The Udet U 1 was the first of a line of small, low-powered,

low wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing config ...

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

s built in Germany in the early 1920s.

Design

The design was a

in an era dominated by

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 ...

s. The U 1 was a single-seater, as the air-cooled, Haacke HFM-2

flat-twin A flat-twin engine is a two-cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders on opposite sides of the crankshaft. The most common type of flat-twin engine is the boxer-twin engine, where both pistons move inwards and outwards at the same ti ...

did not have enough power for more than one person. Behind the engine in its

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

cowling the fuselage was structurally rectangular in section apart from raised upper decking and was ply-covered. Pilot and passenger sat in tandem in a single, open cockpit, with the pilot in front and over the centre of the wing. It had a conventional, rather angular tail, with a

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

of greater area than the

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

, though this reached down to the keel; the

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabilizer, is a small lift (force), lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters ...

, mounted on top of the fuselage, was also large compared with the

elevators An elevator (American English) or lift (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive tracti ...

Development

In the summer of 1921, a new aviation company was formed using the

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

German flying ace Ernst Udet's name. William Pohl from Milwaukee, Hans Henry Herrmann and Erich Scheuermann joined the company to fund the aircraft before postwar treaty restrictions were lifted on aircraft production, with the intent of building an inexpensive aircraft for the American market. The builders produced and flew the U 1 five months before the formation of the Udet Flugzeubau GmbH company.

Specifications

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

Udet U.1

{{Udet aircraft 1920s German sport aircraft Udet aircraft Low-wing aircraft Conventional-tail aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Aircraft first flown in 1922