Udet U 1

The Udet U 1 was the first of a line of small, low-powered, low wing, cantilever monoplanes built in Germany in the early 1920s.

Design

The design was a low wing, cantilever monoplane in an era dominated by biplanes. The U 1 was a single-seater, as the air-cooled, Haacke HFM-2 flat-twin did not have enough power for more than one person.
Behind the engine in its aluminium cowling the fuselage was structurally rectangular in section apart from raised upper decking and was ply-covered. Pilot and passenger sat in tandem in a single, open cockpit, with the pilot in front and over the centre of the wing. It had a conventional, rather angular tail, with a fin of greater area than the rudder, though this reached down to the keel; the tailplane, mounted on top of the fuselage, was also large compared with the elevators.

Development

In the summer of 1921, a new aviation company was formed using the WWI German flying ace Ernst Udet's name. William Pohl from Milwaukee, Hans Henry Herrmann and Erich Scheuermann joined the company to fund the aircraft before postwar treaty restrictions were lifted on aircraft production, with the intent of building an inexpensive aircraft for the American market. The builders produced and flew the U 1 five months before the formation of the Udet Flugzeubau GmbH company.