Dornier DI
Dornier DI | |
---|---|
Type: | Fighter plane |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
First flight: |
June 4, 1918 |
Number of pieces: |
at least 4 |
The Dornier DI was a fighter aircraft produced by Zeppelin Werk Lindau GmbH (ZWL), a company in the Zeppelin Group, of which Dornier was the managing director. The first flight took place on June 4, 1918, and it was no longer used in the First World War .
description
For its time, the concept was very advanced as one of the few cantilever double-deckers. The upper wing was attached to the fuselage with four struts without tension wires. The aircraft was clad with smooth duralumin, not wavy as it was with comparable types. Originally it had a Mercedes D III engine and two 7.92 mm machine guns Spandau 08/15 as armament . The hull was in all-metal - shell construction executed planked the wings to two thirds with duralumin, up to the trailing edge covered by the rear spar with fabric; Tail unit in normal construction, vertical tail unit covered with metal, the rest of the fabric covered. The chassis was rigid with clad struts, a continuous axle and a tail spur.
Not only high officers of the German Air Force, but also some pilots distrusted the aircraft because of its "too modern" design. Although it was not on the official list of participants in the second D-aircraft competition in Adlershof in the summer of 1918, the Zeppelin DI was tested with other types by front-line pilots. Equipped with a Mercedes-D-III engine, the machine was flown by Captain Wilhelm Reinhard , who fell fatally with it in July 1918. Another aircraft with a BMW IIIa engine flew in the third competition (which was only held for types with BMW engines). The flight performance was disappointing, seven other patterns were faster.
After the war, two Do DI were shipped to the United States, one tested by the Army Air Corps and the other by the Navy . Another remained in the Dornier company museum and was destroyed in bombing raids during World War II.
Technical specifications
Parameter | Data |
---|---|
crew | 1 |
length | 6.40 m |
span | 7.80 m |
Wing area | 18.60 m 2 |
drive | 1 × BMW IIIa with 185 PS (approx. 140 kW) |
Two-bladed wood propeller | |
Empty mass | 725 kg |
payload | 160 kg |
Takeoff mass | 885 kg |
Top speed | 200 km / h |
Service ceiling | 8100 m |
Wing loading | 47.5 kg / m 2 |
Power load | 4.78 kg / hp |
literature
- Heinz AF Schmidt: Historic aircraft. Transpress Verlag, Berlin VLN 162-925 / 25/68.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/reinhard.php theaerodrome.com
- ↑ http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25831.htm flying machines