AEG C.IV

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AEG C.IV
AEGC4.jpg
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 Most were withdrawn in 1921.[2]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[]

AEG C.IVN
 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)[]

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[]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ 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)
  3. ^ Andersson, Lennart (2004). "Wings Over the Desert: Aviation on the Arabian Peninsula Part One: Saudi Arabia". Air Enthusiast: 39.

Bibliography[]

  • 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
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