Hansa-Brandenburg KD (D.I)

Designed by Ernst Heinkel specifically for the Austro- Hungarian K.u.k. Luftfahrttruppen in 1916, the KD (Kampf Doppeldecker) single-seat fighter featured a novel system of wing interplane bracing in the form of four Vee struts joined in the centre of the wing bay by their apices to result in a "star'' arrangement, which led to the KD being dubbed a "star strutter". Flown as a prototype with the 160hp Mercedes D III six-cylinder water-cooled engine, the KD was manufactured in series as the D.I with the 150hp and 160hp Austro- Daimler engines by the Hansa- und Brandenburgische Flugzeug-Werke, and with the 185hp Austro-Daimler by the Phonix Flugzeugwerke of Vienna. Of wooden construction with fabric wing skinning, plywood fuselage skinning and having steel-tube interplane strutting, the D.I was armed with a single unsynchronised 8mm Schwarzlose machine gun which was enclosed by a fairing on top of the cabane and fired over the propeller. The D.I was reputedly difficult to fly, suffered inadequate directional stability owing to the rudder being blanketed by the deep fuselage, and had poor spin recovery characteristics. A number of Phonix-built Brandenburg D.Is survived World War I to serve briefly with the Deutschosterreichische Fliegertruppe.

3-View

A three-view drawing (1643 x 1275)