WOW597 LFG Roland D.11 ‘Fiesler’

Description

This month we release the LFG Roland D.II as a rather unusual looking offering, not something you are likely to see very often in 1/30 scale.

The Roland D.11 was a WW1 German single-seat fighter and was manufactured by Luftfahrzeug Gesellschaft, and also by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke under license.
Following the success of the Roland C.II, the powers that be, decided a smaller single seat version of the Walfisch would be successful and so the Roland D.11 Shark or Haifisch was born.

The D.II used a plywood monocoque fuselage. Two layers of plywood strips were spirally wrapped in opposing directions over a mould to form one half of a fuselage shell. The fuselage halves were then glued together, covered with a layer of fabric, and doped. The upper wing was attached to the fuselage by means of a large central pylon.

Armament consisted of twin “Spandau” LMG 08/15 machine guns buried in the fuselage decking.

The D.II was initially powered by a 160 hp Mercedes D.III engine, giving a top speed of 105 mph at sea level. Later aircraft, designated D.IIa, were powered by a 180 hp Argus As.III. The As.III offered poor performance above 3,000 metres and the D.IIa’s were mostly relegated to operations on the Eastern Front where slower Russian aircraft operated.

Nicknamed Haifisch (shark) for its sleek appearance, the D.II and D.IIa proved generally unpopular in service due to poor fields of view and heavy controls. However, despite this it spawned several aces on the Eastern Front including Gehard Fiesler who went onto design the Fiesler Storch.

Our first 1/30 scale WOW597 comes in 2 tone green and brown camouflage and was the machine flown by 19 kill Ace Gehard Fiesler, we have 4 available priced at $650 plus postage. Aviation Club members can buy this today for $550 for a limited period. Insert your Club Discount code and get another 10% off at checkout, taking the price to below $500.