The Dorand DO.1 was an armoured reconnaissance-bomber designed and built in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

from 1913. A small number were used operationally as a stop-gap measure.

Design and development

General Bernard of the

Aéronautique Militaire The French Air and Space Force (, , ) is the air force, air and space force of the French Armed Forces. Formed in 1909 as the ("Aeronautical Service"), a service arm of the French Army, it became an independent military branch in 1934 as the Fr ...

issued a specification for an armoured reconnaissance-bomber, with response from Blériot, Breguet, Clément-Bayard, Deperdussin, Ponnier, Voisin and Dorand. Capitaine Émile Dorand's offering, the DO.1, was an un-equal span biplane of wooden construction and fabric covering, with a slender square-section fuselage supported on struts between the negatively staggered mainplanes. Power was supplied by an

Anzani Anzani was an engine manufacturer founded by the Italian Alessandro Anzani (1877–1956), which produced proprietary engines for aircraft, cars, boats, and motorcycles in factories in Britain, France and Italy. Overview From his native Italy, ...

6-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, mounted in the nose. The pilot sat in an open cockpit under the trailing edge of the upper mainplane and the mechanic / observer sat in an open cockpit forward of the wings, protected from small arms fire by armour plates. Control was through conventional ailerons and rudder with an all-flying biplane tailplane providing pitch control. The undercarriage consisted of paired mainwheels mounted on struts, with skids between each pair of wheels and a tail-skid at the end of the fuselage. The DO.1 was found to be easy to fly, but seriously under-powered, resulting in a very short service life. Later, in 1916, the DO.1 was resurrected and re-designed as the Dorand AR.1 and AR.2, retaining many of the features of the DO.1 with a new fuselage and much more powerful engine.

Operational history

Do.1s were issued to Escadrille DO14 at

Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...

on 14 December 1914, which used them in support of the 7th Armée at Hartmanswillerkopf and Rickhackerhoff in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. DO14 replaced its DO.1s with Maurice Farman MF.11 in early 1915. Six more DO.1s were issued to Escadrille DO22 at Villacoublay on 23 August 1914, flying operations in support of the 4th Armée in the Battle of the Marne. DO22 replaced its DO.1s with Maurice Farman MF.11 by 14 November 1914 and was re-designated Escadrille MF22. A few DO.1s were assigned to Escadrille V14 for escort duties but were quickly withdrawn from operations. In 1913 a DO.1 flown by Labouchère flew and a group of six aircraft led by Capitaine Leclerc flew in six stages.

Operators

** Escadrille DO14 ** Escadrille DO22 ** Escadrille V14

Specifications (DO.1)

References

{{reflist 1910s French military reconnaissance aircraft Biplanes with negative stagger Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft manufactured in France Aircraft first flown in 1913