The first model airplane Jan Goldstein received from his parents was one of a German Fokker D8 from World War I.

When Goldstein, who was 11 at the time, opened the Guillow's Flying Model Kit, he became fascinated almost instantly with the fighting aircraft of that time and the men who flew them.

"I remember being holed up in my little bedroom and building airplanes for hours,"  Goldstein said as he sat in the Rain Desert, the restaurant in Danielson that he co-owns. "I remember the little catalog that came with the box of all the kits. They gave a one- or two-line description of all the planes they had. Soon I was checking books out of the library and reading what I could on it."

 Goldstein longed for someone to do a documentary on the flying aces of the First World War. Feeling the story had never been well told, Goldstein finally took it upon himself.

He recently finished his documentary, "The Great War In The Air: Aces of the Western Front," which he put on two DVDs. Goldstein, now 44, wrote, directed and narrated the project and will premiere a portion of the more than four-hour film on Monday at the Rain Desert.

The documentary features photos from the 350 books Goldstein has collected on the subject. The film begins with Europe on the brink of war in 1914 and ends with the Armistice in 1918. Goldstein also added an epilogue that shows what happened to some of the top fighters after the war.

"It's an amazing story," Goldstein said. "Nothing in history remotely corresponds to World War I and certainly not the first air war. When these kids went to war the Wright Brothers had gone aloft only 11 years earlier. The airplane hadn't advanced much past that. They were all kids -- 18, 19, 20-year olds -- who were doing this. They invented the art form of aerial warfare."

Besides co-owning the Rain Desert and making a film, Goldstein paints, plays bass for his band of 18 years, Desert Rain, and is a songwriter. His apartment is 230 steps from the restaurant, where Goldstein spent early morning hours after the bar closed recording his narration and putting together the documentary.

Looking at Goldstein with his scraggly salt-and-pepper beard and his restaurant, which has his psychedelic paintings of Jerry Garcia and other 60's-era musicians, doesn't leave one with the impression of someone who would make a war film.

"I've been known as the hippie musician for so many years," Goldstein said. "People are used to that ... People who know me say, 'It's another Jan thing.' People get used to me being into different things. I'm not someone who has a lot of half-finished projects. I like to get it done and move on to the next thing."

Goldstein's film devotes about one hour to each year of the war. It recounts the stories of Georges Guynemer, Max Immelmann and, of course, Manfred von Richthofen, the Red Baron.

The most famous flying ace of all-time, von Richthofen was credited with 80 victories before he was killed just a few months before the war ended. Not surprisingly,  Goldstein's film spends more time on the Red Baron than any other flying ace.

"He's the central character," Goldstein said. "He's the greatest story of the war. When I was telling the story of the Red Baron's death I started feeling some sadness. I read so much about him and know so much about him that he's become a real person to me."

The Red Baron's death is the best part of the film, Goldstein said. Arthur Brown was officially credited with killing Richthofen, but some evidence has shown it was a single bullet fired from a machine gun in the trenches that finished the Red Baron. Goldstein describes the various accounts, but the controversy has continued for years.

Goldstein attempts to clear up other tales in his film such as the death of British ace Albert Ball. One popular story claimed Ball was killed by a German machine gunner who was set up in a church steeple. Ball flew past that tower almost daily and the Germans surprised him one day. In "The Great War In The Air," Goldstein narrates that Ball was shot down near the French village of Annoeullin. The details remain a  mystery, but Ball was last seen by his men chasing a German Albatross fighter into a large black cloud. Minutes later, his plane crashed to the ground near an abandoned farmhouse.

"There wasn't a kid growing up in the 20's or 30's who didn't know about any of these guys," Goldstein said. "The aces were like the rock stars of the day. It got pushed to the backburner when World War II came around."

As Goldstein prepares to premiere his work to the public, he's already looking ahead to his next project. He's writing another film script based on his life and the people at the Rain Desert. He said it will be part narration and part skits.

But with his book collection, memories of airplane models and now his movie, World War I will always remain close to his heart.

"This was a labor of love," Goldstein said of his movie. "It's about passing the story on to anyone who cares ... It's about paying tribute to the guys who were my heroes when  I was growing up."

dpencek@norwichbulletin.com

What:"The Great War In The Air: Aces of the Western Front."

When: 7 p.m. Monday.

Where: The Rain Desert (13 Water St., Danielson).

DVDs: Copies of the DVDs will be sold for $12.

Information: 774-2575.

On the Web: www.raindesert.com.

Originally published March 18, 2005

History Buff Holds Public Screening of
Tribute to the Flying Aces of World War I

   By LISA D. MCROBERTS The Reminder
 

   DANIELSON — Behind the purple door of Rain Desert restaurant in
   Danielson, history was being made… or at least retold.
       On March 21, Jan Goldstein, co-owner of the restaurant, bassist for
   local band Desert Rain and self-taught artist presented a 90-minute tribute
   to flying aces of World War I. Four hours of history was chronicled in the
   film with detail and precision that can only be pulled off by someone with a
   passion for military history.
       One viewer said, “This film is
   so informative. There are a lot of things I heard that I didn’t know, like
   how WWI planes evolved from being used for surveillance to dropping
   bombs.”
       Goldstein said, “There is little known or recorded on film about this
   war. Someone had to do it, so I figured I’d be the guy for the job.”
       In this building filled with personages of Jerry Garcia, Frank Zappa,
   Eric Clapton and Neil Young, black light posters, and mosaic tile tables, it
   seems a surreal place for such a public screening. An eclectic like Jan
   Goldstein making a tribute to the groundbreaking use of airplanes only a
   few years following their
   invention in some way seems fitting.
       A big screen TV was brought into Rain Desert and set up on the stage
   while Goldstein narrated, providing background information of
   photographs and supplementing the narration of the film. The four hour
   DVD set can be purchased for $12, but Goldstein opted to show only
   selected segments during the evening.
       “The turnout was wonderful, maybe 50 people sat in the dining room,”
   said Goldstein. “To be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect. I’d say
   about half the people were folks who know me and the other half
   strangers who had heard about it.”

       The audience remained riveted to the screen of various stills taken from
   Goldstein’s private collection of more than 450 books on the topic. “My
   inspiration really stems from just wanting to tell the story of the World War
   I aces; a period of history so obscure to most folks.”
       Rare photographs showing the famous Red Baron Manfred Von
   Richthofen, shot-down German planes, as well as horrifying crashes were
   shown with informative narration by Goldstein.
       “It’s fascinating how the concept of alternating bullets of the machine
   guns to accommodate the airplane propeller, that is
   — amazing they had the technological know-how to accomplish that.
   Amazing,” one viewer said.
       Goldstein is not only a history buff, but he also provides most of the
   artwork that covers the walls of his restaurant. He’s the creative mind
   behind designing the establishment’s Web site and providing the diverse
   surroundings.
       Waitress and QVCC college student Elissa Smith described the Rain
   Desert as, “Food and Attitude!”
       For those who missed the event providing homage to WWI but still
   interested in getting a copy of Goldstein’s “The Great War in the Air,” go
   to his Web site, www.Raindesert.com.