Schutte-Lanz Dr.I

History

With the advent of the "triplane" fighter as a viable combat aircraft in 1917, many companies experimented with this aircraft design during the First World War (1914-1918). The triplane wing arrangement inherently provides strong handling and lift characteristics (at the expense of increased drag and visibility outside the cockpit), which are sought by pilots engaged in close-quarters dogfights where the life and death of the adversary is at stake . The German group Schutte-Lanz has been trying to sell the German Flugdienst with a fighter jet design since the beginning of the war, and continues to develop the Schutte-Lanz Dr.

At its core, Dr. I was an offshoot of the early D.III biplane trials (detailed elsewhere on this page), except for the wing layout and offset tail skid. It retained the fuselage, landing gear and tail of its predecessor, greatly speeding up development.

Wings differed in that they provided less surface area - an extra pair of wings was placed between the upper and lower appendages and attached to the fuselage and N-pillar support members. An interesting design cue related to the wing is the offset position of the lowest attachment, just behind the first two planes - a feature said to improve downward visibility for pilots.

The aircraft is powered by a 160-horsepower Mercedes D. III liquid-cooled inline-six engine. This drives a two-bladed wooden propeller on the nose.

Weapons will consist of a standard array of 2 x 7.92mm LMG 08/15 series machine guns. These are placed on the nose and fired synchronously by rotating propeller blades.

Dr. I am Schutte-Lanz's contribution to the second D-type competition, which took place in early 1918. The second meeting was held from the end of May to the end of June of the same year. Dr. I wasn't impressed, however, and the final design was thus written down in the history of aviation.

The era of the triple-decker plane is over, too, with air traffic temporarily returning to the tried-and-true double-decker fighter type.

Specification

Basic

Production

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Performance

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