Pfalz E.V.
Aircraft Overview
One of many WWI myths of aeronautical history is that Fokker Eindeckers were simple 'copies' of French pre-war Morane-Saulnier monoplanes. In truth the only clones of these French designs were made by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke who entered a licence agreement in 1914 to build both the MS Type L and H. The resulting Pfalz E-Types were greatly inferior to their Fokker contemporaries and were never to enjoy the same popularity with pilots, nor the ranging Front-line service that the Schwerin-built fighters achieved. The Pfalz monoplanes were minor players in the air war and assigned to only a handful of squadrons. Several variants were built: E.I; E.II; E.III; E.V and E.VI, most of these being armed with a single synchronised IMG 08 machine gun.
- Manufacturer: Pfalz Flugzeugwerke
- First Flight: 1913
- Engine: 100hp Mercedes D.I.
- Powerplant:
- Max Speed: 103mph
- Service Ceiling: Unknown
- Range: Unknown
- Wingspan: 33ft 5in (10.2m)
- Length: 21ft 7in (6.6m)
- Height: 8ft 6in (2.6m)
- Weight (Empty):
- Weight (Loaded):
- Crew: 1
Armament
one Spandau machine-gun.
Operational History
The Pfalz monoplanes were licence-built copies and variants of the Morane-Saulnier G/H or Type L, armed with a synchronized IMG-08 machine gun (or two, in the case of the E.IV). While similar to the Fokker eindeckers, they were not well-appreciated, in no small part because they appeared several months after the Fokkers. Pfalz aeroplanes tended to be assigned to Bavarian pilots, and they made due until better planes came along.
Unlike the other planes of this type, the Pfalz E.V featured an inline engine: the 100hp Mercedes D.I. About twenty were built before the order for fifty of them was cancelled. Two E.V’s were later transferred to the German Navy.