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| Believed by some German pilots to be the best fighter at the front in the summer of 1918, the Siemens-Schuckert SSW D.III was a stubby, compact little biplane of wooden construction. During flight trials in October 1917, the prototype reached a level speed of 180km/h and climbed to 5974m in less than 20 minutes, a performance which justified its being ordered into immediate
production for use in World War I. The first batch of 30 SSW D.III scouts was delivered for operational trials in January 1918, and a further 30 aircraft were ordered in February. Beginning in late April, 41 examples were allocated to operational units on the Western Front, most of these going to JG 2. Small orders were placed for two further developments, the SSW D.IV and SSW D.V.
| CREW | 1 |
| ENGINE | 1 x 200hp Siemens-Halske Sh.llla rotary engine |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 725 kg | 1598 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 8.43 m | 28 ft 8 in |
| Length | 5.70 m | 19 ft 8 in |
| Height | 2.80 m | 9 ft 2 in |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 180 km/h | 112 mph |
| Ceiling | 8000 m | 26250 ft |
| ARMAMENT | 2 x 7.92mm machine guns |
| Klaatu83, e-mail, 22.05.2014 03:00 The Siemens-Schuckert D-III had an excellent performance. However, it's "Achilles Heel" was it's complicated and unreliable Siemens-Halske rotary engine. reply | | j stokert, e-mail, 29.07.2010 19:06 there is a D-III on static display at Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in Rhinebeck, NY. The aerodrome puts on WWI airshows on summer weekends. reply | | Larry McCormick, e-mail, 22.12.2009 10:17 I was just at the 'Planes of Fame Museum' near the Grand Canyon (Valle, Az) and that is a replica - and a very nice one also. There is also another beautiful example in a museum on the South Island (North East part)of New Zealand, it is a D.IV model. This museum is very much WWI aircraft and is great. It is funded by Peter Jackson of 'Lord of the Ring" films. reply | | leo rudnicki, e-mail, 09.04.2009 05:38 I was driving up to the Grand Canyon and saw an aircraft Museum, walked in, you coulda knocked me over with a feather, a Siemens-Schuckert D.III. Been a few years since but it has got to be somewhere now reply | |
| | Fredrik Lanz, e-mail, 18.01.2009 17:01 Are you sure you don't mean the Focke Wulf FW 44 Stieglitz? It was designed in the 1930's by Kurt Tank and co and it was powered by a Siemens-Halske Sh 14 which is a 7-cylinder radial engine. reply | | Gehard Riedl, e-mail, 30.05.2008 05:14 Where is the Sh Modell "Stieglitz"? I know there is such an aircraft, because I flew one in Munich in the late 50's. It was a biplane and had a Sh radial engine (7 cylinders I believe). It was somewhat larger than the Buecker Jungmann. reply |
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All the World's Rotorcraft |
