page_title: Pfalz Flugzeugwerke
section_title: World War I
hierarchical_section_title: Pfalz Flugzeugwerke / World War I
context_page_description: Pfalz Flugzeugwerke was a World War I German aircraft manufacturer, located at the Speyer airfield in the Palatinate. They are best known for their series of fighters, notably the Pfalz D.III and Pfalz D.XII. The company went bankrupt after the Armistice, when the French occupation forces confiscated all of the equipment, but the factory was re-used by various other companies until re-forming in 1997. Today they are a parts manufacturer referred to as PFW.
context_section_description: By this point, the company had arranged a license to produce Morane-Saulnier monoplanes, which were quickly put into German service. When these became uncompetitive on the Western Front, Pfalz shifted production to the LFG Roland D.I and D.II. The D.II was produced into late 1916, by which point it too was no longer competitive.
  Instead of licensing another design, Pfalz instead licensed the previously patented Roland firm's Wickelrumpf (wrapped-fuselage) plywood strip-covered semi-monocoque fuselage design and combined it with the new 160 hp Mercedes D.III engine to create the Pfalz D.III. The D.III entered service in August 1917, but was not considered a match for contemporary designs like the Albatros D.V, and instead found a niche role in attacking observation balloons where its high diving speed was a major advantage. About 600 D.IIIs and slightly modified D.IIIas were built between its introduction in August and its replacement a year later. Many were still in service at that time, about 450.
  Adaptations of the D.III with the new Siemens-Halske Sh.III rotary resulted in the Pfalz D.VIII, which featured an incredible rate of climb (which it shared with the other Sh. III powered fighter, the Siemens-Schuckert D.IV). The Sh. III proved to be rather unreliable due to the ersatz engine oil available, and only a small number of D.VIIIs were built. These did see front-line use by Jasta 2 (Jasta Boelcke) at least, although it is unclear how many were built in total.
  The D.VIII was also adapted to triplane configuration as the Pfalz Dr.I for entry in the First Fighter Competition at Adlershof in January 1918. Like the D.VIII, it was powered by the Sh. III, and therefore completely outpowered its Oberursel UR.II powered contemporaries. Nevertheless, the Fokker Dr.I was the winner of the contest, which is not surprising considering that it was the only aircraft entered that was designed from the outset as a triplane, as opposed to being a quickly-adapted biplane. About a dozen Dr. Is were built and used operationally for some time.
  The final major production model was the Pfalz D.XII, a development of the D.III that abandoned the sesquiplane configuration in favor of two-bay wings, similar in appearance to what looked like two-bay wings on the French SPAD fighters designed by Louis Béchereau. It entered the Second Fighter Competition in June 1918 against the famous Fokker E.V monoplane and other designs. Although generally similar to the Fokker D.VII in looks and performance, the D.XII was widely considered to be inferior in handling characteristics and difficult to land. Nevertheless, the D.XII was ordered into production, and about 800 were produced before the Armistice. Many of these survived the war and were taken as booty by the Allies. A few aircraft were eventually featured in various movies, notably Hell's Angels and The Dawn Patrol.
  A derivative of the D.XII, the D.XIV, was not ordered into the production. Pfalz's final scout, the D.XV, participated in the Third Fighter Competition. The Idflieg ordered the D.XV into production just before the Armistice, but it did not see operational service.
caption: Pfalz D.VIII
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