The LFG Roland D.III was a fighter aircraft produced in Germany during World War I.
[Taylor 1989, 576]
Design and development
The D.III was a further development of the
D.I fighter.
[''World Aircraft Information Files'' File 900 Sheet 06] These machines had a fuselage that completely filled the interplane gap, a design feature intended to improve aerodynamics. However, it also resulted in limiting the pilot's field of vision in the down and forward direction, leading to complaints.
LFG attempted to remedy this in the D.III design by introducing a gap between the upper fuselage and the upper wing, braced by
cabane strut
In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...
s.
The size of the tailplane was also increased.
While this did indeed result in an improvement over the
Roland D.II
The LFG Roland D.II was a German single-seat fighter of World War I. The type was manufactured by Luftfahrzeug Gesellschaft, and also by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke under license.
Design and development
The D.II used a plywood monocoque fuselage. Tw ...
that had preceded it, the performance of the D.III was inferior to that of other contemporary fighters available to the German Army, in particular those produced by
Albatros, and the aircraft was therefore only produced in small quantities.
Forward visibility, though better in the D.III than the D.I was still not good and LFG tried to improve it with another variant, the D.V. The fuselage diameter was decreased and the decking forward of the cockpit lowered exposing all of the upper parts of the engine cylinders. Three were built, one with the Argus engine of the D.II and two with the
Mercedes D.III
The Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder SOHC valvetrain liquid-cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introd ...
, another upright 6-cylinder engine. The visibility was not much improved and the problem was only solved with the
LFG Roland D.VII
The Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft (LFG) Roland D.VII was a German single seat, single engine biplane fighter aircraft built during World War I. Problems with its underdeveloped V-8 engine prevented its production.
Design and development
The D.VII ...
, which used a
V-8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder (engine), cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V engine, V configuration.
The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette_(manuf ...
.
[Green & Swanborough (1994) p.338]
Variants
;D.V: Lowered fuselage to improve pilot's view. Three built, one with Argus and two with Mercedes engines.
[
]
Operators
;
*Bulgarian Air Force
The Bulgarian Air Force ( bg, Военновъздушни сили, Voennovazdushni sili) is one of the three branches of the Military of Bulgaria, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian land forces. Its mission is to guard and p ...
;
* Luftstreitkrafte
Specifications (D.III)
Notes
Bibliography
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External links
Уголок неба
{{Idflieg D-class designations
1910s German fighter aircraft
D.III
Aircraft first flown in 1916