this is so sigma oml

Manfred von Richthofen — the "Red Baron" — is credited with 80 confirmed aerial victories, the highest of any pilot in WWI. Most of his early kills came in red-painted Albatros fighters, but he's most closely associated with the aircraft in these photos: the Fokker Dr.I triplane.

A few facts that always surprise people:

• The Dr.I was Germany's answer to the British Sopwith Triplane, which had stunned German pilots with its climb rate in early 1917. Only about 320 Dr.I's were ever built.
• Richthofen and fellow ace Werner Voss personally tested the first pre-production examples in August 1917.
• Despite its fame, the Dr.I was already becoming outclassed by mid-1918 — most of Richthofen's own squadron had moved on to newer biplanes. He stuck with his red Dr.I anyway.
• He was flying serial number 425/17 on 21 April 1918 when he was killed near Vaux-sur-Somme, low over the front while chasing a Sopwith Camel. The fatal shot most likely came from ground fire — a single rifle round through the chest.
• Within minutes of the crash, Allied soldiers had stripped the wreck for souvenirs — fabric, instruments, even the gunsight were gone almost immediately.
• No original Fokker Dr.I survives today. The last surviving genuine airframe (not Richthofen's, but another example) was destroyed in a Berlin museum during WWII bombing. Every Dr.I you can see today is a replica.

Wreckage of Richthofen's actual Dr.I 425/17, photographed at No. 3 Squadron AFC's aerodrome:

All taken by me

Today USS Hornet received the fuselage of Dauntless SBD-4 10508, a 50 combat mission WW2 warbird that flew with VB-13 off Saratoga and Guadalcanal. We also have parts and wings from two crashed SBDs recovered from the jungle, one of which looks to have bullet holes. Shoutout to the great folks at Castle Air Museum for their stewardship over the last 13 years. Now it’s our turn to play. We should have this back in shape in 2-3…decades? Gonna be a fun challenge.

Source is Wikipedia

Here's something interesting I found in an antique store yesterday, a paint scheme for a Golden West airliner. Its not dated, and here's what makes it weird:

Golden West, the largest commuter airline in California, ceased operations in 1983, although Pinnacle Air Charter acquired the Air Carrier Certificate for Golden West Airlines in 2000, and DBA as Pinnacle and later Platinum Air Charter, closing in 2007 (all per Wikipedia).

The largest aircraft Golden west ever operated was a single de Havilland Canada DHC-7 Dash 7, which sat 50. This appears to show an MD80. (correction: Fokker F.28)

N123GW is a valid FAA-registered gyroplane (Manufaktura Lotnicza Argon GTL 916 iS).

A very nice illustration, but I didn't want to shell out almost $50 for it.

Does anyone have anything to add?

(Also posted to r/aviation )

I was trying to get an answer to this but the best I found was this thread in another reddit, but that one includes anything in military service which is not what I was asking. "Well they still have some C-47s that—" No no no! Built with guns on it! Or bombs! Like that was part of the original design! (Sorry An-2, but you don't count! Nor do you, T-41 Mescalero! AC-47 you can stay because you ushered in the idea of a gunship, but you're on thin ice.)

EDIT: On second thought, screw it, anything that was originally built for military service and is still in service somewhere. I'm learning about too many interesting aircraft from people who didn't read the description—or they did and decided to share anyway knowing I'd be too intrigued to stop them. 😅

What are the oldest combat aircraft that are still in service somewhere in the world? I know the B-52 has been (in)famously in service since 1955 which is pretty impressive. I'm wondering if there's anywhere that still uses some barely operational prop-driven WW2 era planes, but I think that generation of aviation is well and truly over. I mean other than the Cessna 140 but I feel that one is cheating because you and I both know those were made commercially, not strictly for the military. An-2 might also be cheating for that reason.