Aviation history you can touch with Ron Cole's 13x19-inch wall-hanging relic display of the famous German Great War Pfalz D.XII fighter with very rare lozenge camouflaged linen. Handmade in the USA, right here in Zanesville, Ohio!
.
Aircraft History:
.
After World War I, several German aircraft types were provided to the United States as a part of Germany's war reparations. Among those airplanes were two late-war Pfalz D.XII fighters, which, along with the Fokker D.VII, represented the most advanced aerial technology that the former enemy had to offer by 1918. One of these two D.XIIs (s/n 2486/18) was later purchased by George Burling Jarrett, who was the original pioneer of historic aircraft preservation and who went on to create the museum and library at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds (which now bear his name). Jarrett spent the next 30 years of his life laboring to preserve and display this aircraft, while loaning it to be used in various Hollywood films, including Howard Hughes's Hell's Angels. By 1947, however, it had significantly deteriorated and much of it had been replaced by new material, wood and fabric. While it was later purchased by the National Air and Space Museum, Jarrett held on to much of the original material, especially from this aircraft's wings - including sections of the wing spars, metal fittings, and original linen.
.
In 1962, Jarrett sent the original Pfalz D.XII parts to collector Robert Boehme, who was then the Chief of Police for the City of Seattle, Washington. In early 2021, Ron Cole purchased the Boehme Estate, including these samples of rare and original German-printed lozenge upper-surface linen from this aircraft's aileron.
.
.
This original linen was overpainted with dark green for this aircraft's appearance in the Howard Hughes film Hell's Angels in 1930. Ron Cole painstakingly removed that paint to reveal the original lozenge multi-colored fabric beneath it. Thanks to having been overcoated for decades, this rare material is unusually well preserved with deep, saturated, colors.
.
This series is very limited due to the limited amount of good fabric available. Each piece of linen is 1x5-inches and will display at least two of the unique lozenge colors.
.
For further information about the history of this specific aircraft, photos, correspondence, and provenance, please visit our online Cole's Aircraft World website.
.
