Dornier DI

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Dornier DI
Dornier DI
Type: Fighter plane
Design country:

German EmpireThe German Imperium German Empire

Manufacturer:

Dornier-Werke GmbH

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

Commons : Dornier-Zeppelin DI  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.theaerodrome.com/aces/germany/reinhard.php theaerodrome.com
  2. ↑ http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25831.htm flying machines
List of aircraft types made by Dornier


Before 1930:

Rs I  • Rs II  • Rs III  • Rs IV  • DI  • Do A  • Do B (Mercury)  • Do C  • Do C III  • Do D  • Spatz  • Do F  • Do H  • Do J (whale)  • Do K  • Do N  • Do P  • Do R (Superwal)  • Do Y  • Do X

From 1930 to 1945:

Thu 10  • Thu 11  • Thu 12  • Thu 13  • Thu 14  • Thu 15  • Thu 16  • Thu 17  • Thu 18  • Thu 19  • Thu 20  • Thu 22  • Thu 23  • Thu 24  • Thu 26  • Thu 212  • Thu 214  • Do 215  • Do 216  • Do 217  • Do 235  • Do 317  • Do 318  • Do 335  • Do 417  • Do 435  • Do 535  • Do 635  • P 247

Since 1945:

Do 25  • Do 27  • Do 28  • Do 29  • Do 30  • Do 31  • Do 32  • Do 34  • Do 128  • Do 132  • Do 228  • Do 231  • Do 328  • P 406  • P 410  • Do 428  • Do 528  • Do 728  • Do 928