Airco DH.5
| Airco De Havilland DH.5 | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Double Decker - fighter |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
August 1916 |
| Commissioning: |
May 1917 |
| Production time: |
1916-1917 |
| Number of pieces: |
552 |
The Airco DH.5 was a single-seat British biplane - fighter in the First World War .
history
The Airco DH.5 was developed by Geoffrey de Havilland as the successor to the outdated Airco DH.2 pressure propeller type and received the Constantinesco synchronization gear newly developed for fighter aircraft, which allowed the propeller circle to be shot through with a machine gun . The aircraft should combine the performance of the double-decker propeller with the advantage of a better view of a pilot's seat in front of the upper wing, which is why the wing was staggered backwards. The aircraft was essentially a wooden structure with plywood and canvas siding. The 7.7 mm Vickers MG was mounted on the bonnet, offset to the left, and on the prototype it could still be swiveled upwards, but on the series machines it was firmly attached. In order to balance the aircraft's center of gravity because of the pilot's seat in front, the oil and fuel tanks were installed behind the cockpit. As with the DH.2, a switchable additional tank was placed on the upper wing.
The prototype completed its first flight in August 1916. The test flights in France in December 1916 had already shown that the machine was inferior to the Sopwith Pup and the prototypes Sopwith Camel and Royal Aircraft Factory SE5 . Even so, Airco 200, British Caudron 50, Darracq 200 and March, Jones & Cribb received 100 orders. A total of 552 DH.5s were built and delivered to RFC Squadrons 2, 24, 32, 41, 64, 65 and 68. When the machine reached the front in May 1917, however, the type was outdated and clearly inferior to the powerful German Albatros D.III with its two machine guns. The pilots also had little confidence in the unconventional design, and from an altitude of 3,000 m the flight performance decreased significantly. In addition, the aircraft quickly lost altitude during combat and the rearward staggered upper wing caused significant air turbulence in the cockpit. On the other hand, the pilot had excellent visibility through the staggered top and rear wing, and the aircraft was bulletproof and manoeuvrable in combat. DH.5 proved itself particularly when used as a low-flying aircraft at the Battle of Cambrai in August 1917, when the 41st Squadron at Boiry Notre Dame attacked enemy trenches and positions with machine-gun fire. At this time, however, the aircraft had already been withdrawn from the front and finally disappeared from the front in January 1918.
Military use
Technical specifications
| crew | 1 |
| length | 6.94 m |
| span | 7.82 m |
| Wing area | 19.7 m² |
| height | 2.77 m |
| Empty mass | 458 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 677 kg |
| Engine | a 9-cylinder rotary engine Le Rhône 9J with 110 PS (81 kW) |
| Top speed | 164 km / h at an altitude of 3000 m |
| Rate of climb | 12 min at 3000 m / 27:30 min at 4500 m |
| Service ceiling | 4800 m |
| Armament | 1 × 7.7 mm Vickers MG |
literature
- Enzo Angelucci, Paolo Matricardi: Airplanes from the beginnings to the First World War. Wiesbaden 1976, ISBN 3-8068-0391-9 .
- JM Bruce: Warplanes of the First World War Vol. 1. MacDonald, London 1965, pp. 128-132.
- AJ Jackson: De Havilland Aircraft since 1915. Putnam, London 1962.
- Karlheinz Kens, Hanns Müller: The aircraft of the First World War 1914–1918. Munich 1973, ISBN 3-453-00404-3 .
- WM Lamberton et al .: Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Harleyford, Lethworth 1960, pp. 42-43.
- Kenneth Munson: Warplanes 1914-1919. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1968.
- Heinz Nowarra: The Development of Airplanes 1914–1918. Munich 1959
- John WR Taylor: DH5. In: Combat Aircraft of the World from 1909 to the Present. GP Putnam's Sons, New York 1969, ISBN 0-425-03633-2 .
Web links
- http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=449
- http://www.theaerodrome.com/aircraft/gbritain/airco_dh5.php
- http://www.aviastar.org/air/england/havilland_dh-5.php
- Flight demonstration DH.2 and DH.5 (replicas)
- Color profile of DH.5 A9474 from 2 / Lt FS Clark, 'A' Flight of No. 41 Squadron RFC