Ernie P.

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Bingo! You nailed it, 3136; and you get to ask the next question. We had a lot of participation on this question, and a lot of good subject planes for future questions. Great work, 3136; take it away. You have 24 hours to post your question. Make it a good one! Thanks; Ernie P.


Question: What warbird do I describe?

Clues:

1. The genesis of this aircraft was an attempt to create a combat aircraft with a decided speed advantage.
2. The plan was to design an aircraft that would be small and light.
3. And, it would have less drag than most contemporary aircraft.
4. Also, a lot of work was done on streamlining the design.
5. Reducing drag was to be accomplished by eliminating the bracing and supports used by most current aircraft.
6. This was only partially successful; but the final design was markedly less “cluttered” than anything else around.
7. The aircraft proved to be quite fast for its day.
8. And, it also proved to be really, really weird looking; for its day or any other time.
9. Like really, seriously weird.
10. In the end, the plane’s appearance proved too controversial, perhaps even too weird, for it to go into production.
11. Only a couple of prototypes were produced.
12. Although the plane was fast, it had some deficiencies.
13. It was difficult to handle on the ground; particularly during landing.
14. The center of gravity was high, causing instability.
15. The landing gear track was very narrow.
16. Also, the pilot had limited visibility during landing.
17. The prototype had an excellent first flight.
18. And a very hard landing, damaging the aircraft.
19. The designer produced other, much more successful designs.
20. The plane was quickly given a nickname matching its weird, and frankly ugly, appearance; basically a blob with short wings.
21. The plane was an all wood biplane.
22. First flight was in 1915.
23. Wingspan was just over 21 feet.
24. Length was less than 15 feet.
25. Yet the engine, a water cooled inline, was a standard engine used at the time.

Answer: The DFW T28 Floh

The DFW T28 Floh (Flea) was designed by the Chief Engineer of the Deutsche Flugzeugwerke GmbH of Leipzig-Lindenthal, Dipl.Ing. Hermann Dorner. The intent was to create a high speed fighter by eliminating drag through reducing the need for struts and rigging. The name Floh translates as "Flea" in English, and this is because it looks like a small fat blob with stunted wings.


The Floh was an all-wood construction biplane which had a wingspan of 6.5 meters and a fuselage length of 4.5 meters. it was powered by a 100 HP in-line Mercedes D1 engine and armed with a single machine gun installed over the engine inside the fuselage. Special emphasis was placed on streamlining that led to the aircraft's bizarre silhouette. The Floh was conceived as a strut and wireless aircraft. In this respect, the Floh was only partially successful, because when the T28 finally reached prototype stage it still needed some wing struts. However, it did not have the volume of rigging commonly seen on aircraft from its era.
The prototype Floh made a very promising first flight in 1915., During the test flight a speed of 180 Km/h was recorded, this was a feat at the time. The test flight exposed difficult landing characteristics in the design. This could be attributable to a narrow width of the landing gear causing instability and the high center of gravity. These flaws were compounded by the position of the pilot which reduced landing visibility. On the very first flight the prototype had an extremely hard landing which resulted in light damage to the wing cell.
It did not enter production due to a series of unresolved issues. In spite of being successful in achieving its goal of a high speed, the German military, was not in the mood to support such an unorthodox design. Because of this, the Floh is only remembered as another curiosity in military aircraft development.

DFW T28 Floh

• Type: Fighter
• Manufacter: Deutsche Flugzeugwerke Gmb
• Designed By: Hermann Dorner
• First Flight: 1915
• Number Built: 2
• Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D-I water-cooled in-line engine, 100 hp (74 kW)
• Wingspan: 21 ft 4¼ in (6.5 m)
• Length: 14 ft 9¼ in (4.5 m)
• Maximum Speed: 111 mph (180 Km/h)
• Crew: 1
• Armament: 1 × 0.312 in (7.92) LMG 08/15 Spandau machine gun