Kondor D.I (Kondorlaus)

History

The Kondor D.I (unofficially known as "Kondorlaus") was a prototype two-gun, single-seat biplane developed by Kondor Flugzeugwerke des Deutschen Reichs during the First World War (1914-1918). The aircraft was developed together with another Kondor product, the "Dreidecker" equipped with a triplane. The D.I was tested in 1917 and proved to perform poorly and was eventually further developed by the company as the D.II prototype.

These designs are credited to Walter Rethel and Paul G. Ehrhardt.

The wing configuration of the biplane in D.I has unequal spans, which means that the upper half has a longer span than the lower half. A bracket was added to each side of the fuselage, and V-pillars reinforced each wing (like the usual wiring). The fuselage holds the engines head-to-head in typical fashion, with a single-seat open-air cockpit and tapered stern. The rear wing is conventional, with a single vertical plane and a low flat horizontal plane. The landing gear is the typical "smear" type used for ground operations.

Power is provided by a Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine that produces 100 horsepower and drives a twin-blade propeller unit on the nose. The proposed armament of the fighter is 2 x 7.92mm LMG 08/15 machine guns with up to 500 rounds of ammunition onboard.

From the factory, the D.I weighs 855 lbs empty and 1,255 lbs fully loaded. The length is 15.10 feet, the wingspan is 24.11 feet, and the height is 7.10 feet.

In the fall of 1917, the aircraft passed the required tests, but soon proved to be an underperforming machine, leading to the D.I being brought back to the drawing board and becoming the Kondor D again. II (detailed elsewhere on this website).

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Armor

Changes