The AEG DJ.I was a
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
fighter that was built by the (AEG) during the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
for the
Imperial German Army
The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...
's ()
Imperial German Air Service
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Impe ...
(). It was derived from the unsuccessful
AEG PE triplane
A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard (aeronautics), canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they occasionally are.
Design principles
The trip ...
fighter and shared the same armoured
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
design, armament and engine. Three prototypes were ordered, but only two are known to have been completed before end of the war in November 1918.
Development
AEG was encouraged to design a single-seat fighter to attack enemy
ground-attack aircraft
An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...
in 1917, knowing that it had to be armoured itself since it was going to be flying at the same very low altitudes as its intended prey. Its PE prototype had been rejected by the Inspectorate of Flying Troops ( () for poor flying characteristics, but AEG thought that a biplane version should improve its performance since the elimination of a wing should reduce drag and improve speed. The company reused the design for the fuselage with its integral armour for the pilot, engine and fuel tank, but designed new
two-bay wings that replaced the
bracing wires with wide
I-shaped interplane struts to reduce its vulnerability to anti-aircraft fire. An experimental water-cooled
Benz Bz.IIIb V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
Origins
The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...
was used in the first prototype and a water-cooled
Maybach Mb.IVa straight-six
A straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balanc ...
engine in the second one. Both aircraft were armed with a pair of
leMG 08/15 machine guns and four small bombs.
Construction of the first prototype began in March 1918 and was completed two months later although 's flight testing did not begin until August. The reason for the delay is unknown, but it may have been related to the availability of the Benz engine. The second prototype was under construction from May to July and surviving documentation states that its Maybach engine needed replacement in September, possibly because it was being flight tested. A third prototype is known to be under construction in that same month, but nothing else is known about it. No decision had been made about production before the
end of the war in November.
[Herris, p. 84]
Specifications (AEG DJ.I)
See also
References
Bibliography
*
*
{{World War I Aircraft of the Central Powers
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Biplanes
DJ.I
1910s German attack aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1918