The Rumpler G.I was a

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

aircraft produced in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, together with refined versions known as the G.II and G.III.Taylor 1989, p.772

Design and development

Based on a prototype with the factory designation 4A15, the G.I and its successors were built to a conventional bomber design for their time, two-bay

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

s with unstaggered wings of unequal span.''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft'', p.2834 The pilot sat in an open cockpit just forward of the wings, and open positions were provided in the nose and amidships for a gunner and observer. The engines were mounted pusher-fashion in nacelles atop the lower wings and enclosed in streamlined cowlings. Fixed

tricycle undercarriage Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

was fitted, with dual wheels on each unit. The G.II version was almost identical, but featured more powerful engines and carried a second 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine gun and increased bombload. The G.III was again similar, but had engine nacelles that were now mounted on short struts clear of the lower wing.

Variants

* 4A15 - prototype with Benz Bz.III enginesGray & Thetford 1962, p.529 * 5A15 - G.I production version with single machine gun and Benz Bz.III or

Mercedes D.III The Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder SOHC valvetrain liquid-cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introd ...

enginesGray & Thetford 1962, p.530 (c. 60 built) * 5A16 - G.II production version with

Benz Bz.IV The Benz Bz.IV was a German six-cylinder, water-cooled, inline engine developed for aircraft use. Deliveries began in 1916, and some 6,400 were produced. Design and development The Bz.IV was a dual-camshaft design, with two intake and two exhau ...

engines and two machine gunsGray & Thetford 1962, p.531 (c. 72 built)Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.140 * 6G2 - G.III production version with

Mercedes D.IVa The Mercedes D.IVa was a German six-cylinder, water-cooled, inline engine developed in 1917 for use in aircraft and built by ''Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft'' (DMG).Gunston 1989, p.101. Design and development The D.IVa replaced the failed Mer ...

engines and two machine gunsGray & Thetford 1962, p.532 (c. 90 built)

Specifications (G.III)

Notes

References

* * * * {{Idflieg G, GL, K, L and N-class designations 1910s German bomber aircraft

G.I G.I. is an informal term that refers to "a soldier in the United States armed forces, especially the army". It is most deeply associated with World War II, but continues to see use. It was originally an initialism used in U.S. Army paperwork ...

Biplanes Twin-engined pusher aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1915