Aviatik ( Berg ) D . I The Aviatik D . I , was a single - engine , single - seater fighter biplane . It was also known as Berg D . I or the Berg Fighter because it was designed by Dipl . Ing . Julius von Berg . The D . I was the first indigenously designed fighter aircraft of the Austro - Hungarian Air Service ( " Luftfahrtruppen " ) . Development . Work on the prototype began in August 1916 , while the first flight of the Aviatik D . I prototype , marked 30 . 14 , took place at 16 October 1916 at Aspern , unfortunately killing the test pilot . Further modifications were made , and three more prototypes of the Aviatik D . I were manufactured , labeled 30 . 19 ( for tests on the ground ) , 30 . 20 ( for tests in flight ) and 30 . 21 ( as a reserve airframe ) . These prototypes differed from the production aircraft in having a single unsynchronized Schwarzlose machine gun above the top wing , firing over the propeller . Tests of the modified aircraft were positive and the first unit to receive the first serial batch ( with two synchronized Schwarzloses , one on each side of the cylinder block ) of the Aviatik D . I was Fluggeschwader I ( FLG I , later to be renamed to Flik 101G ) on the Divača airfield in Slovenia . Production . The Aviatik D . I was manufactured under license by a numbers of subcontractors . Ordered but not build were the 215 and 201 Series from Lohner and Thöne und Fiala respectively . The main differences between the Series were in the power of Austro - Daimler engines used ( 185 hp in the early production aircraft , 200 or 210 hp in the mid - production , and 225 hp in the last ones ) , in exact positioning of the machine guns , and in structural and radiator modifications . Until the 31st October 1918 a number of 677 Aviatik D . I airframes of all batches were handed over to the Austro - Hungarian Air Force . Operational service . In many respects , the D . I was a good combat aircraft . It was reasonably fast , had excellent flying characteristics and maneuverability , and could reach higher altitudes than most of its adversaries . In addition , it was provided with a roomy and comfortable cockpit which gave a good field of view . Despite those desirable features , the new Aviatik fighter wasn ' t greeted with enthusiasm when it entered service in autumn 1917 , as the type also had some serious defects which didn ' t endear it to its pilots . The early aircraft had structural deficiencies and their machine guns were installed beyond the reach of the pilot ; if the gun ( s ) jammed , there was nothing he could do about it . These problems were later rectified with the strengthening of the airframe and the repositioning of the guns . While the original Aviatik D - I design by Julius von Berg was sound , the Series 115 aircraft license - produced by the Lohner firm at Wien - Floridsdorf were notorious for failures along the wing trailing edges in high speed maneuvers , as Lohner had deviated from Aviatik specifications by employing thinner , lighter wing ribs . The main cause of complaints was the engine ' s tendency to overheat far too easily . To alleviate these cooling problems , operational units tended to fly their aircraft without the engine ' s top panels and sometimes also the side panels were left off . The Austro - Hungarian aviation units used the D . I widely until the end of World War I on Eastern , Italian and Balkan fronts , mainly as an escort fighter for the 2 - seater reconnaissance aircraft , as the most fighter units preferred the Albatros D . III in air superiority role . Variants . The D . II was a version of the D . I with a cantilever lower wing . The model went into production in late 1918 in two Series ( 39 and 339 ) , but the production aircraft were too late for operational service . The D . III high - altitude version with a 230 hp Hiero engine and the Dr . I triplane development remained as prototypes only .