Palatinate D.VIII
Palatinate D.VIII | |
---|---|
Type: | Fighter plane |
Design country: | |
Manufacturer: | |
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
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
Individual evidence
- ↑ 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 .