DORNIER DI

The Dornier-Zeppelin DI (another designation: Dornier DI) was a German fixed undercarriage prototype biplane fighter from the First World War. The drive was provided by a single BMW IIIa engine with 185 HP. The prototype flight took place in June 1918 - the machine never entered mass production. The deck armament consisted of two 7.92 mm machine guns. The Dornier-Zeppelin DI was developed by the later famous German aircraft constructor Claude Dornier at the Zeppelin-Lindau plant. The new plane was characterized by the avant-garde for those times, all-metal construction and such a fuselage and wing plating. It also had a refined aerodynamic profile and a free-supporting lower wing. All this meant that the new fighter had a high maximum speed and good climb rate, but unfortunately it had a high failure rate. Problems with its design prevented its introduction into mass production. After World War I, two copies of this aircraft were delivered to the USA. Probably only seven Dornier-Zeppelin DI aircraft were manufactured