Aviatik D.I

The Aviatik D.I was produced in sixteen different series by six manufacturers, so there was a wide variety of differences between planes in armament, radiators, engines, and minor details. The prototype, designed by Berg, was first sent to the front for evaluation in May 1917 where it was found to be fast and maneuverable. It was sometimes known as the "Aviatik (Berg) D.I",   At first they were armed with a single top-wing machine gun firing over the propeller, but as soon as reliable synchronization was available this was replaced with twin guns mounted alongside the engine. These were inaccessible to the pilot, so by mid-1918 the guns were relocated to be accessible by the pilot in case of a jam.

Almost 1,000 D.I's were produced, but many of them never saw combat due to shortages of engines, guns, or various other problems of logistics. Even with these problems the D.I accounted for 43% of Austria-Hungary fighter acceptances during the war.

Engines varied from the 160hp to the 225hp Daimler, which no doubt resulted in a wide spread of D.I performance. It was plagued by overheating during he summer months, partially mitigated by removing panels to expose the upper parts of the engine.

They were known to have good maneuverability and rate of climb. Early models had problems with weak wings, but that was corrected in later production series.

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