AEG D.I

Biplane Fighter Prototype Aircraft [ 1917 ]

The AEG D.I biplane fighter program was marred by crashes of two of the three prototypes - as such the 20-strong pre-series order was cancelled.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 07/31/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

Allgemeine Elektricitats-Gesellschaft AG (AEG) served the German Empire in World War 1 (1914-1918) as an aircraft maker. Among their contributions was the short-lived AEG D.I biplane fighter. This design managed only three prototypes for its time and a first-flight was held during May 1917. The AEG Dr.I was an off-shoot of the series, developed along the lines of a triplane fighter. It was no more successful with just one example constructed.

The D.I marked the first fighter to be developed by the company and it incorporated traditional biplane qualities - an over-under wing arrangement, fixed wheeled undercarriage (tail-dragger), and open-air cockpit. The wings were slightly unequal span with a single bay each and single struts reinforced the members outboard of the fuselage. The pilot sat in an open-air cockpit under and aft of the upper wing assembly. The engine was fitted forward of the pilot in a streamlined housing and drove a two-bladed propeller at the nose. Internally there was a steel-tubed understructure and fabric skinning was used along the wing surfaces. Proposed armament was 2 x 7.92mm LMG 08/15 machine guns set over the nose and synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades. Power was from a Daimler D.IIIa 6-cylinder liquid-cooled inline piston engine of 160 horsepower.

As tested, the D.I managed a top speed of 127 miles per hour and ranged out to 300 miles. Its service ceiling was 16,000 feet and initial rate-of-climb reached 1,313 feet per minute.

A total of three prototypes were eventually completed by AEG with the first arriving in May of 1917. Between August and September of that year, the aircraft saw a lengthening of its fuselage to improve stability. The radiators were changed in the second and third prototypes.

Despite a prototype having crashed during testing, some twenty pre-production forms were ordered by the German Air Service for active evaluations. Following the crash of a second prototype on September 5, 1917, this commitment was abandoned and the D.I fell to history - proving to be unstable and a handful at the controls.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

1917

Origin

Imperial Germany

Status

CANCELLED
Development Ended.

Crew

1

Production

3
UNITS

Allgemeine Elektricitats-Gesellschaft AG (AEG) - Imperial Germany

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

German Empire (cancelled)

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Air-to-Air Combat, Fighter
General ability to actively engage other aircraft of similar form and function, typically through guns, missiles, and/or aerial rockets.

✓ X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.

Length

20.0 ft
(6.10 m)

Width/Span

27.9 ft
(8.50 m)

Height

8.7 ft
(2.65 m)

Empty Wgt

1,510 lb
(685 kg)

MTOW

2,072 lb
(940 kg)

Wgt Diff

+562 lb
(+255 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base AEG D.I production variant)

Installed: 1 x Daimler D.IIIa 6-cylinder liquid-cooled inline piston engine developing 160 horsepower and driving a two-bladed propeller at the nose.

Max Speed

127 mph
(205 kph | 111 kts)

Ceiling

16,404 ft
(5,000 m | 3 mi)

Range

289 mi
(465 km | 861 nm)

Rate-of-Climb

1,313 ft/min
(400 m/min)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base AEG D.I production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

2 x 7.92mm LMG 08/15 machine guns synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

D.I - Base Series Designation; three prototypes completed.

Dr.I - Triplane variant of 1917 based on the D.I design.

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery

1 / 1

Image from the Public Domain.