Roden 613 1/32 Pfalz D.III

At the end of 1917 the aircraft manufacturer Pfalz Flugzeugwerke GmbH Speyer am Rhein produced the Roland D.I and D.II under license. Work on the design of a fighter of their own began at the start of 1917. The chief engineer was Rudolph Gehringer, who had a certain amount of experience already, working as an engineer for Friedrichshafen. He took the construction of the Roland D.II as a basis and after considerable change a new fighter emerged looking very different from its predecessor. The Pfalz D.III (the name of this development) was much the most elegant machine in comparison with other types - it had a thin streamlined fuselage with an oval cross section, a trapeziform wing and tailplane, a rounded fin and rudder, and a small spinner for the air screw. The machine guns were buried in the front fuselage - a choice more aesthetic than practical, as it complicated clearing the frequent gun jams.