Hansa-Brandenburg C.I
Hansa-Brandenburg C.I | |
---|---|
Role | Reconnaissance aircraft |
Manufacturer | UFAG
|
Designer | Ernst Heinkel |
Introduction | 1916 |
Primary users | |
Number built | 1318 |
The Hansa-Brandenburg C.I, also known as Type LDD, was a 2-seater armed single-engine reconnaissance biplane designed by Ernst Heinkel, who worked at that time for the parent company in Germany. The C.I had similarities with the earlier B.I (Type FD, also designed by Heinkel), including inward-sloping interplane bracing struts. Like other early-war Austro-Hungarian reconnaissance aircraft, such as C-types of Lloyd or Lohner, the Type LDD had a communal cockpit for its crew.
The C.I served in the Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops in visual- and photographic reconnaissance, artillery observation and light bombing duties from early spring 1916 to the end of World War I. The aircraft had good handling characteristics, and steady introduction of more powerful engines in successive production batches (see below) enabled the improvement of performance and thus the continuing front-line service.
Armament of the type consisted of a free-firing 8 mm (0.315 in)
Production
Data from Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War One[1] In addition to 84 aircraft built by Hansa-Brandenburg, Phönix Flugzeugwerke (400 C.I(Ph)), Ungarische Flugzeugfabrik A.G. (834 C.I(U)) and Aero (A-14, A-15, A-26) also made the type under licence in the following batches:
- Phönix
- (Brandenburg C.I(Ph))
- Series 26 with 120 kW (160 hp) Austro-Daimler
- Series 27 with 140 kW (190 hp) Austro-Daimler
- Series 29 with 160 kW (210 hp) Austro-Daimler
- Series 29.5, 129 (ex 23), 229 and 329 with 150 kW (200 hp) Hiero 6
- Series 429 with 170 kW (230 hp) Hiero 6
- Ufag
- (Brandenburg C.I(U))
- Series 61, 64, 67 and 68 with 120 kW (160 hp) Austro-Daimler
- Series 63 with 120 kW (160 hp) Mercedes D.III
- Series 269 with 150 kW (200 hp) Austro-Daimler
- Series 69 with 150 kW (200 hp) Hiero
- Series 169 with 160 kW (210 hp) Benz Bz.IVa
- Series 369 with 170 kW (230 hp) Hiero
- Aero (Czechoslovakia) post-war
- Poland (post war)
- In 1919-1920, fifteen aircraft, differing in construction and engines, were assembled by the Poles in Lviv RPL-III workshops, and then in 1920-1924 some fifteen were made in Kraków workshops (known locally as Brandenburg K).[2]
- Arsenalul Aeronautic (Romania) post-war
- In the 1920s with the increase in need of training aircraft, the Romanian Ministry of War approved the construction of Hansa-Brandenburg C.I airplanes at Arsenalul Aeronautic from
Operational history
After World War I, in 1918, 22 original Hansa-Brandenburg C.I seized by the Poles were among the first aircraft of Polish Air Force. According to some publications, it was the first Polish aircraft to perform a combat flight on 5 November 1918, flown by Stefan Bastyr[5] (others claim he flew Oeffag C.II[6]). They were used in Battle of Lemberg and then Polish–Ukrainian War and Polish–Soviet War.[7] Approximately 30 more aircraft were assembled or built by the Poles afterwards in Lviv and Kraków.[2]
During the Hungarian–Romanian War, Romania used Hansa-Brandenburg C.I airplanes captured from the Hungarian Red Air Arm. By the end of the war, a total of 22 aircraft of this type were captured.[8] The aircraft were used by the Romanian Air Force until the mid 1930s.[3]
Operators
- Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops
- Polish Air Force (inter-war)
- Czechoslovakian Air Force(inter-war)
- Royal Yugoslav Air Force - Postwar
- Romanian Air Force - Postwar
- Hungarian Red Air Arm - Postwar[9]
Surviving aircraft and replicas
Specifications (Brandenburg C.I(Ph) Series BA129)
Data from Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War One[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: 2
- Length: 8.35 m (27 ft 5 in)
- Upper wingspan: 13.2 m (43 ft 4 in)
- Lower wingspan: 11.37 m (37 ft 4 in)
- Height: 3.23 m (10 ft 7 in)
- Wing area: 40.9 m2 (440 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 860 kg (1,896 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,235 kg (2,723 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Hiero 6 water-cooled in-line piston engines, 150 kW (200 hp)
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed pitch wooden propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 110 km/h (68 mph, 59 kn)
- Service ceiling: 5,800 m (19,000 ft)
- Time to altitude: 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 10 minutes 40 seconds
Armament
- Guns: 1 or 2 × 8 mm (0.315 in) Schwarzlose MG M.07/12machine gun(s)
- Bombs: up to 100 kg (220 lb) of bombs
See also
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
References
- ^ ISBN 1-891268-05-8.
- ^ a b Morgała (1997), p. 44-50, 242
- ^ a b Dan Iloiu; Valeriu Avram. "Avionul de Recunoaştere Hansa Brandenburg C1". Modelism 1991-02 (in Romanian).
- ^ D.Bernad. "The First Twenty Five Years. Romanian Aircraft Production 1911-1935". Air Enthusiast 1996-05.
- ^ Kopański, Tomasz (2001) (in Polish). Lotnictwo w obronie Lwowa w listopadzie 1918 roku, "Militaria i Fakty" Nr. 6/2001, p. 40-45
- ^ Morgała (1997), p. 52
- ^ Morgała (1997), p. 40-41
- ^ Valeriu Avram; Alexandru Armă (2018). Aeronautica română în Războiul de Întregire națională 1916-1919 (in Romanian). p. 49.
- ^ C.Owers. "Hansa-Brandenburg Aircraft of WWI. Volume 1".
- ^ "Hansa Brandenburg C.I". Craft Lab. Retrieved 20 December 2021.
Bibliography
- Munson, Kenneth - Bombers, Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft 1914 - 1919 ISBN 0 7537 0918 X
- Morgała, Andrzej (1997). Samoloty wojskowe w Polsce 1918-1924 [Military aircraft in Poland 1918-1924] (in Polish). Warsaw: Lampart. ISBN 83-86776-34-X.
- Sankowski, Wojeich (July 1996). "Les Hansa Brandenburg C.I en Pologne" [The Hansa Brandenburg C.I in Poland]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (40): 2–7. ISSN 1243-8650.