Aviatik D.VII

The D.VI and D.VII were both single-seat, two-bay biplanes of wooden construction with a plywood-covered fuselage and fabric-covered wings and tail surfaces. Their water-cooled, Benz Bz.IIIbm V-eight piston engine was equipped with a gearbox and drove a wooden, fixed-pitch, four-bladed propeller that was fitted with a spinner. The engine was covered by a metal cowling. The radiator was located in front of the engine. Its armament comprised two fixed, forward-firing LMG 08/15 Spandau machine guns. The Third Fighter Competition only allowed aircraft powered by the BMW IIIa engine to participate, so the D.VII was not demonstrated there. Aviation historians Jack Herris, William Green & Gordon Swanborough maintain that Aviatik covertly built 50 D.VIIs that the Inter-Allied Aeronautical Commission of Control discovered after the war, ==Specifications==