured by the French on 24 October 1917, and again on this aircraft, C.6693/16.  FA(A) 209 lost a Rumpler on 16 February 1918 which matches the writing on the back of the wood, "a piece of woodwork off a German plane brought down in our lines on Feb 16th, 1918."  As reported in the French and British press, after they crashed, the German crew attempted to set their plane on fire but two passing gendarmes prevented them from doing this and placed them under arrest. One image below shows the fabric magnified allowing the reader to count the number of threads followed by a cross-section at 200x showing the oil-based paint and fabric (non-reactive to acetone so we know it’s not dope), followed by a schematic to aid in reading the cross-section. This object measures 4-0 in. x 2-5/8 in. or 10 cm x 6.7 cm.  C.6693/16 had a painted camouflage scheme.  The color of it’s fabric matches that of one of the colors on the wreckage of Rumpler C.IV C.1463/17 which is being restored by Koloman Mayrhofer.  Images of C.6693/16 courtesy of Christophe Cony.  One original postcard accompanies the lot. The little pieces of fabric from C.1463/17 are not part of this lot, they are used here to make a color comparison.

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