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Aviatik D.II

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
D.II
Profile photograph of the Aviatik D.II with its original wings
Role Fighter aircraft
Manufacturer Aviatik
First flight 1916
Number built 1

The Aviatik D.II was a prototype German single-seat biplane fighter aircraft built by Aviatik during World War I. Only a single aircraft was built, but no production order followed. It later had its conventional wings replaced by bird-shaped wings and has been referred to as the Geest Fighter in this guise. Further development was discontinued.

Background and description

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Aviatik had been building the Halberstadt D.II fighter under license as the Aviatik D.I, but decided to build a prototype of their own design in late 1916. The D.II was a single-bay, staggered-wing biplane with fabric-covered wooden wings and a single cockpit. The aircraft was powered by a single water-cooled, 160-horsepower (120 kW) Mercedes D.III six-cylinder inline engine using a two-bladed fixed-pitch propeller. The forward fuselage was built from steel tubes with a metal skin while the wooden rear fuselage was skinned with plywood. It was armed with a pair of fixed, synchronized 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 machine guns in the forward fuselage. The prototype's performance was mediocre and it was not ordered into production.[1][2]

Geest Fighter

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Before the war's beginning in 1914, Dr. Waldemar Geest [de] designed and built a series of six monoplanes using his Seagull (Möwe) gull wing design that was intended to compensate for forward or lateral gusts of wind "by a varying angle of incidence and dihedral throughout the wing planform".[3] In 1917, the conventional wings that had been fitted to the Aviatik D.II were replaced by staggered wings designed by Geest with curved leading edges and raked ailerons on the upper wing.[4] During testing, the single-bay aircraft had a maximum speed of 160 kilometres per hour (99 mph) and reached a height of 3,500 metres (11,500 ft) in 17.5 minutes, but further development was not continued.[5][6]

Specifications

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Data from Aviatik Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes;[1] The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown[2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 6.82 m (22 ft 5 in)
  • Wingspan: 8.84 m (29 ft 0 in)
  • Height: 2.87 m (9 ft 5 in)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.III 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine, 120 kW (160 hp)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 150 km/h (93 mph, 81 kn)
  • Time to altitude: 7.2 minutes to 1,000 m (3,300 ft)

Armament

  • Guns: 2 × fixed, synchronized 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 machine guns in the forward fuselage

References

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  1. ^ a b Herris 2023, p. 173
  2. ^ a b Green & Swanborough, p. 40
  3. ^ Herris 2020, p. 46
  4. ^ Herris 2023, p. 175
  5. ^ Green & Swanborough, p. 236
  6. ^ Gray & Thetford, p. 386

Bibliography

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  • Gray, Peter & Thetford, Owen (1987) [1970]. German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-809-7.
  • Green, William & Swanborough, Gordon (2001) [1994]. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown (Revised and Updated ed.). London: Salamander Books. ISBN 1-84065-269-1.
  • Herris, Jack (2023). Aviatik Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 10 (2nd ed.). n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-953201-59-1.
  • Herris, Jack (2020). German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers in WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Gret War Aviation Centennial Series (49). Vol. 1: Alter to Korn. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-85-8.