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Info Eduard - March 2011
BUILT
7017 Fokker Dr.I DUAL COMBO 1/72 ProPACK8161 Fokker Dr.I DUAL COMBO 1/48 ProPACK
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Eduard Fokker Dr.I Editions
7405 Fokker Dr.I 1/72 Weekend
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Info Eduard - March 2011
BUY 8161 BUY 7017
BUY 7405
„The appearance of the British Sopwith Triplane at the beginning of 1917
saw the elimination as an advantage of climb and turn rates of the Ger-
man Albatros and Pfalz types. As a result, the air force hierarchy (Idieg)
requested from German manufacturers a similar type.
At the time, Fokker had been preparing a ghter biplane for the Austro-
-Hungarian air force in the form of the V.4. In response to the Idieg
request, he simply added a third wing to the design. The Dr.I prototypes
lacked interplane struts, but these were added in later machines to ensure
synchronized wing reactions to forces during ight. Trials were initiated
in June, 1917, and showed enough promise to order a rst batch of 20
series aircraft.
Two prototypes, only slightly differing from subsequent series built Dr.I
machines and dubbed Fokker F.I, were tested under operational conditions
in August, with production of the Dr.I then starting in October. After two fa-
tal crashes caused by the failure of the top wing, all aircraft were returned
to the factory for rework. Re-equipping units with the type occurred midway
through December. They equipped elite ghter units, where they were own
by experienced aces. The aircraft was very maneuverable, but by the begi-
nning of 1918, speed was not on par with British types being introduced
into service, and the Dr.I aged quickly. As a result, the type was gradually
replaced by the Fokker D.VII, but even so, several pilots kept this mount until
the end of the war.
Despite a small production run of 230 units, the Dr. I became a legend and
is synonymous with German ghter aircraft.“