Fokker DR.1

The Fokker DR1 arrived at the front around October 1917, after operational trials with 2 prototypes in August-September, Ltn Werner Voss of Jasta 10 (WWI squadron) being shot down in one of these on Sept 23. Being a very sensitive aircraft to fly and very tiring also, the DR1 nevertheless was a supurb aerobatic aircraft, often preferred by the more skilled pilots to fly next to other available aircraft.

Once mastered the Dr.1 was a deadly opponent and not to be taken lightly at any time. It was a slow, low-altitude performer, often avoided at all costs by allied pilots in their less maneuverable fighters.

Reinhold Platz was the chief designer of the Fokker Dr. 1. Reinhold designed many planes in World War One and he offered his designs to both sides, but the Allies turned him down. Some people thought that Reinhold had copied the design of the Sopwith Triplane but Reinhold hadn't seen the Sopwith Triplane before he started to design the Fokker Dr 1. During the designing he made a prototype called V3 which suffered from severe wing vibration. So the next prototype (V4) was fitted with hollow struts to minimize the vibration. The final design had redesigned ailerons and elevators. Fokker, Anthony Herman Gerald was the manufacturer of the Fokker Dr 1. He was ordered to produce 320 Fokker Dr 1's on July 14, 1917. Tony Fokker personally delivered the first Fokker Dr 1 to the Red Baron. The first Fokker Dr 1's appeared over the 'Western Front' in August 1917.

The Fokker Dr 1 was Germany's response to the success of the Sopwith Triplane. In World War One, there were three main types of planes: these were scouts, fighters and bombers. At first there were only scouts, which flew up in the air and looked at what the enemy was doing and reported back the details. Initially these scouts had no guns but later on guns were being carried or attached to the planes.

The first guns were just the pistols that the pilots carried on the plane with them, then later on machine guns were put on planes. The first machine guns were designed with an intercepting gear so the bullets could fire through the propeller arc without hitting the propeller. Later on this lead to fighting scouts.

As the war developed, planes started to carry bombs, these planes were bigger and slower so this led to fighters because the bombers needed fast planes to escort them so they wouldn't be shot down. Also, fighters were needed so the enemy bombers could be shot down. The Fokker Dr 1 was used mainly as a fighting scout. The Fokker Dr 1 was designed to be a dogfighter. It was used to shoot down as many planes as possible. It was also used for a bit of scouting as well. The Fokker Dr 1 was also used for defense purposes because it wasn't as fast as most fighter planes in World War One.

A total of 320 Fokker Dr1 fighter Scouts were built. The Fokker Dr 1 was a successful plane in World War One. It was known as one of the best dogfighters of the war. The Fokker Dr 1 was a terrible plane in the hand of an inexperienced pilot but with an experienced pilot it was an almost unstoppable dogfighter.

One pilot that made the Fokker Dr 1 very successful was 'Rittmeister Freiherr von' or commonly known as the 'Red Baron'. He had 80 confirmed victories, which made him the most successful pilot in World War 1. He was also the leader of the Flying Circus or Jasta 11, (a squadron during World War One that shot down more than 300 allied planes). He was killed in his Fokker Dr 1 whilst chasing a novice pilot fairly low to the ground by a single shot in the heart by either a Canadian Pilot, Australian machine gunners or by ground troops. The Red Baron was awarded the Blue Max, which is the common name for Prussia's highest military honors.