History:

J Thomas Grant of Dunedin, NZ designed and built and 75 per cent scale replica of a World War I Albatros D.V fighter, build time being in the order of three and a half years. The fuselage was built from white pine carvel planking, a technique used in boat building and then covered with a lightweight fibreglass finish to give it a smooth finish. The wings were built with the spars and ribs from spruce, the whole aircraft wing being covered with fabric. Power was provided by a four-cylinder liquid-cooled Toyota 480E engine normally installed in a Toyota Corolla motor car.

When completed the aircraft was registered to the designer / builder and became ZK-DVR (c/n TG01) on 8 November 2007. However, at some stage it suffered an engine problem and made a forced landing, suffering some damage and had to be rebuilt.

Photograph: Grant D5 U/L ZK-DVR at Ashburton, NZ in 2013 (Keith Morris – NZCIVAIR)

Further information:

Information on this aircraft is currently limited. The Author welcomes any further specifications and/or details to update the site.