The Häfeli DH-1 was a 1910s

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

two-seat reconnaissance aircraft, built by the aircraft department of the Federal Construction Works (''

Eidgenoessische Konstruktionswerkstaette ''Eidgenössische Konstruktionswerkstätte'' English: "Federal Constructions Works", short K+W, was a Swiss state-owned enterprise, with the aim of making the Swiss military independent of foreign sources for its equipment needs. It was establishe ...

'',

K+W The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Watt ...

) at

Thun Thun (french: Thoune) is a town and a municipality in the administrative district of Thun in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located where the Aare flows out of Lake Thun (Thunersee), southeast of Bern. the municipality has almost ...

, Switzerland.

Development and design

In 1915 K + W set up their aircraft department and employed August Häfeli as chief engineer. Häfeli had previously designed the

AGO C.I The AGO C.I was a First World War German pusher reconnaissance biplane that used a pod-and-boom configuration. Development The crew and pusher engine shared a central nacelle, and the twin booms carried the tail and the four-wheeled landing ge ...

and

AGO C.II The AGO C.II was a German reconnaissance biplane of World War I. It was essentially a slightly redesigned version of the manufacturer's C.I design with a more powerful engine and 3-bay wings. Two examples were equipped with floats (designation ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

reconnaissance biplanes. His first design was the Häfeli DH-1, similar in concept to his designs for

AGO Flugzeugwerke AGO Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company from 1911 until 1945. The initials AGO had a variety of meanings (such as ''Aktiengesellschaft Otto'') during the company's lifetime, but in its final version stood for ''Apparatebau Gmb ...

. The DH-1 was a three-bay biplane of wood and fabric construction, it had a fuselage pod with tandem seating for the two-man crew and twin booms mounting the tail. The DH-1 was powered by an Argus As II engine built under licence by Buhler Brothers Limited. Six aircraft were built.

Operational history

Six DH-1s were built during 1916 but within a year three had been destroyed in accidents. The survivors were withdrawn from service in 1919 and scrapped.

Operators

; *

Swiss Air Force The Swiss Air Force (german: Schweizer Luftwaffe; french: Forces aériennes suisses; it, Forze aeree svizzere; rm, Aviatica militara svizra) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914 as a part of the army an ...

Specifications (DH-1)

References

External links

* ETH-Bibliothek Zürich, Bildarchiv
Häfeli DH-1 (M I) No 243 with Argus As II engineviewer

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hafeli Dh-1 1910s Swiss military reconnaissance aircraft Biplanes Pusher aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1916 Twin-boom aircraft