Photograph:
A DFW C.V on the Western Front in France in about 1917 (Author’s collection)
Country of origin:
Germany
Description:
Two-seat fighting scout
Power Plant:
(C.V)
One 139 kw (200 hp) Benz Bz.IV six-cylinder in-line liquid-cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 13.27 m (43 ft 6½ in)
- Length: 7.87 m (25 ft 10⅛ in)
- Height: 3.25 m (10 ft 8⅛ in)
- Wing area: 42.5 m² (457.5 sq ft)
- Max speed at 1,000 m (3,280 ft): 155 km/h (96 mph)
- Climb to 1,000 m (3,280 ft): 4 mins
- Service ceiling: 5,400 m (16,400 ft)
- Endurance: 3 ½ hours
- Empty weight: 970 kg (2,134 lb)
- Loaded weight: 1,430 kg (3,153 lb)
Armament:
One forward firing fixed 7.92 mm (0.311 in) Spandau MG08/15 machine-gun; one 7.92 mm (0.311 in) Parabellum MG14 machine-gun on ring mount for observer
History:
Deutsche Flugzeug-Werke (DFW) produced the C.V during World War I, this being one of the best two-seat fighters built during that conflict. The Company produced 2,340 examples of its C series, the C.IV and C.V being the main models produced. The designer was Heinrich Oelerich. The airframe of the two types, the C.IV and C.V, were basically common to both models.
The first main production model had the 112 kw (150 hp) Benz Bz.III engine. The radiator was mounted flush with the upper wing. Subsequently the design was licence built by Automobil und Aviatik AG, Halberstadter Flugzeug GmbH, and Luft Verkehr-Gesellschaft mbh (LVG).
The C.IV first appeared in 1916 and was built by DFW and Aviatik whereas the C.V was built by Aviatik, Halberstadt and LVG, in addition to the parent company. The C.V had Windhoff side radiators for the 138 kw (185 hp) NAG C.III engine (National Automobile-Gesellschaft AG) but in late production aircraft this was altered to a single box-type radiator in the leading-edge of the wing. The C.V was first seen in service on the Western Front in late 1916.
The fuselage was of wood structure, based on multi-ply formers, and it had four main longerons, the whole being plywood covered. The wings were based on two box-spars which tapered, and were fabric covered.
The C.VI appeared in 1918 with a 164 kw (220 hp) Mercedes Bz.IVa engine, balanced ailerons and a re-designed tail unit, but only remained in prototype form. The type saw service on the Western Front, Italy, Macedonia and Palestine, and some 600 were still in service when the war ended.
The DFW series was very popular with crews and was noted for its performance and manoeuvrability. Duties included artillery co-operation and infantry contact patrols, as well as photo reconnaissance. A DFW C.V on 17 June 1919 set a world altitude record for its class of 9,620 m (31,561.7 ft). A number fell into Allied hands at the time of the Armistice and some 25 to 30 were taken on charge by Belgium and used for pilot training after the end of hostilities.
In the European Theatre the DFW series was met by Australian units and the ‘Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 Vol VIII’ by F M Cutlack has recorded many encounters by Nos 1, 2, 3 and 4 Squadrons of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) with enemy DFW aircraft on the Western Front. No 1 Squadron, operating Bristol F.2b Fighters, destroyed many on the ground during the conflict with Turkey. One DFW C.V was forced to land and the crew was taken prisoner by Capt Ross Smith and his observer Lt A V McCann, the enemy aircraft being destroyed by firing a Very flare gun cartridge into it.
The first aircraft destroyed by No 3 Squadron AFC was by Capt W H Anderson and Lt J Bell in an RAF RE.8 on 6 December 1917 near Messines Ridge in western Flanders in Belgium; and the first enemy aircraft destroyed by No 4 Squadron AFC was a DFW scout on 24 January 1918 by Major A H O’Hara Wood in a Sopwith Camel near La Bassee in northern France. On 24 April 1917 Lt R A Little in a Sopwith Triplane of No 8 Squadron, Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) forced a DFW scout to land and the machine was captured.
At least three DFW scouts were captured by Australian troops, and two of these came to Australia after World War I as part of a proposed future display of captured aircraft. These were a C.V [Av] (serial 8238/18), which was built by Automobil Aviatik. The other, also a C.V, was built by Deutsche Flugzeug-Werke of Leipzig-Lindenthal. One (serial 4432/17) was found on an enemy aerodrome at El Afule in Palestine by members of the 10th Australian Light Horse Regiment and conveyed to No 2 Aircraft Salvage Depot (ASD) as a war trophy. Another (serial 5390/17) was also taken to No 2 ASD but nothing further is known about it. It is known one was shipped to Western Australia for display. For a period from 1921 to 1939 it was stored in the buildings of the University Engineering School at Crawley, WA and was used as a training aid. The ultimate fate of these aircraft is not known.