Vintage Wings - Demoiselle 1908

*** Vintage Wings ***

D.F.W. Mars - 1913

The Flight Magazine of july 13, 1912 made reference to the military competition of that year. In that event, flying under the official number 23 in the Military Aeroplane Trials, was a new machine constructed by the Deutsche Flugzeug Werke at Leipzig.
The Mars (as it has been called) would be built in monoplane and biplane versions, and would be one of the most important instruction and recognition aircraft of the pre-war German air force.
The wings were built somewhat on the lines of the Etrich, with its proverbial stability. The fuselage, built up of a framework of steel tubes, had a completely covered body, in which two cockpits were provided for the pilot and passenger (observer or student). In some versions the pilot seat was in the front, in others in the back.
The powerplant was an inline six cylinder water cooled Mercedes, able to dispense 105 Hp. That allowed the aircraft to flight at a sustain speed of more than 80 mph when fully loaded with passenger and fuel for four hours.
Mars aircraft distinguished themselves in pre-war passenger-carrying feats and reliability trials, and were purchased by both the German military and the British Admiralty. Turkish Mars aircraft were flown in the First and Second Balkan Wars in 1912-1913 and the type is therefore believed to be the first German-built aircraft to have seen active military service.

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