The Type Aa fighter aircraft was the first aircraft manufactured by Nielsen and Winther – a large machine shop in Copenhagen at the time. Six were sold to the Danish Army,  but three later crashed, and the remaining planes were then banned from flying.

The aircraft first flew during 1917, and was armed with a Madsen machine gun mounted on the top wing. It was modified during 1918 with an interrupter gear, so the Madsen machine gun could be repositioned, and shoot through the propeller arc.

Rumour has it that the pilots had long been worried about the safety of the construction, but the ban was apparently due to the poor reliability of the Thulin engine used.

Although this plane was the first indigenous aircraft in the Danish army, it has come to light that at least some of the drawings were from the Thulin factory in Sweden. In fact, some of the plans I have seen, were marked named the Thulin ‘L’  aircraft.

Specifications:

Crew: 1
Length: 6.60 m (21 ft 8 in)
Wingspan: 7.70 m (25 ft 3⅛ in)
Height: 2.8 m (9 ft 2¼ in)
Empty weight: 350 kg (772 lb)
Gross weight: 550 kg (1212 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Thulin rotary engine, 67 kW (90 hp)
Maximum speed: 150 km/h (93 mph)
1 x 8 mm Madsen machine gun