Germany Jasta 10 Pfalz D.III

Jasta 10 and the Pfalz D.III

Pfalz Flugzeugwerke was established by the three Everbusch brothers to build French designed aircraft under license for the Bavarian government. Prior to the Great War Pfalz Flugzeugwerke acquired the rights to build to various Morane-Saulnier designs and later designs from Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft G.m.b.H. (Roland). Using the knowledge gained from building aircraft designed by other companies they began to build aircraft from their own designs in late 1916.

Pfalz was introduced to the construction of wooden fuselages building Roland D.IIs under license. This sturdy but heavy construction signature feature on all their subsequent designs. Their first attempt at building an original design resulted in the Pfalz D.III. Many people consider it to be one of the most beautiful aircraft flown during the First World War.

The presence of German states which had been independent before the empire led to competition between the states. Since Pfalz was a Bavarian enterprise most of their production output went to Jasta with a high percentage of Bavarian pilots. This is one of the reasons you see them concentrated in several Jastas. One of the most notable was Jasta 10.

Pfalz D.III Jasta 10 Ltn. Hans Klein - 1917

The distinctive chrome yellow nose sections mark this as an aircraft from Jasta 10 before the spring of 1918. The main fuselage is painted with a varnish containing aluminum powder, giving it a silvery shine. The wing surfaces were all covered in the aluminum varnish with white bordered iron crosses on the upper wing top, and borderless iron crosses on the bottom surface of the lower wing.The wing struts landing gear struts, wheel cover and tail section are painted in chrome yellow. The yellow stripe was used by Ltn. Hans Klein.

Pfalz D.III Jasta10 Vzfw. Adam Barth - 1917

The Pfalz D.III flown by Vzfw. Adam Barth once again has the basic theme for the Jasta combined with his distinctive "Dumbell" design he used on several aircraft. The tail section is different than the first example the aft fuselage and rudder is divided into two yellow stripes.

Pfalz D.III Jasta 10 Pilot and serial number unknown - 1917

Unfortunately we do not know what the serial numbers or pilot were for this pre 1918 Pfalz D.III. This example shows some of the variations used in the basic paint scheme. The nose section has a larger yellow area and the tail section is done so it terminates at an angle. The struts and wheel covers are painted in the aluminum. varnish mix.

Germany - 1917 Fokker D.VI

Early Fokker Aircraft part 5

It was early in 1917 when the next design from Fokker was released. It was the Fokker D.V which I have already written about in another article. The plane had marginal success and was soon supplanted by the Fokker D.VI. It was close to the time when the nimble iconic Fokker Dr.I triplane would explode onto the scene creating legends and making the skies a much more dangerous place to fly.

Fokker D.VI - 1917

The Fokker D.VI was an excellent aircraft that was not to be. It was overshadowed by the success of the Fokker D.VII. The design was a biplane based on a stretched Dr.1 fuselage. Only a hand full were built and entered service.

Fokker Flugzeug-Werke had finally hit their stride and continued produced some of the most successful fighter aircraft during the remainder of the war. Even though there were issues concerning safety and poor craftsmanship, their designs proved that light weight aircraft with tubular steel construction was a better method of building a cost effective agile fighter. The days of heavy plywood construction were numbered.

References

1. "Fokker D.VI", From Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fokker_D.VI
2. Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford. "German Aircraft of the First World War". London: Putnam, 1962. ISBN 0-93385-271-1
3. Taylor, Michael J. H. "Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation". London: Crescent Books, 1993. ISBN 0-51710-316-8.
4. Weyl, A.R. "Fokker: The Creative Years". London: Putnam, 1965. ISBN 0-85177-817-8.

Mid War Monoplanes of Entente Powers

More Monoplane of the Great War

My post today focuses on mid late war development in the nations which formed the Entente Powers. As I said in my last post – the development of the monoplane as a military aircraft was one of the important steps in the evolution of aviation technology. During the middle period of the Great War, Britain and France produced the more monoplane designs than any other nation.

I'll write more on monoplane research and Development during the pre-war and early war soon.

French Monoplane Fighters

Morane-Saulnier Type AI - 1917

The Morane-Saulnier Type AI was a French parasol-wing fighter aircraft produced by Morane-Saulnier during World War I, to replace the obsolete Morane-Saulnier Type N. Its engine was mounted in a circular open-front cowling. The parasol wing was swept back. The spars and ribs of the circular section fuselage were wood, wire-braced and covered in fabric. The production aircraft were given service designations based on whether they had 1 gun (designated MoS 27) or 2 guns (designated MoS 29)

British Monoplane Fighter

Bristol M1C - 1916

The Bristol M1C was a well designed and effective aircraft that was not given a real chance to show it's true potential. The M1C had a maximum speed approximately 30-50 mph (50-80 km/h) faster than any of the contemporary German Fokker Eindecker monoplanes.

British Experimental Monoplane

Sopwith Swallow - 1918

The Sopwith Swallow single-seat fighter monoplane was basically an F.1 Camel fuselage built by Boulton & Paul, which Harry Hawker mated with a parasol wing. The Swallow was powered by a 110hp (82 kW) Le Rhone 9J air-cooled nine-cylinder rotary engine and carried the standard armament of twin 0.303 in (7.7 mm) fixed forward-firing, synchronized Vickers machine guns.

Russian Fighter Monoplane

Torpedo, Olkhovskij - 1917

The Torpedo was a two-seat fighter with a wooden monocoque fuselage. It was the first such aircraft built in Russia. The aircraft had very clean lines, it's engine was completely covered with a cowling and the propeller was fitted with a large spinner. The design proved to be unsuccessful because the split wing resulted in increased drag and a loss of lift. One plane was built at the Anatra factory in February 1917, and was flown on March 6-20 in Odessa. The aircraft flew well, but it was underpowered. This aircraft was used later as a trainer.