Fokker DR1 Triplane
WW1 Fighter

The Fokker Dr 1 was designed in response to the British Sopwith Triplane which had proven to outperform all existing German fighters in service on the Western Front. The Fokker Dr 1 was a very manoeuvrable and agile dogfighter, the "Dr" was an abbreviation of "Dreidecker" meaning 3 wings, it is now better known by most people as the Fokker Triplane. Manfred Von Richthofen (the Red Baron) is reported to have said "It climbed like a monkey and manoeuvred like the devil" when asked of his recollections on the aircrafts performance.

Fokker's Anthony Herman Gerald was ordered to produce 320 Fokker Dr 1's on the 14th of July 1917, the first production aircraft was personally delivered by Tony Fokker to Manfred Von Richthofen "The Red Baron" and the DR.1 entered operational service on the 'Western Front' in the following month with Richthofen's infamous Flying Circus "Jasta 11". Manfred Von Richthofen (the Red Baron) was destined to make this steel tubed airframe dogfighter famous although in less skilful hands it was to prove hard to control (most successful dogfighters have unstable flight characteristics and require a highly skilled pilot to keep them in control).

Fokker Dr 1 Specifications

• Length: 18' 11" 5.77 M

• Height: 9' 8" 2.95 M

• Wingspan: 23' 7" 7.19 M

• Empty Weight: 895.00 lbs 405.00 Kg

• Gross Weight: 1295.00 lbs 587.00 Kg

• Maximum speed: 115 Mph 185 Km/H 100 Kt

• Service ceiling: 23,000 Ft

• Engine: Single 110hp Oberursel Ur II or LeRhone piston engine

Armament:

• Twin 7.92 mm Spandau LMG 08/15 fixed machine guns firing through the propeller arc