Fokker Dr.I
Fokker Dr.I | |
---|---|
Type: | Fighter and reconnaissance aircraft |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
First flight: |
July 5, 1917 |
Commissioning: |
1917 |
Production time: |
1917-1918 |
Number of pieces: |
420 |
The Fokker Dr.I was a triplane - fighter aircraft of the Fokker aircraft factory in Schwerin . The aircraft used by the German Army in the First World War from 1917 onwards became famous in particular through the most successful fighter pilot of the First World War, Manfred von Richthofen (the "Red Baron"), who scored 19 of his 80 aerial victories in fully or partially red-painted Fokker triplane and also died in a Dr.I.
development
The Dr.I arose from the desire for a copy of the British three-decker Sopwith Triplane , whose good flight performance and maneuverability had impressed the German fighter pilots. Even Manfred von Richthofen had expressed its appreciation of the Sopwith triplane. Instead of building an exact copy of the Sopwith Triplane, as expected from the inspection of the air force, Fokker's designer Reinhold Platz created his own design, which was adapted to Fokker's production technology. Platz was initially not at all enthusiastic about the idea of building a three-decker and began to construct a conventional double-decker. Anthony Fokker then put Platz under pressure and so the Fokker V.4 was created as a three-decker.
designation | comment |
---|---|
D.VI / V.4 | Triplane that led to Dr.I; 4 pieces built |
V.5 | Fokker-internal modifications to the prototype of the V.4 |
FI / Dr.I | FI: early serial designation of the Fokker three-decker, but this was changed to Dr.I very soon |
general structure
The Fokker triplane initially had cantilever wings, later they were supplemented by struts on the outer wing due to the occurrence of wing vibrations. Although this type of construction tended to promise low air resistance due to the lack of tensioning wires , this advantage did not come into play due to the high resistance of three wings arranged closely one above the other.
Load-bearing structure
The basic construction of the aircraft consisted of a fuselage frame, which was welded together from 10-35 mm thick steel tubes, and a wooden structure with metal fittings and rudder surfaces made of steel tube.
Wooden parts
Glued plywood was used almost exclusively for the wooden components, as this is more flexible and more resilient than components made of solid wood. Depending on the purpose and load, pine, fir and birch were used and some were glued together. The ribs of the wings were made of birch plywood, onto which a layer of fir wood was glued on the outside. The wing spars were made of glued pine plywood. The milk protein product casein glue was used as wood glue .
Covering
The covering of the aircraft consisted of simple linen fabric . The fabric was flattened to close the relatively large gaps between the steel pipes. After the aircraft had been covered, the fabric was coated with a stretch varnish made of cellulose acetate and thereby stretched and sealed against wind and water. Aluminum was also used on a few non-load-bearing parts, such as the engine cover.
commitment
The Fokker triplane, which was equipped with a 110 hp rotary engine , was relatively slow compared to other fighter aircraft, but thanks to its thick wing profile and low weight , it could climb very steeply at low speed and was unsurpassed in maneuverability. Even the British Sopwith Camel , which is considered to be very agile , was able to curve out with the Fokker three-decker. Manfred von Richthofen to Dr.I: "... agile like the devil and climb like the monkeys."
On September 1, 1917, the first Dr.I arrived at the front. Between the middle of September and the beginning of November 1917 there were several fatal crashes due to a weak wing construction, which meant that the Dr.I was temporarily withdrawn from service. From February 1918 the triplane was used again at the front after Fokker had reinforced the wings. The Fokker Dr.I was produced in a comparatively small number of 420 copies until May 1918.
