The Schütte-Lanz D.III was a German fighter prototype during World War I. It participated in the first Idflieg D competition at Adlershof, Germany in January and February 1918. It was a conventional single-bay staggered biplane with N-type interplane struts. Constructed of wood with fabric skinning, the D.III gave an unspectacular performance: production was never continued.

Variants

Dr.I

The Dr.I was a triplane using the fuselage, empennage, engine and undercarriage (apart from a slightly repositioned tailskid) of the D.III. The new wings had a smaller span (6.50 m (21 ft 4 in)) but had single bays and N-struts as before. The centre wing was attached to the upper fuselage and the upper one supported over the cockpit on a N-strutted cabane. Unusually, though there was stagger between the lower pair of wings, there was none between the upper two. The Dr.I took part in the second D competition, held from 27 May to 28 June 1918.

Specifications

Data from The Complete Book of Fighters^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in)
• Wingspan: 8 m (26 ft 3 in)
• Gross weight: 860 kg (1,896 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.III 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engine, 120 kW (160 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed wooden fixed pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 195 km/h (121 mph, 105 kn)
• Rate of climb: 2.61 m/s (514 ft/min)
• Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 3 minutes, 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in 31.9 minutes

Armament

• Guns: 2 x 7.9 mm (0.311 in) LMG 08/15 machine guns

References

Bibliography

• William Green and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters. Colour Library Direct, Godalming, UK: 1994. ISBN 1-85833-777-1.

Further reading

• Herris, Jack (2020). German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers in WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series (50). Vol. 2: Krieger to Union. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-86-5.