Airco DH.5

The Airco DH.5 was a British First World War single-seat biplane fighter, designed and manufactured at Airco under the lead of Geoffrey de Havilland as a replacement for the obsolete DH.2. It was one of the first British fighters built around the Constantinesco gun synchronizer, which let a forward-firing machine gun shoot through the propeller faster and more reliably than older mechanical gears, and one of the earliest biplanes with a marked back-stagger of its wings. The prototype began manufacturer's trials at Hendon in late 1916 and service trials at the Central Flying School on 9 December 1916, and production was ordered on 15 January 1917. By the time it reached the front it was inferior to other fighters, unpopular with Royal Flying Corps pilots, and it was withdrawn once supplies of the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5a allowed, the last DH.5 squadron re-equipping in January 1918.