Performance comparison
Performance comparison of single-seaters in the front line at the end of the First World War :
Surname | Country | First flight | Commissioning | Engine power | Max. speed | Takeoff mass | Armament ( MG ) | Summit height | number of pieces |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Albatros D.III | German Empire | 1916-08-01 | 1917-01-15 | 170 hp | 165 km / h | 886 kg | 2 | 5,500 m | 1352 |
SE5a | United Kingdom | 1916-11-22 | 1917-03-15 | 200 hp | 222 km / h | 880 kg | 2 | 5,185 m | 5205 |
Sopwith Camel | United Kingdom | 1916-12-31 | 1917-06-15 | 130 hp | 185 km / h | 659 kg | 2 | 5,791 m | 5490 |
Sopwith Dolphin | United Kingdom | 1917-03-23 | 1918-02-15 | 200 hp | 211 km / h | 890 kg | 2 | 6,100 m | 2072 |
Albatros D.Va | German Empire | 1917-04-15 | 1917-07-15 | 185 hp | 187 km / h | 937 kg | 2 | 6,250 m | 2562 |
Palatinate D.IIIa | German Empire | 1917-04-15 | 1917-08-15 | 180 hp | 181 km / h | 834 kg | 2 | 6,000 m | 750 |
SPAD S.XIII | France | 1917-04-30 | 1917-05-31 | 220 hp | 222 km / h | 820 kg | 2 | 6,650 m | 8472 |
Nieuport 28 | France | 1917-06-14 | 1918-03-15 | 160 hp | 195 km / h | 740 kg | 2 | 5,200 m | 300 |
Fokker Dr.I | German Empire | 1917-07-05 | 1917-09-01 | 130 hp | 160 km / h | 585 kg | 2 | 6,500 m | 420 |
Sopwith Snipe | United Kingdom | 1917-10-31 | 1918-08-30 | 230 hp | 195 km / h | 955 kg | 2 | 6,100 m | 497 |
LFG Roland D.VIa | German Empire | 1917-11-30 | 1918-05-15 | 160 hp | 190 km / h | 820 kg | 2 | 5,500 m | 353 |
Siemens-Schuckert D.IV | German Empire | 1917-12-31 | 1918-08-15 | 160 hp | 190 km / h | 735 kg | 2 | 8,000 m | 123 |
Fokker D.VII | German Empire | 1918-01-24 | 1918-04-15 | 180 hp | 189 km / h | 910 kg | 2 | 6,000 m | 800 |
Fokker D.VIIF | German Empire | 1918-01-24 | 1918-04-15 | 226 hp | 205 km / h | 910 kg | 2 | 7,000 m | 200 |
Palatinate D.VIII | German Empire | 1918-01-24 | 1918-09-15 | 160 hp | 190 km / h | 740 kg | 2 | 7,500 m | 120 |
Palatinate D.XII | German Empire | 1918-03-31 | 1918-07-15 | 160 hp | 180 km / h | 902 kg | 2 | 5,640 m | 750 |
Fokker D.VIII | German Empire | 1918-05-31 | 1918-07-31 | 110 hp | 204 km / h | 605 kg | 2 | 6,300 m | 289 |
Technical specifications
Parameter | Data |
---|---|
crew | 1 |
length | 5.75 m |
Wingspan above | 7.20 m |
Center span | 6.23 m |
Wingspan below | 5.73 m |
height | 2.95 m |
Wing area | 18.70 m² |
Empty mass | 383 kg |
Max. Takeoff mass | 585 kg |
engine | a 9-cylinder rotary engine Oberursel Ur.II 1 |
power | 110 hp |
Displacement | 15.1 l |
Engine ground | 140 kg |
Top speed | 160 km / h in 2800 m 140 km / h in 4200 m |
Climb performance | 2:54 min climb time for 1000 m altitude |
Max. Altitude | 6500 m |
Flight duration | 1:30 h |
Armament | 2 rigid, synchronized MG 08/15 , firing through the propeller circle |
Replica of a Fokker Dr.I as it flew from Richthofen on its last mission, Deutsches Museum in Munich
Fokker Dr.I, Josef Jacobs (48 victories): the most successful pilot on this type of aircraft
See also
literature
- Enzo Angelucci, Paolo Matricardi: The planes. From the beginning to the First World War . Falken-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1976, ISBN 3-8068-0391-9 , ( Falken manual in color ).
- Uwe W. Jack: Manfred von Richthofen, the triplane and the first fighter squadron. In: Fliegerrevue X , No. 74, pp. 22–37
- Uwe W. Jack: Fokker Dr.I - the technology. In: Fliegerrevue X , No. 74, pp. 38–45
- Karlheinz Kens, Hanns Müller: The aircraft of the First World War 1914–1918 . Heyne, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-453-00404-3 .
- Günter Kroschel, Helmut Stützer: The German military aircraft 1910–1918 . Lohse-Eissing, Wilhelmshaven 1977, ISBN 3-920602-18-8 .
- Imrie, Alex: The Fokker Triplane . Arms and Armor Press, 1992, ISBN 1-85409-118-2 .
- Kenneth Munson: Warplanes. Fighter and training aircraft 1914–1919 . 2nd revised edition. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 1976, ISBN 3-280-00824-7 , ( Airplanes of the World in Colors ), pp. 24, 121–122.
- Heinz Nowarra: The Development of Airplanes 1914–1918 . Lehmanns, Munich 1959.
- Karl R. Pawlas: German aircraft. 1914-1918 . Pawlas, Nuremberg 1976, ISBN 3-88088-209-6 , ( Aviation Documents 20), pp. 63-65.
- AR Weyl: Fokker the Creative Years. Oxford 1965.
Web links
- http://www.fliehaben-museum.de/Fokker_DR_1.html ( Memento from June 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive )