Aviation / Aerospace

Kondor D.I (Kondorlaus)

Biplane Fighter Prototype Aircraft [ 1917 ]

The Kondor D.I of German Empire origination failed to meet performance expectations and was redrawn to become the D.II fighter prototype for the company.

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

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The Kondor D.I (unofficially named the "Kondorlaus") was a twin-gunned, single-seat prototype biplane fighter developed by the German Empire concern of Kondor Flugzeugwerke during World War 1 (1914-1918). The aircraft was developed alongside Kondor's other offering, the triplane-equipped "Dreidecker". Tested in 1917, the D.I was found to be lacking performance and was eventually evolved into the D.II prototype by the company. The designs were credited to Walter Rethel and Paul G. Ehrhardt.

The biplane wing arrangement in the D.I was of unequal span, meaning that the upper section was longer in span than the lower. A single bay was set to each side of the fuselage and V-type struts added strength to each wing element (as did the usual cabling). The fuselage held the engine at the nose in typical fashion, a single-seat open-air cockpit, and a tapered aft-end. The tail unit was conventional with its single vertical plane and low-set horizontal planes. The undercarriage was of the typical "tail-dragger" type for ground-running. Power was supplied by a single Gnome-Monosoupape rotary engine developing 100 horsepower and driving a two-bladed propeller unit at the nose. Proposed armament for the fighter was to become 2 x 7.92mm LMG 08/15 machine guns with up to 500 rounds of ammunition carried aboard.

As built, the D.I has an empty weight of 855lb with a loaded weight of 1,255lb. Length was 15.10 feet with a wingspan of 24.11 feet and a height of 7.10 feet.

In Autumn of 1917, the aircraft was put through its paces through the requisite trials but was soon found to be an underperforming machine, resulting in the D.I being taken back to the drawing boards and reemerging to become the Kondor D.II (detailed elsewhere on this site).©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1917

Origin

Imperial Germany

Status

CANCELLED
Development Ended.

Crew

1

Production

1
UNITS

Kondor Flugzeugwerke - German Empire

(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.

✓ Interception
Ability to intercept inbound aerial threats by way of high-performance, typically speed and rate-of-climb.

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

Length

15.9 ft
(4.85 m)

Width/Span

24.9 ft
(7.60 m)

Height

7.9 ft
(2.40 m)

Empty Wgt

860 lb
(390 kg)

MTOW

1,257 lb
(570 kg)

Wgt Diff

+397 lb
(+180 kg)

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

Installed: 1 x Gnome-Monosoupape rotary engine developing 100 horsepower and driving a two-bladed wooden propeller at the nose.

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the Kondor D.I production variant. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

PROPOSED:
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 ("Kondorlaus") - Base Prototype Name; single example completed.

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