Avis I

In 1931 the Central Repair Workshops located in Székesfehérvár-Sóstó started to build the AVIS (Anderlik-Varga-Iskola-Sport) airplane which apparently looked like a sports and single-seat trainer airplane.
In fact, it was a fighter airplane intended to be used by the Légüyi Hivatal (Aviation Department) which was the clandestine Hungarian Air Force.

It was an all-metal, single-bay staggered biplane designed by the prof. Elöd Abody-Anderlik, László Varga, István Liszt and Deszö Fridrik. The first airplane was completed and flown in 1933 and was powered by a 420hp Manfred-Weiss-built Jupiter VI engine. The expected armament were two synchronised 7.62 Gebauer machine-guns. This airplane proved to be seriously underpowered, which lead to the development of the AVIS II. The only prototype was assigned to the flying school at Szombathely where it served until 1936.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. http://www.aviastar.org/air/hungary/avis-1.php

Aviméta 88

Today we switch countries, the Austro-Hungarian empire for France.
The Aviméta 88 was a French two-seat fighter from 1920s decade which was designed by the Captain Georges Lepére who designed the Packard-Le Pére LUSAC 11 (considered by many as the true first American fighter) as twenty one other two-seaters while on loan to the US Government.

It was a two-seat parasol monoplane fighter that was manufactured by the aviation department of the Schneider-Creusot company and appeared first in 1926.
It was built entirely in a metal alloy known as alférium. In fact it had corrugated alférium skin and it was powered by a 500hp Hispano-Suiza 12Hb 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engine. It was armed with two synchronised 7,7mm MAC (Vickers) machine guns plus other two Lewis Mk.II in a flexible mounting in the rear cockpit.
Just one prototype was built because the development was abandoned when the official requirement for a two-seater fighter and reconnaissance fighter was discarded.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviméta_88

Aviatik (Berg) 30.40

The Aviatik Berg 30.40 was a direct derivative from the Berg 30.27 powered by a 160hp Steyr Le-Rhône 11-cylinder rotary engine. Only one prototype was built and flown during summer 1918.

It was made out of wood except for the forward fuselage that was covered in light metal panels. The rest of the fuselage was ply covered. The wing had had fabric skinning and steel-tube bracings struts were used.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25508.htm
3. http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww1/aviatik3040.html (translated)

Aviatik (Berg) 30.30

The Aviatik Berg 30.30 was a single-seat fighter biplane that was designed specifically for high altittude combat over the Italian front.

Some times it has been erroneously named as the Aviatik Berg D.III, however there aren't proofs to claim that application. It had similar wings to those of the Berg D.I with a new fuselage and was powered by a 230hp six-cylinder Hiero inline engine with a radiator mounted above the upper wing central section.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25507.htm
3. http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww1/aviatik3030.html (translated)

Aviatik (Berg) D.II

Bearing an identical fuselage to the one of the Aviatik Berg D.I, the Aviatik D.II was flown as a prototype during the summer of 1917.

It was characterised by it's short span cantilever lower-wing and a pre-series of 19 airplanes were built for it's frontline evaluation. that were powered by either the 200hp Austro-Daimler series 19000 (series 39) engine or the 225hp Austro-Daimler series 19000 (series 339). Only eleven airplanes of the series 39 were made and just six of the 339 series were produced.

It was also fitted a four bladed Jaray propeller and it was armed with the usual 8mm Schwarzlose 07/12 machine guns. The first prototype was flown in November 1917 and seven of them were evaluated at the front, but it was decided that the ÖAW (the main manufacturer of this airplane), should manufacture under license the Fokker D.VII, terminating this way any possible development of the Berg D.II. Apparently, one of them was fitted with a 200hp Hiero engine, was known as the Aviatik 30.38 and took part in the July 1918 D-Type contest, unfortunately we couldn't find graphical evidence of this, so it's left undrawn. With the 225hp engine, it achieved the speed of 220km/h, a new record for the Austro-Hungarian airplanes of the time.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/60863
3. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/60865

