Pfalz D.VII
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=D.VII | image=Pfalz D.VII 06.jpg | caption= }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type=Single seat fighter aircraft | national origin=Germany | manufacturer=Pfalz Flugzeugwerke | designer= | first flight=Late 1917 | introduced= | retired= | status= | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built= | program cost= | unit cost= | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Pfalz D.VII was a German biplane fighter aircraft from World War I. It was not put into production.
Design and development
The D.VII was a single-bay biplane with staggered, parallel-chord wings. It had simple parallel interplane struts; the upper centre section was supported on each side by a three-sided rectangular frame, open at the bottom where it was mounted on the upper fuselage. There were externally connected ailerons on both upper and lower planes.
Behind the D.VII's rotary engine its fuselage was of rounded cross-section, with the single-seat, open cockpit just below the upper wing's trailing edge, where there was a small cut-out for better upward vision. The horizontal tail was mounted at mid-fuselage; the fin was straight-edged and carried a full, rounded and horn balanced rudder. The D.VII had a simple fixed conventional undercarriage, with mainwheels on a single axle supported at each end by a thin V-form pair of struts. There was a generous tailskid. The D.VII had a pair of fixed LMG 08/15 machine guns, the standard German single-seat fighter armament of the time.
Beginning its flying programme near the end of 1917, the Pfalz was fitted with three types of rotary engines in testing: the {{convert|145|hp|kW|abbr=on|0|disp=flip}} Oberursel U.III, the Goebel Goe.III and the Siemens-Halske Sh.III, the last two both producing {{convert|160|hp|kW|abbr=on|0|disp=flip}}. These drove both two and four blade propellers. Both balanced and unbalanced ailerons were tried.
The D.VII was one of three Pfalz aircraft which competed at the first D-Type contest held at Adlershof in January and February 1918, the others being the D.VI and the D.VIII. It gained its Type Certificate in February 1918 but did not receive a production order.
Specifications
{{Aircraft specs
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|crew=One
|length m=5.65
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|span m=7.52
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|height m=2.85
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|empty weight kg=520
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|gross weight kg=715
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|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Siemens-Halske Sh.III
|eng1 type=11-cylinder rotary engine
|eng1 hp=160
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|prop blade number=2
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|max speed kmh=190
|max speed note=at 4,000 m (13,215 ft)
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|endurance=1.5 hr
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|time to altitude=25.25 min to 6,000 m (18,290 ft)
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|armament=
- 2 × LMG 08/15 7.9 mm (0.311 in) machine guns
}}
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References
Further reading
{{Commons category}}
- {{cite book |last1=Herris |first1=Jack |series=Great War Aviation Centennial Series |title=Pfalz Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes |volume=5 |date=2012 |publisher=Aeronaut Books |location=Charleston, SC |isbn=978-1-935881-12-4}}
{{Pfalz aircraft}}
{{Idflieg D-class designations}}
Category:1910s German fighter aircraft
Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft