Kondor D 1

D 1
Role	Fighter aircraft
National origin	Germany
Manufacturer	Kondor Flugzeugwerke, Essen
Designer	Walter Rethel and Paul Ehrhardt
First flight	Autumn 1917
Status	prototype only
Number built	1
Variants	Kondor D 2

The Kondor D 1, given the unofficial name Kondorlaus, was a German single seat, biplane fighter aircraft designed and built close to the end of WWI.

Design and development

The Kondor D 1 was an unequal span single-seat biplane of wooden construction, powered by a 100 hp (75 kW) Gnome Monosoupape rotary engine and armed with two 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 Spandau machine guns. The D 1 had a single spar lower wing with V interplane struts, similar to Nieuport 11 practice.

The first flight of the Kondor D 1 occurred in the autumn of 1917, but test flights showed it to be underpowered and Walter Rethel, with Paul Ehrhardt, developed an improved version of the design, the Kondor D 2, which Rethel completed after Ehrhardt retired due to ill health.

Confusion reigned after the second D-type competition at Aldershof because the Idflieg referred to the two Kondor D 2 prototypes as the D.I and D.II during the competition, which were actually fictitious designations.[1]

Specifications (D 1)

Data from The Complete Book of Fighters[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: One
• Length: 4.85 m (15 ft 11 in)
• Wingspan: 7.60 m (24 ft 11 in)
• Height: 2.40 m (7 ft 10 in)
• Wing area: 13.35 m^2 (143.7 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 388 kg (855 lb)
• Gross weight: 568 kg (1,252 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Gnome Monosoupape 9 Type B 9-cylinder, air-cooled rotary engine, 75 kW (100 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed

Performance

• Time to altitude: 5,000 m (16,000 ft) in 30 minutes 36 seconds

Armament

• Guns: 2 x 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 Spandau machine guns with 500 rpg

References

1. Green & Swanborough, p. 322

Bibliography

• Gray, Peter & Thetford, Owen (1987) [1970]. German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-809-7.
• Green, William & Swanborough, Gordon (2001) [1994]. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown (Revised and Updated ed.). London: Salamander Books. ISBN 1-84065-269-1.
• Herris, Jack (2020). German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers in WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Gret War Aviation Centennial Series (49). Vol. 1: Alter to Korn. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-85-8.