The Fokker DR.I triplane was built after the Sopwith Triplane. While not as fast as contemporary biplanes, the Dreidecker could easily outclimb any opponent. Small, lightweight and highly maneuverable, it offered good upward visibility and lacked the traditional bracing wires that could be shot away during combat. This combination of features made it an outstanding plane in a dogfight. When the DR.I first entered service, antagonists scoffed until pilots like Werner Voss showed what it could do in a fight. Flying a prototype, Voss shot down 10 British aircraft in 6 days of aerial combat during September 1917. Unfortunately, the DR.I was not without problems. By the end of October 1917, it was temporarily withdrawn from service when several pilots, including Heinrich Gontermann, were killed as a result of wing failures. Despite structural improvements, the Fokker triplane's reputation among German airmen never recovered. Quotes "[It] climbed like a monkey and maneuvered like the devil." Manfred von Richthofen Units German Air Force: Jastas Boelcke, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16b, 18, 19, 26, 27, 32b, 33, 34b, 36, 52, 59, 73, 76b, 77b Specifications Country: Germany Manufacturer: Fokker Flugzeug-Werke GmbH Type: Fighter First Introduced: August 1917 Number Built: 320 Engine(s): Oberursel UR.II, 9 cylinder reciprocating, 110 hp Le Rh?e, 9 cylinder rotary, 110 hp (from captured aircraft) Wing Span: 23 ft 7 3/8 in [7.19 m] Length: 18 ft 11 1/8 in [5.77 m] Height: 9 ft 8 in Empty Weight: 893 lb Gross Weight: 1,289.2 lb [586 kg] Max Speed: 103.12 mph [165 kmh] @ 13,120 ft [4000 m] Ceiling: 20,013 ft [6100 m] Endurance: 1.5 hours Crew: 1 Armament: 2 Spandau 7.92 mm light machine guns Fokker DR.1 in Action (Aircraft No 98) Heinz J. Nowarra / Paperback / Squadron/Signal 1990 The Fokker DR.I & D.VII in World War I Heinz J. Nowarra / Paperback / Schiffer Pub Ltd 1991 Fokker V5/DR.1 Wolfgang Schuster and Engels Sven / Paperback / Schiffer 1998 Aircraft Search Copyright ? 1997-2002 Page revised on 09 January 2005