Hi all,
I'm waiting for the display case to arrive for the previous model.
As the last few resin models completed required a lot of 'scratch' building, I thought I'd build something without any struts or rigging.
So this time around it'll be the ‘Wingnut Wings’ Junkers D.I (Kit No.32065).
This model will depict a Junkers D.I that was involved in a flying accident, possibly during testing, on the 3rd of October 1918.
It was most likely repaired and possibly given the Serial No: 5188/18.
It was then operated by either MFJG in Belgium or with Kampfgeschwader ’Sachsenburg’, operating in the Baltic during 1919.
The Junkers D.I was designated as a ‘battle plane’, meaning its perceived operational role was to be that of ground attack, rather than as a fighter.
Only 40 aircraft were built between June 1918 and February 1919 and it seems of these, only 5 were delivered to the front.
It's not certain than any of these aircraft took part in actual combat.
Although there were reports from the British late in the war that there were ’encounters with German monoplanes that were covered with corrugated sheet’.
These 5 aircraft were eventually abandoned on the German landing field of Hombeek in Belgium.
However, the aircraft did see active service after the war, in action against the Bolshevik forces in the Baltic countries.
They were operated by the ‘Kampfgeschwader Sachsenburg’ volunteer regiment, commanded by Gothard Sachsenburg, a former pilot of the German naval ’Marine Jasta’.
The regiment consisted of 3 squadrons, being FA413 (reconnaissance), FA416 (fighter) and FA417 (ground attack).
Both FA416 and FA417 operated the Junkers D.I as well as the Junkers CL.I (two seat version) aircraft.
A few aircraft were lost in combat, including a Junkers D.I being flown by Josef Jacobs.
When hostilities ceased, those aircraft remaining were found by Soviet forces, abandoned on an airfield near Riga.
The lineage of this aircraft traces back to Professor Hugo Junkers, when in 1912 he patented a design for a thick, cantilever constructed initially of corrugated steel.
The first Junkers J.I and J.2 monoplanes were built but proved too heavy for operational use.
Therefore the Junkers J.3 was redesigned during 1916 using an aluminium alloy (Duraluminium).
However it was shelved when production was switched to the Junkers J.1 biplane, which entered service in 1917.
Due to the positive response for the J.I, work recommenced on an armored single seat monoplane, starting with the Junkers J.5 through to the J.9, which eventually became the operational Junkers D.1.
The maiden flight took place in May 1918 and further changes to the design saw 4 aircraft of the final version dispatched to the front in October 1918.
The design of this aircraft was revolutionary for its time, being a monoplane of metal construction and with only cross brace rigging on the undercarriage.
The airframe was essentially of tubular construction with corrugated Duraluminium covering.
Various engines were fitted during the prototype stages, but it seems the Daimler-Mercedes D.IIIa (180hp) or D.IIIaü (200hp) engines were fitted to operational aircraft.
Armament consisted of twin 7.92 mm LMG 08/15 ‘Spandau’ machine guns.
Mike
