Aviatik D.VII
A left-front oblique view of the Aviatik D.VII
Role	Experimental single-seat biplane fighter
National origin	Germany
Manufacturer	Aviatik
First flight	1918
Number built	1
Developed from	Aviatik D.VI

The Aviatik D.VII was a prototype German single-seat biplane fighter aircraft built by Aviatik in the last year of the First World War. It could not participate in the Third Fighter Competition of October 1918 because it used the wrong engine and it saw no military service, although 50 aircraft were found in storage after the war. The only real major change from the earlier Aviatik D.VI was a completely new tail structure.

Specifications

Data from The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 6.10 m (20 ft 0 in)
• Wingspan: 9.66 m (31 ft 8 in)
• Height: 2.50 m (8 ft 2 in)
• Empty weight: 745 kg (1,642 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 945 kg (2,083 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × liquid-cooled Benz Bz.IIIbm geared V-8 engine , 145 kW (195 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 192 km/h (119 mph, 104 kn)
• Endurance: c. 1 hour^[2]
• Time to altitude: 24 minutes to 6,000 m (20,000 ft)

Armament
2 × fixed, synchronised 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 "Spandau" machine guns

References

Bibliography

• Gray, Peter & Thetford, Owen (1987) [1970]. German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-809-7.
• Green, William & Swanborough, Gordon (2001) [1994]. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown (Revised and Updated ed.). London: Salamander Books. ISBN 1-84065-269-1.
• Herris, Jack (2023). Aviatik Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 10 (2nd ed.). n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-953201-59-1.