Palatinate D.VIII

Palatinate D.VIII
Type:	Fighter plane
Design country:	German Empire
Manufacturer:	Pfalz Flugzeugwerke
First flight:	December 1917
Production time:	1918
Number of pieces:	120

The Pfalz D.VIII was a fighter aircraft manufactured by the Pfalz-Flugzeugwerke for the German air force from the final phase of the First World War .

development

The 15-strong team of engineers from the Pfalz company under chief engineer Rudolph Geringer had been working on eleven different designs since November 1917 with the aim of presenting them at the first comparison flight in Berlin-Adlershof . Experienced front-line pilots should subject the presented prototypes from numerous manufacturers to extensive tests and use their expertise to decide which machines should be put into production.

The Palatine presented works from the series of their designs with rotary engines equipped prototypes Palatinate D.VI (110 hp Le Rhone), Pfalz D.VII and to their very compact sisters somewhat prolonged Palatinate D.VIII , both with 160-hp -Siemens-Halske motors, which were considered unreliable and required a very light special oil.

Overall, the Pfalz prototypes could not prevail against the favorite Fokker D.VII either in January or in the second comparison flies in May / June 1918, in which the Palatinate again presented the D.VIII . Nevertheless, a smaller series was commissioned.

commitment

Only a few of the 120 D.VIIIs built were deployed at the front. Paul Bäumer received one of these machines from Jasta Boelcke.

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	Palatinate D.VIII
crew	1
length	5.65 m
span	7.50 m
height	2.85 m
Wing area	17.20 m²
Empty mass	560 kg
Takeoff mass	740 kg
air-cooled rotary motor	Siemens & Halske Sh.III with 160 PS (118 kW)
Top speed	190 km / h
Climbing time to 1000 m	2 min
Ascent time to 3000 m	7:48 min
Ascent time to 5000 m	15:36 min
Service ceiling	7500 m
Range	255 km
Armament	2 MG

Received aircraft

The last surviving example of a Pfalz D.VIII is currently being restored in the German Museum of Technology in Berlin . This machine was looted in Italy in 1920 and was in the collection of the Museo dell'aeronautica Gianni Caproni in Trento until 2000 .

See also

• List of aircraft types

literature

• Hugh W. Cowin: German and Austrian Aviation of World War I. A pictorial Chronicle of the Airmen and Aircraft that forged German Airpower . Osprey Publishing Ltd, Oxford 2000, ISBN 1-84176-069-2 , ( Aviation pioneers ).
• Günter Kroschel, Helmut Stützer: The German military aircraft 1910–1918 . Lohse-Eissing, Wilhelmshaven 1977, ISBN 3-920602-18-8 .
• Heinz Nowarra: The Development of Airplanes 1914–1918 . Lehmanns, Munich 1959.
• Peter Pletschacher: The Royal Bavarian Air Force. 1912-1919 . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-87943-576-6 .

Web links

Commons : Pfalz D.VIII  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Description and profile

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peter W. Cohausz: German aircraft until 1945. History, technology and locations of 3100 preserved historical aircraft . 5th edition. Aviatic Verlag, Oberhaching 2015, ISBN 978-3-942645-12-6 , pp. 58 f .