AEG C.IV
AEG C.IV | |
---|---|
Role | Reconnaissance aircraft |
Manufacturer | Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft |
Introduction | 1916 |
Primary user | Luftstreitkräfte |
Number built | 687 (Leon) |
The AEG C.IV was a German two-seat biplane reconnaissance aircraft that entered service in 1916.
Design and development[]
The C.IV was based on the AEG C.II, but featured a larger wingspan and an additional forward-firing Spandau-type 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine gun. In addition to reconnaissance duties, the C.IV was used as a bomber escort, despite proving itself inadequately powered for the role. Nevertheless, the C.IV was easily the most successful of AEG's World War I B- and C-type reconnaissance aircraft, with some 687 being built and the model remained in service right up to the end of the war.
A variant, the C.IV.N was designed specifically as a prototype night bomber in 1917, with the Benz Bz.III engine used in other C-types and a lengthened wingspan. Another variant, the C.IVa, was powered by a 130 kW (180 hp) Argus As III engine.[1]
C.IV aircraft saw service with the Bulgarian Air Force (1 machine) and the Turkish Flying Corps (46 machines).
A big number of 91 C.IVs were captured by the Polish in 1919, most in Poznań during Greater Poland Uprising.[2] Most of them were next assembled and entered service. It became one of basic aircraft of the Polish Air Force, used for reconnaissance, bombing and strafing during Polish-Soviet War in 1919-1920. Most were withdrawn in 1921.[2]
Operators[]
- Bulgaria
- Bulgarian Air Force
- German Empire
- Luftstreitkrafte
- Kingdom of Hejaz
- Hejaz Air Force - single example, not airworthy[3]
- Poland
- Polish Air Force - up to 91 aircraft, used postwar[2]
- Turkey
- Ottoman Air Force
Specifications (AEG C.IV)[]
Data from German Aircraft of the First World War.[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 7.15 m (23 ft 5 in)
- Wingspan: 13.46 m (44 ft 2 in)
- Height: 3.35 m (11 ft 0 in)
- Wing area: 39 m2 (420 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 800 kg (1,764 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,120 kg (2,469 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.III 6-cylinder, water-cooled, inline piston engine, 120 kW (160 hp)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 158 km/h (98 mph, 85 kn)
- Range: 450 km (280 mi, 240 nmi)
- Endurance: 4hr
- Service ceiling: 5,000 m (16,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 2.78 m/s (547 ft/min)
- Time to altitude: 1,000m in 6min
Armament
- Guns: * 1 × forward-firing 7.92 mm (.312 in) LMG 08/15 "Spandau" machine gun
- 1 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine gun in ring mount for observer
- Bombs: * Bomb load up to 100 kg (220 lb)
See also[]
Related development
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Gray, Peter; Owen Thetford (1970). German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-370-00103-6.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Morgała, Andrzej (1997). Samoloty wojskowe w Polsce 1918-1924. Warsaw: Lampart. ISBN 83-86776-34-X, p.12 (in Polish)
- ^ Andersson, Lennart (2004). "Wings Over the Desert: Aviation on the Arabian Peninsula Part One: Saudi Arabia". Air Enthusiast: 39.
Bibliography[]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to AEG C.IV. |
- Klaauw, Bart van der (March–April 1999). "Unexpected Windfalls: Accidentally or Deliberately, More than 100 Aircraft 'arrived' in Dutch Territory During the Great War". Air Enthusiast (80): 54–59. ISSN 0143-5450.
- Kroschel, Günter; Stützer, Helmut: Die deutschen Militärflugzeuge 1910-18, Wilhelmshaven 1977
- Neulen, Hans-Werner & Cony, Christophe (August 2000). "Les aigles du Kaiser en Terre Sainte" [The Kaiser's Eagles in the Holy Land]. Avions: Toute l'Aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (89): 34–43. ISSN 1243-8650.
- Nowarra, Heinz: Die Entwicklung der Flugzeuge 1914-18, München 1959
- Sharpe, Michael: Doppeldecker, Dreifachdecker & Wasserflugzeuge, Gondrom, Bindlach 2001, ISBN 3-8112-1872-7
- AEG aircraft
- Single-engined tractor aircraft
- Biplanes
- 1910s German military reconnaissance aircraft
- Aircraft first flown in 1916