The Häfeli DH-1 was a 1910s

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

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) at

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

, 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,

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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 The Argus As II was a six-cylinder, in-line, water-cooled, aircraft engine produced in Germany by Argus Motoren in 1914. The Argus As II produced at 1,350 rpm.Der Argus Flugmotor, 1916 Design and development The Argus As II was a major re ...

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 The survivors were withdrawn from service in 1919 and scrapped.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 (; ; ; ) is the air component of the Swiss Armed Forces, established on 31 July 1914, three days after the outbreak of World War I, as a part of the Swiss Army, army and in October 1936 as an independent service. In peaceti ...

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