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Fokker DR – 1 (Replica)

SN – 528189
FAA REG – N6404Q

The Fokker Dr.I (Dreidecker, “triplane” in German), often known simply as the Fokker Triplane, was a World War I fighter aircraft built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. The Dr-1 saw widespread service in the spring of 1918. It became famous as the aircraft in which Manfred von Richthofen gained his last 19 victories, and in which he was killed on 21 April 1918.

In February 1917, the Sopwith Biplane began to appear over the Western Front. Despite its single Vickers machine gun armament, the Sopwith swiftly proved itself superior to the more heavily armed Albatros fighters then in use by the Luftstreitkräfte. In April 1917, Anthony Fokker viewed a captured Sopwith Biplane while visiting Jasta 11. Upon his return to the Schwerin factory, Fokker instructed Reinhold Platz to build a triplane but gave him no further information about the Sopwith design. Platz responded with the V.4, a small, rotary-powered triplane with a steel tube fuselage and thick cantilever wings, first developed during Fokker’s government-mandated collaboration with Hugo Junkers.

Fokker DR-1

Specifications

Dimensions & Capacity

Crew: 1
Length: 5.77 m (18 ft 11 in)
Upper Wingspan: 7.19 m (23 ft 7 in)
Height: 2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)
Wing Area: 18.7 m2 (201 sq ft)
Aspect Ratio: 4.04
Empty Weight: 406 kg (895 lb)
Gross Weight: 586 kg (1,291 lb)

Performance

Powerplant: 1 × Oberursel Ur.II 9-cylinder air-cooled rotary piston engine, 82 kW (110 hp)
Propellers: 1 – 2-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller
Speed: 160 km/h (99 mph, 86 kn) at 2600m
Service Ceiling: 6,100 m (20,000 ft)
Range: 300 km (190 mi, 160 nmi)

Fokker D-1 Testing

Initial tests revealed that the V.4 had unacceptably high control forces resulting from the use of unbalanced ailerons and elevators. Instead of submitting the V.4 for a type test, Fokker produced a revised prototype designated V.5. The most notable changes were the introduction of horn-balanced ailerons and elevators, as well as longer-span wings. The V.5 also featured interplane struts, which were not necessary from a structural standpoint, but minimized wing flexing. On 14 July 1917, Idflieg issued an order for 20 pre-production aircraft. The V.5 prototype, serial 101/17, was tested to destruction at Adlershof on 11 August 1917.

Armament

Guns: 2 × 7.92 mm (0.312 in) Maschinengewehr 08 “Spandau” machine guns

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