LVG D.III

History

LVG (Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft) was founded in 1912 in Berlin-Johnny Stahl, Germany, and one of its first projects was to build simple aircraft. When Germany entered the First World War (1914-1918), the company began to expand the scope of its commissioned work and delved into the design of its own fighter reconnaissance and light bomber types. The first fighter of its own was the biplane E.1, which was just a testbed, the only prototype of which was lost in 1915. The D 10 and D 12 prototypes followed, but neither did these prototypes out of their attempted form.

However, their work led to the subsequent design of the D.III that showed great promise and was eventually evaluated for front-line use.

D.III presents lessons learned by LVG ??engineers from previous trials. Its construction includes a semi-monocoque design, with plywood skins and landing lines replaced by a more traditional network of struts for added sturdiness. A biplane plane was used, with a single cabin with N struts. The landing gear has two undercarriages, and the tail of the aircraft is supported by a simple skid assembly. The pilot sits in the open-air cockpit below and behind the upper span.

The armament is 2 x 7.92mm LMG 08/15 machine guns, which fire synchronously through rotating propeller blades. A large spinner is attached to the two-bladed propeller unit.

The aircraft was powered by a 185-horsepower NAG C. III series 6-cylinder in-line engine, and the final design showed a top speed of 109 mph.

The D.III was designed to compete with the Albatros D.III series, which has gained some notoriety since its introduction in 1916. While the airframe was produced in 1,866 prototypes (approximately), the LVG D.III only saw life as another "one-off" prototype - an aircraft deemed too large and heavy to fit in Lightweight and flexible frontline use warriors are sought.

So, like many of the LVG's early attempts, D.III did not advance further as the war progressed.

Specification

Basic

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Performance

Armor

Changes