Aviatik (Berg) 30.27&29

Contrary to other designs from Julius von Berg where inline engines were used, both Aviatik 30.27 and the similar 30.29 which appeared in early 1918 employed a 160hp Steyr LeRhône rotary engine which was a copy of the French one.
It was made out of wood with plywood fuselage skinning, a light metal forward section and fabric-covered wings. They were armed with the typical Austrian 8mm Schwarzlose 07/12 machine guns and initally they were equipped with two-bladed propellers. As the original cowling left the three cylinders exposed, it was replaced by a full ring cowling and the four bladed Jaray propeller was installed. Both 30.27 and 30.29 took part in the D-Type contest that was hold on July 1918 and the 30.29 crashed when the upper wing leading edge collapsed when the pilot started to perform a loop.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. http://www.wwiaviation.com/popup/Aviatik-Berg-30-27-1918.html
3. http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww1/aviatik302729.html (translated)

Aviatik (Berg) 30.25

The Aviatik Berg 30.25 came from a requirement from the Austro-Hungarian Army Command for a long range single-seat reconnaissance fighter designed by Dr. Julius von Berg.

It was completed in March 1918 and was basically a dedicated single-seat version of the two-seater Aviatik Berg C.I reconnaissance aircraft, which was also ad-hoc modified in some cases as a single-seat airplane with a single 8mm Schwarzlose 07/12 machine gun placed on the upper wing.
It had similar fuel capability to the C.I and had provision for the installation of an automatic camera plus two synchronised 8mm Schwarzlose 07/12 machine guns. Radio equipment was also proposed to be installed, but it was never carried out.
It was powered by a single 200hp Austro-Daimler six-cylinder engine and when tested, the performance it's said that was comparable to the one achieved with the Aviatik Berg 30.30, but no production order was placed.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. http://www.aviastar.org/air/austria/aviatik_30-25.php

Aviatik (Berg) Dr.I

The Aviatik Berg Dr.I, AKA Aviatik Berg 30.24 (designation which indicated that it was the 24th experimental airplane produced by the Austrian Aviatik) was a single-seat fighter triplane designed by the Austrian engineer Julius von Berg which was completed in May 1917.

It used a similar fuselage to that of the Aviatik Berg D.I and a similar structure too. It was powered by a 200hp Austro-Daimler engine and was armed with two 8mm Schwarzlose 07/12 machine guns. It's also worth to mention that it was one of the first airplane to feature contra-rotating propellers, a propeller configuration that wasn't well developed until the 1950s.

 

The Dr.I with it's contra-rotating propellers

Anyway, when it was tested, it's performance wasn't much better than the Aviatik Berg D.I and therefore only one prototype was built.

Sources:

1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

2. http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww1/aviatdr1.html (translated)

Aviatik (Berg) D.I - (WKF) - Series 84, 184, 284 & 384

This is the last post dedicated to the Aviatik Berg D.I.
As we've previously mentioned, many firms manufactured under license their own versions of the Aviatik Berg D.I. Sometimes the changes were very notable, some others they were just a copy of the original.

The Austrian Wiener Karosserie Fabrik (Austrian Bodyworks Factory) manufactured many four series in total, making this firm the one with most manufactured series of them all.
The series 84 was a regular copy of the original series 38 powered by a 185hp Austro-Daimler engine, the series 184 was a copy of the original series 138, powered by a 200hp Austro-Daimler engine, the series 284 was the most different version of the all, because technically, it's not a copy of any of the original series but a variant of it's own.
It was powered by a 160hp Austro-Daimler engine, armed with two 8mm Schwarzlose machine guns and, as far as we could find, it served with the Flik6F dedicated to the escort role of the Austro-Hungarian recon airplanes assigned to the Albanian front. This makes this variant special as there weren't many Berg D.I in the Balkan front for sure.
Finally the series 384 was another variant powered by a 225hp Austro-Daimler engine. Every variant was armed with two 8mm Schwarzlose Machine Guns.
Unfortunately, we only could find reliable information about the 284 series.

It's worth to mention that other two series were intended to manufacture, the series 215 from Lohner and the series 201 from Thöne und Fiala, but they were never produced.

Sources:
1. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/59709 (translated)
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatik_(Berg)_D.I
3. Windsock Datafile - Aviatik Berg D.I
4. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Aviatik (Berg) D.I (Thöne und Fiala) - Series 101

Thöne und Fiala was another company that produced their own, licensed, version of the Aviatik Berg D.I fighter.

