Pfalz D.III

The Pfalz D.III was a fighter aircraft used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) during the First World War. The D.III was the first major original design from Pfalz Flugzeugwerke. Though generally considered inferior to contemporary Albatros and Fokker fighters, the D.III was widely used by the Jagdstaffeln from late 1917 to mid-1918. It continued to serve as a training aircraft until the end of the war.

Design and development

Prior to World War I, Pfalz Flugzeugwerke produced Morane-Saulnier monoplane designs under license. These aircraft entered military service as the Pfalz A- and E-series. In September 1916, Pfalz began producing the first of 20 Roland D.I and 200 Roland D.II fighters under license.

In November 1916, Pfalz hired Rudolph Gehringer from Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH. As Pfalz’s new chief engineer, Gehringer immediately commenced work on an original fighter design. The resulting D.III emerged in April 1917. Like the Rolands, the D.III used a plywood monocoque fuselage. Two layers of thin plywood strips were placed over a mold to form one half of a fuselage shell. The fuselage halves were then glued together, covered with a layer of fabric, and doped. This Wickelrumpf method gave the fuselage great strength, light weight, and smooth contours compared to conventional construction techniques. However, it also proved to be more labor-intensive and expensive. Furthermore, fuselages of the Wickelrumpf type proved to be liable to twisting or warping in service, affecting performance as well as causing control problems. This has been attributed to moisture absorption in damp front-line conditions or to the use of insufficiently seasoned wood.

D3

D3, D03, D.III, D III or D-3 may refer to:

Transportation

Roads and public transport routes

London Buses route D3, a Transport for London contracted bus route

D3 motorway (Czech Republic), a motorway in the Czech Republic

D3 road (Croatia), a state road in Croatia

D3 motorway (Slovakia), a motorway in northern Slovakia

Vehicles

Ford D3 platform, a full-size car automobile platform

Aircraft

Albatros D.III, a 1916 German biplane fighter aircraft

Dewoitine D.3, a Dewoitine aircraft

Dunne D.3, a British Dunne aircraft

Fokker D.III, a 1916 German single-seat fighter aircraft

Mercedes D.III, a 1914 German 6-cylinder, liquid-cooled inline aircraft engine

Phönix D.III, a variant of the Austro-Hungarian First World War Phönix D.I biplane fighter

Pfalz D.III, a 1917 German fighter aircraft

Schütte-Lanz D.III, a 1918 German fighter aircraft prototype

Siemens-Schuckert D.III, a 1917 German prototype single-seat fighter aircraft

Locomotives

Bavarian D III, an 1897 steam locomotive model

LB&SCR D3 class, an 1893 British 0-4-4 tank locomotive design

D III 88

D III 88 (sometimes written as DIII 88) is a 1939 German drama film directed by Herbert Maisch and Hans Bertram and starring Christian Kayßler, Otto Wernicke and Heinz Welzel. It was made as a propaganda film with the support of Luftwaffe chief Hermann Göring, and was the last of a series of Nazi aviation films to be made before the outbreak of the Second World War. It was one of the most commercially successful films released during the Nazi era. It was praised by Joseph Goebbels as "an irreproachable film of national destiny". The title, referring to the serial number of the Albatros D.III flown by one of the characters in the First world war, was an attempt to re-inforce the propaganda link between the modern Luftwaffe and that of the First World War.

Synopsis

Two extraordinary young pilots engage in a competitive rivalry and also fight over the same girl. In an effort to show off both fly into a dangerous storm, damaging their planes and are suspended from duty. They are finally convinced by their commanding officer, a veteran of the First World War, to use their talents in a more disciplined way for their country.