before being appointed to command this squadron of fighter pilots. Lacking a background in fighter tactics, he compensated by allowing his more experienced pilots to follow their own inclinations, including solo excursions into British territory. The fact that Walz followed two prior brilliant fighter tacticians in his command—Oswald Boelcke and Stefan Kirmaier—only exposed his weaknesses. Voss disregarded military procedure and went outside the chain of command to petition higher headquarters for Walz's removal. Faced with such a case of insubordination, all three men were transferred out of the Jagdstaffel. Lersner was packed off to a bomber unit. Discovering the betrayal, Walz requested reassignment on the grounds that his honor had been impugned. On 20 May 1917, Flight Commander Voss was sent to Jagdstaffel 5 to assume temporary command. Voss in command Voss was bequeathed an Albatros D.III with the squadron's insignia. During his brief spell with Jasta 5, Voss scored a further half dozen victories. On 9 May 1917, he managed to shoot or force down three Allied aircraft, making it the first of two "hat trick" days he would have in his career. However, he was not always successful; being one of the three German fighter pilots who attacked and seriously damaged Captain Keith Caldwell of 60 Squadron on 28 May 1917, just after Voss's 31st victory, but the New Zealander escaped. Voss was slightly wounded on 6 June 1917 by Flight Sub-Lieutenant Christopher Draper, but soon returned to duty. The Royal Naval Air Service credited Draper with an "out of control" victory; after returning to base, Voss had to trade in his damaged Albatros D.III for a fresh one. Meanwhile, Voss went on leave with Richthofen to Krefeld; surviving photographs portray them exhibiting their aircraft for Voss' relatives. Pater familias Maxmilian Voss, Sr. issued an open invitation for Richthofen's use of the Voss family hunting lodge. After returning from his leave, on June 28, Voss took acting command of Jagdstaffel 29, a mere five days later he was given temporary command of Jagdstaffel 14, a posting which also didn't last long. Voss was one of the test pilots for the F.I. triplane prototype which developed into the Fokker Dr.I. He was summoned to Schwerin, and on 5 July 1917 was one of the first pilots to test fly Fokker F.I. s/n 103/17. Although the Fokker had some drawbacks, such as its low speed and slowness in a dive,