A Replica of a Rarity; the Halberstadt D IV.
This modern flying reproduction of the ultra rare Halberstadt D IV, of which only three were built, sits incongruously in a corner of the darkened Aviation Heritage Centre, lit by spots, which makes it quite difficult to photograph. It's an aeroplane I've not bothered to examine in depth in the past, but that changed during my last visit to the AHC, when I decided to devote time to a walkaround of it. The repro looks the part, but betrays its modern origins, disc brakes, a prominent oil cooler and a ground adjustable tab on the elevator. Nevertheless, it retains a few of the quirky features that distinguished the originals from their D III predecessors, which were mass produced. Of what might be called mixed media construction today, it had a welded steel tube frame, with a fuselage covered in plywood skinning and wings of wood and fabric in traditional style. It was a single bay biplane, as opposed to the two bays of the D III and had a neatly cowled upright engine with a small spinner, although this is missing from the reproduction. The characteristic vertical stays fitted in front of the rudder - there being no fixed fin, is missing from the D IV and unlike its siblings, the latter 's ailerons were actuated by push rods, prominently mounted vertically forward of the cockpit. It's a squat, purposeful looking machine and owing to its earlier siblings superiority over its Allied contemporaries - the D III was simply better than its opposition in early 1916 and was the first German biplane scout to be fitted with a synchronised forward firing machine gun, it is a pity that the D IV wasn't built in numbers and able to prove itself, although appearing in 1917, the infamous R.A.F S.E.5a, Sopwith Camel and Spad XIII were its contemporaries - a tall order to match. Click on the image to go to the walkaround page of this rare reproduction.
