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WW1 plane speeds

Posted: Mon May 23, 2011 10:30 pm
by US95Pickett
S! all, some posts by Thud about German planes trying to catch/overtake Allied planes peeked my curiosity about the speed of WW1 planes.

Here are some WW1 plane speeds that I found referenced at theaerodrome website and at riseofflight website.

The Spad 13, the SE5a and Sopwith Dolphin planes were the three fastest WW1 planes in this list.

WW1 Plane Speeds

most of these plane speeds were from theaerodrome website: http://www.theaerodrome.com/aircraft/by_nation.php

planes are listed in order from fastest to slowest plane speeds (not all WW1 plane models are listed)

Spad 13 - 138 mph at 6,560 ft.

SE5a - 135 mph (speed from SE5a air craft guide reference at RoF website); 120 mph at 15,000 ft (from theaerodrome website)

Sopwith Dolphin - 128 mph

Nieuport 28 - 122 mph

Fokker D7f - 121 mph (speed from Fokker D7f air craft guide reference at RoF website)

Fokker D7 - 118 mph (Mercedes), 124 mph (BMW)

Sopwith Camel - 118 mph

Sopwith Triplane - 117 mph

Albatros D5 - 116 mph at 3281 ft

Fokker D8 - 115 mph at sea level

Nieuport 17 - 110 mph

Albatros D3 - 109 mph at 3,281 ft

Sopwith Pup - 106 mph

Pfalz D12 - 106 mph

Fokker DR1 - 103.12 mph at 13,120 ft

Pfalz D3 - 102.5 mph

Nieuport 11 - 97 mph

If you were curious about converting KPH to MPH, or in converting MPH to KPH, here's how to convert them:

1) Multiply the speed in mph by 1.609344 km per mile. For example, 55 mph is 88.51392 kph. For most practical intents, multiplying by 1.6 is accurate enough.

2) Convert from kph to mph by dividing the speed in kph by 1.609344. For example, in many countries the highway speed limit is 90 kph. This equals 55.92 mph. In most cases, dividing by 1.6 is accurate enough.

US95Pickett