Fokker D . VII A competition for a new German fighter design was held in February 1918 . The Fokker D . VII won the competition and was subsequently considered to be one of the best fighters produced during World War I . Most of the German aces piloted them at one time or another . ( Ernst Udet was one of them . ) Robust and manoeuvrable , they exceeded the performance of all the Allied fighter planes , except in the area of top speed . Over 3000 were built by Germany , and another 200 by the Austro - Hungarian Empire . History . By late 1917 the Allied Air Forces on the Western Front were being equipped with French SPAD VII and British S . E . 5 fighters . These aircraft shifted the air superiority balance towards the Allies . The German government decided they needed the same type of boost , so they issued an order for new German fighter type aircraft designs . The aircraft submitted were to be compared at a competition held at the Berlin - Adlershof airfield in early 1918 . At least 31 designs / aircraft were submitted . Of these , the Fokker D . VII was selected to go into production under the supervision of Reinhold Platz , the chief designer for Fokker - Werke at the time . Construction . The Fokker D . VII was a conventional design . A braced ( Strutted ? ) biplane with a rigid frame , a water - cooled engine and two synchronized machine guns . Under the fabric covering of the fuselage was a sturdy , welded tubular steel frame as was used in earlier Fokker designs . The wings were made of wood , covered with cloth . The main load bearing wing struts separated the wings from the fuselage ( I need help here . Can ' t tell from the photograph ) but there were also inter - wing struts for their psychological value to the pilots . Lateral and horizontal stabilizers were also constructed from steel tubing and were fabric covered . The initial order was for 400 aircraft , but Fokker ' s production alone could not produce this many in the required time . Consequently their rival , Albatros , produced a very similar aircraft with a wooden air - frame due to licensing issues . . ( ? ? ) A total of about 3 , 200 D . VIIs were made . Producers included Fokker in Schwerin with 1000 and Albatross ( ? ? ) - Johannisthal with 2200 . Additional aircraft ( no known production figures ) were built at the Albatros Werke ( OAW ) in Piła . Use 1918 . The Fokker D . VII was an important aircraft to the Germans because of its excellent flight characteristics . These characteristics made it much easier to train new pilots , and to keep less experienced pilots out of trouble in the skies . Among other things , the D . VII apparently had a very low stall speed , no matter what it was doing . The major engine types used were the Mercedes D III or BMW IIIa . From what I am editing , it seems that engine performance for the BMW engine may have been dependent on altitude . ( Air density effects . ) It appears that the D . VIIf model , at least , was equipped with this engine . The problem was that the engine only worked at maximum efficiency at altitudes above 3200 meters . ( Around 10 , 000 feet . ) Getting up to 3200 meters might take a while , but it is suggested that the D . VIIf could then ' hang by their propellors ' at this altitude , and still have reserve power . This can be devastating to the enemy in aerial combat . The D . VII also had the Big Three for WWI fighter pilots . First : light and stong , second : agile , and third : they allowed excellent visibility for the pilot . The first operational D . VIIs appeared on the Western Front in April of 1918 , assigned to Jagdgeschwader I , and immediately became very popular with German pilots . At first the Allied pilots had little respect for the D . VII because they were kind of boxy , and ugly . ( This from people who had the S . E 5 on their side ? ) Not like the elegant Albatros fighters at all . This attitude was changed very quickly . It appears that Manfred von Richthofen , Commander of JG I , either flew , or wanted to try , the D . VII before his death in a Fokker Dr . I ( Dreidecker or tri - plane . ) OP says that many people thought that a D . VII could not make a mediocre pilot into an ace , but reminds us that the war ended in November of 1918 , while the first D . VII didn ' t get to an operational unit until April . For a seven month career , the D . VII seems to have made quite an impression . As 1918 dragged on , the Allies fielded new aircraft , not just in reponse to the D . VII , but in an attempt to stop the carnage . The new Allied aircraft had increased power and the German pilots were begging for more D . VIIf ' s , but that model doesn ' t appear to have ever gone into full scale production . The OP suggests that , in September of 1918 , there were about 800 D . VIIs active at the front line , assigned to 48 Jagdstaffeln . It is possible that 200 of these were the ' f ' model . Eight ' f ' model aircraft were delivered to the Bulgarian Aircraft Division in September 1918 . Post - war use . The D . VII is not mentioned in the Treaty of Versailles 1919 , but is in the Terms of the Armistice . Most of the planes went to the U . S . , some in the Switzerland . Many of the delivered aircraft were destroyed , others served the U . S . Air Force for many years as a training aircraft . Immediately after Germany ' s defeat Fokker moved his business in the Netherlands . He smuggled parts for 120 machines D . VII and CI engines , and 300 - 400 over the border and built on the D . VII . The aircraft was used in several air forces , including the Netherlands , Lithuania , Poland , Czechoslovakia , Hungary , the Soviet Union , Denmark and the USA . The Belgian armed forces to use captured aircraft converted to two - seaters , as a training aircraft until 1926 . The Dutch Air Force They flew until 1931 and even 1928 , Switzerland ordered eight new aircraft of this type .