A Victim of Circumstance
The serial number indicates this was the first production aircraft fitted with the Series 39 Austro-Daimler engine. Notable is the change in the wing strut layout versus the D.I. The forward strut attaches to the fuselage and not the lowet wing. The forward metal section of the fuselage is left unfinished. The finish is a 3 color spatter scheme covering everything except lower wing and tail plane surfaces.
The fuselage of this type 39 sports the iconic Austrian variegated three color camouflage pattern. Unfortunately I do not know what unit it served in or who flew it. I have found few examples of the D.II and not as much detailed information on individual aircraft. Hopefully this will change in the future.I have done a few conjectural paint schemes in the past however I retired them in favor of schemes which have been verified.
The Aviatik (Berg) D.II, also known as the Aviatik 30.22, was an Austro-Hungarian fighter prototype towards the end of the First World War. The prototype was first flown in the summer of 1917. The D.II was not built in large numbers, only 19 aircraft were completed.
The D.II's fuselage was virtually identical to that of the D.I. It was characterized, however, by its short-span cantilever lower wing. Through 1917, 19 D.IIs were built for front-line evaluation. They were either powered by the 200 hp (149 kW) Series 39 engine or the 225 hp (168 kW) Series 339 engine, both made by Austro-Daimler. The propeller was a four-bladed Jaray, and armament consisted of the usual paired 0.315 in (8 mm) Schwarzlose machine guns.
The first three series aircraft were tested in November 1917, and seven were evaluated at the front later in that year, showing good promise. but the decision that O-UF Aviatik should license-manufacture the Fokker D.VII terminated any plans to build the D.II in quantity. One D.II airframe was experimentally fitted with a 200hp Hiero engine as the Aviatik 30.38, and participated in the July 1918 D-Contest. With the 225hp Austro-Daimler engine the D.II attained 220km/h.
References
- Aviatik (Berg) D.II. (2010, May 13). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:19, July 2, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Aviatik_(Berg)_D.II&oldid=361799043
- Aviatik (Berg) D.II. Virtual Aircraft Museum Retrieved 03:00, July 2, 2010, from http://www.aviastar.org/air/austria/aviatik_d-2.php
- Green, William; Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters
. Godalming, UK: Salamander Books.
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