Fokker Dr I

Impressed with the performance of the Sopwith Triplane, German authorities sought their own version of a three-winged (dreidecker, or Dr) aircraft in 1917. The plane was rushed into production in the spring of 1917, and was on the front lines by October. Safety concerns about shoddy manufacturing of the wings caused the plane to be pulled off the line for over a month, while all the existing planes were checked, and had their wings rebuilt, if necessary. Production ended 6 months later, with only 320 craft having been built.

The Dr I (or V.5, as it was originally called by the manufacturer), performed well in maneuvers, and had an excellent rate of climb. It was not a fast plane, however, and did not perform exceedingly well by the standards of the day. It was, however, the final mount of Manfred von Ricthofen (the Red Baron), making it possibly the most recognizable plane of World War I.

The Dr I has an endurance of 1.5 hours. A full load of fuel and ammo cost $6.40.

Subassemblies: Recon Fighter chassis +2; Recon Fighter wings with Biplane option +2; 2 fixed wheels +0.

Powertrain: 82-kW aerial HP gasoline engine with 82-kW old prop and 7-gallon fuel tank [Body].

Occ.: 1 XCS Body

Cargo: 10 Body

Armor F RL B T U

Body: 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C

Wings: 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C 1/2C

Wheels: 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3 2/3

Weaponry:

2xAircraft LMG/7.92mm Spandau 08/15 LMG [Body:F] (500 rounds).*

*Linked.

Statistics:

Size: 23'x19'x9' Payload: 0.14 tons Lwt.: 0.6 tons

Volume: 96 Maint.: 152 hours Cost: $2,323

HT: 7. HPs: 15 Body, 50 each Wing, 8 each Wheel.

aSpeed: 115 aAccel: 5 aDecel: 30 aMR: 7.5 aSR: 1

Stall Speed: 33 mph.

gSpeed: 186 gAccel: 10 gDecel: 10 gMR: 1.25 gSR: 2

Ground Pressure: High. 1/6 Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:

Although this is a three-winged airplane, the third wing was treated as a "special effect," and biplane wings with the closest SA to the historical 201 sf were selected. aSpeed was increased 20% to the historical. aAccel was increased by 1 to reflect the historical excellence of the plane's climb rate. Planes with defective wings may have a HT of 6. The MG load-outs are a guess; no figures are available; they could be significantly higher with the available VSPs. The MGs are synchronized, lowering RoF by 10% (see p. W:MP8). Given the high calculated gSpeed and the High Ground Pressure, this craft could still just about get airborne in a bumpy field, at the GM's discretion.

Variants:

The V.6 had a longer fuselage and increased span wings to accommodate a heavier 119-kW engine. Its handling characteristics were considerably inferior to the V.5.

The V.7 had a 119-kW engine and a four-bladed prop.

The V.8 was a failed attempted to produce a five (!) winged version.

The V.9 was a biplane version with modifications to the wing struts.

The V.10 has a 108-kW engine with an increased ceiling to 31,170 ft.

From the Aerodrome for GURPS