Siemens-Schuckert D.III

D.III
Type	Single-seat biplane fighter
Manufacturer	Siemens-Schuckertwerke
Maiden flight	1917
Introduced	1917
Primary user	Luftstreitkräfte

The Siemens-Schuckert D.III was a German prototype single-seat fighter built by Siemens-Schuckertwerke (SSW).

Design and development

Following on from the earlier D.I and prototype D.II, the D.III was ordered into production in 1917. It was an equal-span biplane powered by a 160 hp (119 kW) Siemens-Halske Sh.III rotary engine. The aircraft suffered early problems with engine reliability which were overcome. The D.III had an exception rate of climb which would have made it a good interceptor, but in straight and level flight it was slower then other fighters. Only development aircraft were built to test aerodynamic improvements for the production version the Siemens-Schuckert D.IV.

Operators

Template:Country data German Empire

• Luftstreitkräfte

Specifications(D.III)

Data from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Length: 18 ft 8½ in (6.70 m)
• Wingspan: 27 ft 7¾ in (8.43 m)
• Height: 9 ft 2¼ in (2.80 m)
• Wing area: 203.44 ft² (18.90 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,177 lb (534 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 1,598 lb (725 kg)
• Powerplant: 1× Siemens-Halske Sh.III radial piston, 160 hp (119 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 112 mph (180 km/h)
• Service ceiling: 26,245 ft (8000 m)

Armament

• two fixed forward firing 7.92 mm (0.31 in) LMG 08/15 machine-guns

References

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing. 

See also

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Siemens-Schuckert D.III".