The Fokker Dr.1 was designed in 1916 because the German pilots need a better plane to compete with the British Sopwith Camel. While the new plane was slower than the completion, it was very manoeuvrable and effective in dog fights. Unfortunately the wings often fell apart due to shoddy work at the factory. These faults were corrected under government orders and 320 of the Dr.1 tri-planes were delivered to the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte.
The Dr.1 was 5.8 meters (19’) long with a wingspan of 8.2 m (27’). It had a maximum speed of 160km/h (120mph) with a range of 480 km (300mi.) The Uberursel UR.II nine-cylinder rotary engine was a clone of the French Le Rhône 9J.
The plane was armed with two Spandau Lmg-08-15 7.92 mm air cooled machine guns synchronized to fire through the propeller. The wooden skid under the bottom wing tip was to protect the plane from its tendency to ground loop on landing. The cockpit was cramped and uncomfortable with poor visibility for take-off and landing.
This model is based on the Fokker Dr.1 flown by Manfred von Richthofen in 1918. Richthofen, nicknamed The Red Baron by the allies for the color of his planes, was the most successful ace of all the flyers during WWI with 80 confirmed kills. In a dog fight over the Morlancourt ridge near the Somme in Northern France on 21 April 1918, Richthofen, aged 25, was shot through his heart and lungs and died almost immediately. His plane went into a steep dive and crashed in a sector defended by Australian soldiers.
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