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
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