This Austrian company manufactured only the 101 series which was maybe the least produced of them all. It was powered by a 197hp Austro-Daimler AD6 series 19000 and was armed with the typical Austro-Hungarian 8mm 07/12 Schwarzlose machine guns.
As far as we could find, it served with various squadrons, like the Flik31P committed to the reconnaissance role, with the Flik17, dedicated to the fighter role and the Flik56J dedicated also to the fighter role.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatik_(Berg)_D.I
2. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/121039
3. Windsock Datafile - Aviatik Berg D.I
4. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Aviatik (Berg) D.I (MAG) - Series 92

As we have previously said, the Hungarian firm  MAG was one of the manufacturers of the Aviatik Berg D.I.

The series 92 was one of the most produced variant, with 121 of them being produced. It was powered with the standard in the series 197hp Austro-Daimler AD6 19000 engine and was armed also with the standard Austro-Hungarian 8mm Schwarzlose 07/12 pair of machine-guns. As far as we could find, they served with the Flik7J dedicated to the standard fighter role and, with the Austro Hungarian Empire, they served in the Italian front during 1918.

Sources:
1. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/59727
2. Windsock Datafile - Aviatik Berg D.I
3. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Aviatik (Berg) D.I (Lloyd) - Series 48, 248 & 348

The Aviatik Berg D.I's production was delegated in many subsidiaries, each of them making their own variants.

The series 48, 248 and 348 were delegated to the Hungarian Ungarische Lloyd Flugzeug und Motorenfabrik AG. Unfortunately there's not a lot of information available about those series so our writting should be considered as suppositions.
The series 48 was the Lloyd version of the early Aviatik's series 138 and was powered by a 185hp Austro-Daimler engine. It was armed with two 8mm Schwarzlose 07/12 machine guns. As far as we have found, it only served with the Flik 56J which was commited to the fighter role during the summer of 1918.

The series 248 and 348 were developed versions of the 48 series. The series 248 were powered by a 160hp Austro-Daimler engine and the series 348 were powered by a 225hp Austro-Daimler one. Unfortunately we couldn't find info about how they looked like and in which squadrons they served.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatik_(Berg)_D.I
2. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/59709 (translated)
3. Windsock Datafile - Aviatik Berg D.I
4. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Aviatik (Berg) D.I (Lohner) - Series 115 & 315

Today we deal with the Lohner built Aviatik Berg D.I.

The Austro-Hungarian aviation troops high command delegated the production of the Berg D.I in many companies, one of them was Lohner.

As it happened with many other productions licenses or delegations, the production taker made their own version of the parent airplane. This way the series 115 was a regular early Aviatik made series 138 fuselage powered by a 197hp Austro-Daimler AD6 series 19000 engine and bicycle wheels, which was so typical in the series. It was also armed with two 8mm 07/12 Schwarzlose machine-guns placed in the frontern part of the fuselage and firing through the propeller. Eighty eight airplanes were made and, as far as we could find, only one squadron used them, the Flik 60J dedicated to the regular fighter role.

The series 315 was just a regular late series 138 fuselage fitted with am Austro-Daimler AD6 series 23000 engine delivering 222hp of power. It was also armed with two 8mm 07/12 Schwarzlose machine-guns and had the distinctive Lohner bicycle wheels. Only twenty-two of them were produced before the armistice. Unfortunately we couldn't find any info about what squadrons used them.

Sources:
1. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/59725
2. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/59726
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatik_(Berg)_D.I
4. Windsock Datafile - Aviatik Berg D.I
5. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Aviatik (Berg) D.I - Series 238 & 338

Today we cover the most produced variants of the Berg D.I.

The Series 238 was the most produced variant with 120 of them manufactured. It was manufactured by the Austrian Aviatik.
The most notable difference from the previous version was the engine, it was powered by an Austro-Daimler AD6 series 17000 which delivered 158hp of power. It was armed with the usual synchronised Austro-Hungarian 8mm Schwarzlose 07/12 machine-guns buried in the frontern part of the fuselage.
As far as we know, the series 238 were used in these squadrons:

• Flik23B
• Luftfahr-Abwehr Station: Which apparently was some kind of Austro-Hungarian home guard air-defence squadron commited to the defence of their capital territory.

