The Fokker E.I was the first fighter aircraft to enter service with the Fliegertruppe of the Deutsches Heer in World War I. Its arrival at the front in mid-1915 marked the start of a period known as the "Fokker Scourge" during which the E.I and its successors achieved a measure of air superiority over the Western Front.
Fokker E.I
Leutnant Kurt Wintgens' "E.5/15" Eindecker, the first fighter aircraft to use a synchronized machine gun to shoot down an opposing aircraft, as it appeared for the 1 July engagement
E.I with cowl removed, showing the Oberursel U.0 rotary engine and Stangensteuerung synchronizer's initial drive components
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte —known before October 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches —was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, although that is not a literal translation of either name. German naval aviators of the Marine-Fliegerabteilung were an integral part of the Imperial German Navy. Both military branches operated aeroplanes, observation balloons and airships.
Leutnant Max Immelmann with his first Fokker Eindecker, E.13/15
Gotha G.V
Allbatros C.VII# C.1283/16
Fokker D.VII used by the Luftstreitkräfte
