Aviatik D.II
{{distinguish|text = Aviatik (Berg) D.II built by the Austr-Hungarian subsidiary of Aviatik}}
| {{Infobox Aircraft Begin
|name=D.II |image=Aviatik D.II prototype.jpg |caption=Profile photograph of the Aviatik D.II with its original wings }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type |type=Fighter aircraft |manufacturer=Aviatik |designer= |first flight=1916 |introduced= |retired= |status= |primary user= |more users= |produced= |number built=1 |variants with their own articles= }} |
The Aviatik D.II was a prototype German single-seat biplane fighter aircraft built by {{lang|de|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
{{lang|de|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, {{convert|160|hp|adj=on}} 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 {{cvt|7.92|mm}} LMG 08/15 machine guns in the forward fuselage. The prototype's performance was mediocre and it was not ordered into production.Green & Swanborough, p. 40
=Geest Fighter=
Before the war's beginning in 1914, Dr. {{ill|Waldemar Geest|de}} designed and built a series of six monoplanes using his Seagull ({{lang|de|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".Herris 2020, p. 46 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.Herris 2023, p. 175 During testing, the single-bay aircraft had a maximum speed of {{convert|160|km/h}} and reached a height of {{convert|3500|m}} in 17.5 minutes, but further development was not continued.Green & Swanborough, p. 236Gray & Thetford, p. 386
Aviatik D.II-2.jpg|Profile photograph of the Aviatik D.II with the Geest wing
D.II wing shapes.jpg|The upper Geest wing (left) and the lower (right)
Geest Fighter frontal view.jpg|Frontal view of the Geest fighter
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Aviatik Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes;Herris 2023, p. 173 The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown
|prime units?=met
|crew=1
|length m=6.82
|span m=8.84
|height m=2.87
|wing area sqm=
|empty weight kg=
|gross weight kg=
|max takeoff weight kg=
|fuel capacity=
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Mercedes D.III
|eng1 type=6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine
|eng1 hp=160
|prop blade number=2
|prop name=fixed-pitch propeller
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop dia note=
|max speed kmh=150
|cruise speed kmh=
|stall speed kmh=
|never exceed speed kmh=
|minimum control speed kmh=
|range km=
|combat range km=
|ferry range km=
|endurance=
|ceiling m=
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|climb rate ms=
|time to altitude=7.2 minutes to {{cvt|1000|m}}
|wing loading kg/m2=
|fuel consumption kg/km=
|power/mass=
|thrust/weight=
|more performance=
|guns=2 × fixed, synchronized {{cvt|7.92|mm}} LMG 08/15 machine guns in the forward fuselage
|bombs=
}}
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book|author1-last=Gray|author1-first=Peter|title=German Aircraft of the First World War|orig-year=1970|year=1987 |publisher=Putnam |location=London|isbn=0-85177-809-7|edition=2nd|author2-first=Owen|author2-last=Thetford|name-list-style=amp}}
- {{cite book |author1-last= Green|author1-first= William |author2-last=Swanborough|author2-first=Gordon |title= The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown |orig-year= 1994 |publisher= Salamander Books |location=London |isbn=1-84065-269-1|name-list-style=amp|year=2001 |edition=Revised and Updated}}
- {{cite book |last1=Herris |first1=Jack |title=Aviatik Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes |date=2023 |publisher=Aeronaut Books |location=n.p. |isbn=978-1-953201-59-1|series=Great War Aviation Centennial Series|volume=10|edition=2nd | ref=none}}
- {{cite book |last1=Herris |first1=Jack |title=German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers in WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes |date=2020 |publisher=Aeronaut Books |location=n.p. |isbn=978-1-935881-85-8|volume=1: Alter to Korn|series=Gret War Aviation Centennial Series (49)}}
{{Aviatik aircraft}}
{{World War I Aircraft of the Central Powers}}
{{Idflieg D-class designations}}
Category:1910s German military reconnaissance aircraft