Series 338 was identical to the 238 but powered by an Austro-Daimler AD6 series 23000 delivering 222hp of power. It had a characteristic wing-mounted radiator placed in the front, which the Lohner built 315 series would somehow copy with some modifications. It was also armed with two 8mm Schwarzlose 07/12 machine-guns placed in the frontern part of the fuselage just like the 138 and 238 series. Only 58 of them were manufactured and it was the airplane of choice of the ace Oberleutnant Béla Macourek.
The series 338 was used, as far as we known, by these squadrons:

• Flik1J: Where Béla Macourek served.
• Flik72J

Sources:
1. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/59721
2. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/59724
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatik_(Berg)_D.I
4. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
5. Windsock Datafile 45  - Aviatik D.I

Aviatik (Berg) D.I - Series 138

With some delay, here's the next post about the Aviatik Berg D.I.

The series 138 was an improved version manufactured by the Austrian Aviatik. The main difference from the previous version, the series 38 was that it was powered by an Austro-Daimler AD6 Series delivering 197hp of power.
It was, just like it's predecessor, armed with two 8mm Schwarzlose machine guns that saw two types of configuration, the earliest one, that had the synchronised machine-guns buried in the frontern part of the fuselage, making them inaccesible to the pilot in case of jamming and the latest one, that were also synchronised but had the machine-guns butts in the cockpit, making them accessible this way.

The series 138 was the most iconic of the Aviatik-Berg D.I series, despite not being the most produced of the variant, not in vain, many Austro-Hungarian aces and famous pilots flew it.
It served, as far as we could find, with the next Fliks (Squadrons):

• Flik15D: Apparently this squadron was assigned to perform recon roles.
• Flik56J
• Flik63J
• Flik74J

Sources:

1. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/59710

2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of FIghters

3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatik_(Berg)_D.I

Aviatik (Berg) D.I - Series 30 & series 38

Preliminary note: We're starting some little holidays today and we won't be back until next Tuesday, don't expect any new posts until then.

The Aviatik (Berg) D.I was a single-seat biplane fighter designed by the engineer Julius von Berg and manufactured by the Austrian Aviatik, among many others. It's noteworthy to mention that it was built in greater numbers than any other Austro-Hungarian fighter.

The series 30 were just the prototypes, three of them were built, 30.19 which was used for ground testing and never took-off, the 30.20 which actually flew as it was used for flight tests and the 30.21 which was used as reserve prototype, just in case.

The Series 38 were the first production series. The early versions differed little from the prototype, just in some small details and they were still armed with an unsychronised 8mm Schwarzlose 07/12 machine gun placed on the upper wing while the later versions had two synchronised machine guns of the same type placed at the sides of the engine firing through the propeller. It was powered by a 182hp Austro-Daimler AD6 series 18000 engine.
Seventy-one of them were produced and was the aircraft of choice of the Austro-Hungarian ace Friedrich Hefty who scored one of his victories flying a Berg D.I before switching to an Oeffag D.III. It served with various Fliks (the Austro-Hungarian equivalent to squadrons):

• Fluggeschwader I: This was the first unit to receive the Berg D.I
• Flik 42J
• Flik 50D: This unit was used for scoutting purposes.
• Flik 63J
• Flik 74J

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatik_(Berg)_D.I
2. http://forum.valka.cz/topic/view/59708
3. Osprey Books - Aircraft of the Aces 46 - Austro-Hungarian Aces of World War I
4. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Aviatik (Berg) D.I - Foreign Users

The Aviatik-Berg D.I saw also postwar service with various nations after the war.

• State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs & Kingdom of Yugoslavia: After the armistice of 1918 many airplanes were left-over by the Austro-Hungarian troops and were seized by the forces of the newly created State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia later. They were employed by the Slovenes in the Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia of 1918-1919.
• Romania: Apparently the Kingdom of Romania incorporated some D.I after the war. They were most probably MAG made. However any further detail is unknown, so the pic should be considered as purely speculative.
• Hungarian Soviet Republic: Some MAG made Aviatik-Berg D.I were used by the Red Hungarian Air Corps during the revolutionary period of 1919.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatik_(Berg)_D.I

2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Aviatik (Berg) 30.14

This airplane was the first single-seat fighter to be built by the Austrian Österreichisch Ungarische Flugzeugfabrik Aviatik (the Austrian Aviatik) following the designs of the engineer Julius von Berg.

