Halberstadt D.II

what is it?

The Halberstadt D.II was a biplane fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by German aircraft company Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke. It was adopted by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Army Air Service) and served through the period of Allied air superiority in early 1916. As the first biplane fighter aircraft to serve in combat for the German Empire, it had begun to be superseded in the Jagdstaffeln and other early German fighter units by the superior Albatros fighters in the second half of the year, although small numbers of Halberstadts continued in use well into 1917.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · 8.8 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 150 km/htop speed
• range 250 kmwithout refuelling
• size 729 kgmax take-off weight
• built 175made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 111 years ago, in 1915.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1915

introduced

1916

retired

1917

status

retired

number built

175

role

fighter

makers

Halberstadt

engines

1× Mercedes D.II

crew

1

length

7.3 m

wingspan

8.8 m

height

2.7 m

max take-off weight

729 kg

top speed

150 km/h

range

250 km

ceiling

4,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.