Aviatik D.I

Infobox Aircraft
name=Aviatik D.I


caption=
type=Fighter
manufacturer=Austrian Aviatik
designer=Julius von Berg
first flight=24 January avyear|1917Holmes, 2005. p 22.]
introduced=1917
retired=
status=
primary user=Austro-Hungarian Empire
more users=
produced= 1917 - 1918
number built= ~ 700
variants with their own articles=

The Aviatik D.I, was a single-engine, single-seater fighter biplane. It was also known as Berg D.I or the "Berg Fighter" due to the fact that it was designed by Dipl. Ing. Julius von Berg. The D.I was the first indigenously designed fighter aircraft of the Austro-Hungarian Air Service ("Luftfahrtruppen").

Development

Work on the prototype began in August 1916, while the first flight of the Aviatik D.I prototype, marked 30.14, took place at 16th October 1916 at Aspern, unfortunately killing the test pilot.

Further modifications were made, and three more prototypes of the Aviatik D.I were manufactured, labeled 30.19 (for tests on the ground), 30.20 (for tests in flight) and 30.21 (as a reserve airframe). These prototypes differed from the production aircraft in having a single unsynchronized Schwarzlose machine gun above the top wing, firing over the propeller.

Tests of the modified aircraft were positive and the first unit to receive the first serial batch (with two synchronized Schwarzloses, one on each side of the cylider block) of the Aviatik D.I was Fluggeschwader I (FLG I, later to be renamed to Flik 101G) on the Divacca airfield in Italy.

Production

The Aviatik D.I was manufactured under license by a numbers of subcontractors.

* Austrian Aviatik built the 38, 138, 238 and 338 Series
* Lohner built the 115 and 315 Series
* Lloyd manufactured the 48, 248 and 348 Series.
* MAG built the 84 and 92 Series
* Thöne und Fiala manufactured the 101 Series
* WKF built the 184, 284 and 384 Series.

Ordered but not build were the 215 and 201 Series from Lohner and Thöne und Fiala respectively.

The main differences between the Series were in the power of Austro-Daimler engines used (185 hp in the early production aircraft, 200 or 210 hp in the mid-production, and 225 hp in the last ones), in exact positioning of the machine guns, and in structural and radiator modifications.

Until the 31st October 1918 a number of 677 Aviatik D.I airframes of all batches were handed over to the Austro-Hungarian Airforce.

Operational service

In many respects, the D.I was a good combat aircraft. It was reasonably fast, had excellent flying characteristics and maneuverability, and could reach higher altitudes than most of its adversaries. In addition, it was provided with a roomy and comfortable cockpit which gave a good field of view.

Despite those desirable features, the new Aviatik fighter wasn't greeted with enthusiasm when it entered service in autumn 1917, as the type also had some serious defects which didn't endear it to its pilots. The early aircraft had structural deficiencies and their machine guns were installed beyond the reach of the pilot; if the gun(s) jammed, there was nothing he could do about it. These problems were later rectified with the strengthening of the airframe and the repositioning of the guns, but the main cause of complaints was the engine's tendency to overheat far too easily. To alleviate the cooling problems, operational units tended to fly their aircraft without the engine's top panels and sometimes also the side panels were left off.

The Austro-Hungarian aviation units used the D.I widely until the end of World War I on Eastern, Italian and Balkan fronts, mainly as an escort fighter for the 2-seater reconnaissance aircraft, as the most fighter units preferred the Albatros D.III in air superiority role.

Variants

The D.II was a version of the D.I with a cantilever lower wing. The model went into production in late 1918 in two Series (39 and 339), but the production aircraft were too late for operational service. The D.III high-altitude version with a 230 hp Hiero engine and the Dr.I triplane development remained as prototypes only.

Operators

*flag|Austria-Hungary

pecifications (D.I)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref= Holmes, 2005. p 22.

crew=1
capacity=
length main= 6.86 m
length alt= 22 ft 6 in
span main= 8.00 m
span alt= 26 ft 3 in
height main=2.48 m
height alt= 8 ft 2 in
area main= 21.80 m²
area alt=
airfoil=
empty weight main=610 kg
empty weight alt= 1,345 lb
loaded weight main=852 kg
loaded weight alt= 1,878 lb
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=
max takeoff weight alt=

engine (prop)= Austro-Daimler water-cooled in-line
type of prop=
number of props=1
power main=200 hp
power alt=147 kW
max speed main= 185 km/h at sea level
max speed alt= 115 mph
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main= 2 hours 30 minutes
range alt= of flying time
ceiling main= 6150 m
ceiling alt=
climb rate main=
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
more performance=

armament=* 2 × fixed forward-firing 8 mm Schwarzlose machine guns for the pilot

References / external links

*
* Munson, Kenneth - Fighters, Attack and Training Aircraft 1914-19 ISBN 0 7537 0916 3
* [http://www.idflieg.com/aviatik-berg-di.htm Aviatik Berg D.I photos from the Vienna technical Museum]
* [http://www.theaerodrome.com/aircraft/austrhun/aviatik_di.html "The Aerodrome" page regarding the Aviatik D.I]

ee also

aircontent
related=

similar aircraft= Albatros D.III - Ansaldo SVA - Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 - SPAD S.VII

sequence=

lists=

see also=* [http://www.airwar.ru/image/idop/fww1/aviatd1/aviatd1-3.jpgA photograph of an early production Aviatik D.I coded 38.63]