The Aviatik 30.14, which was the 14th prototype aircraft according to the Austrian Aviatik designation system, was powered by a 185hp Austro-Daimler engine. It was armed with a single 8mm schwarloze synchronised machine gun. It was made out of wood with ply and fabric skinning.
It crashed when performing it's maiden flight in Aspern, close to Vienna on 16th October 1916 killing it's test pilot, Ferdinand Konschel. It did, however, show enough promise to warrant sufficient development of the basic design. That way, the wing gap was reduced drastically, wings were staggered, vertical tail surfaces were enlarged and more minor changes were made building three further prototypes, the 30.19, 30.20 and 30.21. All these prototypes were in fact the forerunner (if not directly the prototype) of the Aviatik (Berg) D.I.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. http://www.airwar.ru/enc/fww1/aviatik3014.html (translated)

Aviatik D.VII

The Aviatik D.VII, was a single-seat biplane fighter intended to take part third D-Type contest held at Adlershof on October 1918.
It was basically like the Aviatik D.VI but it had it's vertical and horizontal surfaces redesigned.

It was also powered by the Benz IIIbm with a four-bladed propeller. It was armed with the standard pair of 7,92mm LMG 08/16 machine guns and only one prototype was completed without having seen any military service whatsoever.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatik_D.VII

Aviatik D.VI

In 1918 Aviatik was working on various prototypes of single-seat fighter at the same time. Two of them, the Aviatik D.IV and D.V were powered by the Benz Bz IIIbv which was a larger version of the Benz BzIIIbm. The D.V was powered by that same engine but was a new design which discarded flying wires. Unfortunately there it seems that there aren't pics of these models, or at least we couldn't find any.

The D.VI was the only prototype among those three that was flown in August 1918 and had little resemblance to the previous Aviatik fighter projects. It was a two-bay biplane made out of wood with ply-covered fuselage and fabric covered wings and tail surfaces.
It was armed with the usual pair of German 7,92mm LMG 08/15 machine guns and powered by the Benz IIIbm engine. It was intended to take part in the second D-type contest held in Adlershof in June 1918 but due to some engine problems it didn't make it in time. However, when tested in August 1918 it revealed excellent flying characteristics.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Aviatik D.III

Preliminary note: At first we thought that we got the scale wrong, but after double checking or even triple checking it, we realized that it was that long.

The Aviatik D.III was a prototype German biplane fighter that flew for the first time on November 1917 and became the basis for the subsequent Aviatik D.IV and D.V models.

Initially it was powered by a 195hp Benz Bz IIIbo gearless engine and was armed with the usual pair of LMG 08/15 machine guns.
After some testing performed at Adlershof during February 1918, some modifications were performed as they were requested by the Idflieg. In April, a second prototype, this time powered by a Benz Bz IIIbm, flew, even if the first variant (powered by the Bz IIIbo engine) was already in production. However, due to some delays and the armistice, none of them completed and it never went beyond the prototype stage.

Sources:
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviatik_D.III
2. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters

Aviatik D.II

Today we're back in the World War I after our long stay in Czechoslovakia covering Avia's airplanes.

The Automobil und Aviatik AG of Leipzig-Heiterblick built under license the Halberstadt D.II, which was known as the Aviatik D.I and, later as Halberstadt D.II(Av). That was before 1916 when Aviatik decided to design, develop and build their own fighter.
It was powered by the 160hp Daimler D.III engine and was armed with two synchronised 7,92mm LMG 08/15 machine guns.
Fuselage consisted on a staggered single-bay biplane with wooden fabric-covered wings and a forward steel tube and wood aft fuselage which was largely ply-covered.

It didn't receive the favour from the idflieg as a result of the Typen-Prüfung and further development was discontinued.

Sources:
1. Salamander Books - The Complete Book of Fighters
2. http://flyingmachines.ru/Site2/Crafts/Craft25476.htm