Pfalz Dr.I

The Pfalz Dr.I was a German fighter prototype of the First World War, a single-seat triplane built by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke after official interest in the triplane configuration for single-seat fighters. It underwent initial testing in October 1917, and an initial batch of 10 aircraft was shipped to the Front, arriving in April 1918. It was powered by a 160 hp Siemens-Halske Sh.III eleven cylinder air-cooled rotary engine and armed with two synchronised LMG 08/15 machine guns, and it measured 5.5 m in length with a wingspan of 8.55 m and an empty weight of 510 kg. Service pilots considered the aircraft too slow and its engine too unreliable for frontline use, so no further examples were produced, although Jasta 73 was equipped with the type in 1918.