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That squadron is Jagdgeschwader 71 (JG 71)<\/strong>, founded on 6 June 1959 and initially equipped with 50 Canadair F-86 Mk.6 fighters, the Canadian version of the U.S. F-86 Sabre fighter<\/a>. The squadron was initially based at Ahlhorn in Lower Saxony. On April 21, 1961, the 43rd anniversary of the death of Manfred von Richthofen, the famous \"Red Baron\"<\/a> (the greatest German ace of the First World War, with 80 victories), the then President of West Germany, Heinrich L\u00fcbke, granted this unit the honorary title of \"Richthofen\"<\/strong>, in memory of the most famous German aviator in history. JG 71 was then flying Lockheed F-104 Starfighters.<\/p>\n JG 71 \"Richthofen\" was the last Luftwaffe squadron to fly the F-4F Phantom II fighter<\/strong>, a German version of the F-4E that could not fire AIM-7 Sparrow medium-range air-to-air missiles and had a shorter range. JG 71 received its first Eurofighters in 2010<\/strong>, completing the retirement of its last F-4Fs in 2013<\/a>. JG 71 has long had a tradition of decorating some of its aircraft with references to the Red Baron. A few weeks ago, JATO-Aviation Videos<\/a> published a video showing the livery worn by the Eurofighter 31+07<\/strong>, piloted by Colonel Andersen, in homage to the red aviator and to the best known of his aircraft, the Fokker Dr.I triplane:<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/54469809265_21d4b4eae1_c.jpg\")
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