Saturday, August 14, 2010

Flying Razor





Here are some images of Dragon Models 1/48 scale Fokker D. VIII. From Wikipedia "

The Fokker E.V was a German parasol-monoplane fighter aircraft designed by Reinhold Platz and built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke. It entered service with the Luftstreitkräfte in the last months of World War I. After several fatal accidents due to wing failures, the aircraft was modified and redesignated Fokker D.VIII. Dubbed the Flying Razor by Allied pilots, the D.VIII had the distinction of scoring the last aerial victory of the war.

In early 1918, Fokker produced several rotary-powered monoplane prototypes. Of these, Fokker submitted the V.26 and V.28, small parasol-winged monoplanes with his usual steel-tube fuselages, for the second fighter trials at Adlershof in May/June 1918. The V.28 was tested with both the 108 kW (145 hp) Oberursel UR.III and 119 kW (160 hp) Goebel Goe.III, though neither of these engines were ready for operational service. The V.26 utilized the standard Oberursel UR.II engine, producing only 82 kW (110 hp). While this engine was obsolete, the V.26's low drag and light weight meant that it was nevertheless quite fast. The Fokker designs were only barely beaten by the Siemens-Schuckert D.III with the complex bi-rotary Siemens-Halske Sh.III engine.

In the end, the V.26 was ordered into production as the Fokker E.V. Four hundred were ordered immediately with either the UR.III or Goe.III. Because neither engine was available in any quantity, all production examples mounted the UR.II.

4 comments:

  1. A great job on a nifty, colorful aircraft. Did you find the decals a challenge? Are they aftermarket?

    Dave

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  2. Actually the decals came with the kit and being that it was basically flat surfaces application was straight forward.

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  3. Warren, when they say this plane was so light, how light are they talking?
    great model btw....

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  4. Pat- Your average WW1 fighter usually had an empty weight of in or around 1000lbs. The D VIII had an empty weight of about 850lbs. Empty weight means actual weight of the aircraft without fuel, man and armament.

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