Roland C-11 WWI Fighter

Few two-seaters are as elegant as the Roland C.II.

The “Walfisch” (Whale) resulted from the design engineers wanting to produce a much “cleaned up” airframe. The idea was to remove the need for conventional interplane and center section struts, which along with its associated wire bracing, created a lot of unwanted drag.

Allied to this concept was the fuselage, whose radical departure from standard practices created one of the first semi-monocoque configurations. Narrow strips of thin three-ply were spirally wound around a skeleton of wooden formers and longerons. This was then covered with linen fabric and doped to create a “shell”.

The result was an aircraft that initially performed very well and was used in the bombing, artillery spotting, reconnaissance, and escort roles. Its high speed was an advantage but this was soon negated by better designs from both sides as the conflict moved into the early months of 1917.

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