W.Green, G.Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters

ZEPPELIN-LINDAU V1 Germany
  
   The V1 was a single-seat all-metal fighter designed by Dipl-Ing Claudius Dornier and built in the summer of 1916 by the Abteilung "Dornier” of the Zeppelin-Werke Lindau GmbH at Lindau-Reutin. Featuring a fuselage of pod type, a 160 hp Maybach Mb III engine mounted as a pusher with the propeller revolving within the wire-braced steel-tube framework carrying the tail assembly, the V1 employed newly-developed metal-working techniques, but proved seriously overweight. A series of ground hops was performed by Bruno E Schroter during September 1916, but this pilot refused to fly the prototype owing to its extreme tail-heaviness. On 13 November 1916, an initial flight test was performed by Oblt Haller von Hallerstein, but the V1 performed a loop immediately after take-off, crashing and killing the pilot.

Span, 34 ft 7 3/8 in (10,55 m).
Length, 23 ft 3 5/8 in (7,10 m).
Height, 8 ft 8 1/4 in (2,65 m).
Wing area, 264.8 sq ft (24,60 m2).

M.Schmeelke Zeppelin-Lindau Aircraft of WW1 (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 42)

Metal Aircraft for the Army

  At the beginning of 1916, construction progress of Rs.II in Seemoos was sluggish. There were too many problems that needed to be overcome.
  To prevent the production capacity from going to waste, in January 1916, the idea to build smaller metal aircraft for the army flying corps was born. It was probably Alfred Colsman, director at LZ, who floated the idea. It seemed that development and assembly were significantly smaller projects than that of the huge flying boats. Also combat pilots, who were regularly invited to visit the company, were enthusiastic about a single-seat combat aircraft made of metal.
  The first design, called V1, emerged from the Seemoos hangar in September 1916.
  This 1 1/2-wing design with a push-propeller, a teardrop-shaped fuselage, and lattice-work tail construction served as a test aircraft for Abt. Do. Importance was placed on a good climb rate and speed. To achieve these, Dornier chose a pusher drive train with a rear-facing propeller, creating a concentration of mass. The weight of the V1 with the 160-horsepower Maybach engine was 570 kilograms.
  The basic construction of the V1 was likely influenced by the English DH2 and Fe 8 fighter aircraft. In the early summer of 1916, these aircraft known as "Pushers", along with French Nieuport 11s, had reestablished air supremacy on the western front. The German fighter aircraft, mostly Fokker E-types, were outclassed.
  The V1 was built in Dornier's familiar metal construction, only the wings and the tail boom received a fabric covering. The power plant was a Maybach Mb III 160 horsepower engine, which was screwed onto a steel sheet frame. The attachments for the wings and the landing gear were also fastened to this frame. The SKF latticed radiator was positioned on the upper wing. For the first time the pilot's seat was adjustable. The front part of the duraluminum fuselage could be taken off the aircraft during maintenance work and to refuel. Upon completion, the V1 was transported to the airfield in Lowental and stored in the airship hangar there.
  Hellmuth Hirth was to begin flying the craft in Lowental on November 13th, 1916. In addition to the builders, the LZ company leadership, as well as members of the flying corps, Count Zeppelin was also on hand at the airfield. But the pilot did not appear. So another pilot present, Oblt. Riechsfreiherr Hans Haller von Hallerstein, volunteered for the mission with the V1. Lt. Haller, a very experienced pilot from the giant aircraft department 500, had flown the giant aircraft VGO II (R.9/15) on the eastern front.
  After he taxied for a short period, he went to full throttle. The aircraft lifted off the ground after about 10 meters and flew an undulating path. The craft then climbed almost vertically and crashed to the ground from about 30 meters' altitude. Pilot Haller von Hallerstein died in the wreckage.
  Lt. Althoven of the Zentrale Abnahme Kommission (ZAK) (Central Acceptance commission) at Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen wrote in his accident report:
  “[...] Lieutenant Haller’s flight proceeded as follows: Upon my suggestion, he taxied with little thrust, then he turned around and gave full throttle. After about 10 meters of run-up, the airplane lifted off the ground, also about 10 meters, came down vertically towards the ground, von Haller turned off the gas, and then once again gave full throttle and climbed. The front of the aircraft went up again slightly only to drop again vertically to the ground. The machine bounced like a rubber ball, cartwheeled in the air and von Haller fell out or tried to jump out. The aircraft dropped to the ground a second time and stopped, in the direction it was flying, with its tail construction folded underneath.
  Von Haller was not lying under the aircraft, but rather 3 meters away. In my opinion the aircraft was oversteered, but no one knows why. Von Haller was used to piloting large aircraft. Perhaps he just no longer had the feel of flying a small airplane like this one any more.”
  The construction supervisory body of IdFlieg determined the official reason for the crash was oversteering. However, during ground-based taxi tests, company pilot Schroter had already criticized the V1 for its top-heaviness. After this catastrophe, the project of a push-propeller aircraft was abandoned.
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