The AEG G.I (factory designation GZ1) was a
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
twin-engined German
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 ...
built by the (AEG) during the
First World War
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 ...
for the
Imperial German Army
The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...
's ()
Imperial German Air Service
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Impe ...
(). The first prototype was designated as the K.I. Flight testing showed that it performed well enough to justify a second, more heavily armed, prototype designated as the G.I for testing under combat conditions.
Development
The G.I was conceived as a
battleplane () or aerial cruiser that was to be capable of engaging enemy aircraft with its flexible machine guns as well as attacking ground targets. The Imperial German Air Service's
Inspectorate of Flying Troops (, or ) issued a requirement in July 1914 for a three-man battleplane with enough fuel to fly for six hours, a flexible gun for the
aerial observer
Aerial may refer to:
Music
* ''Aerial'' (album), by Kate Bush, and that album's title track
* "Aerials" (song), from the album ''Toxicity'' by System of a Down
Bands
* Aerial (Canadian band)
* Aerial (Scottish band)
* Aerial (Swedish band)
...
in the nose, the ability to lift a useful load of and an engine with a minimum of .
No engine that powerful was available in Germany, so AEG had to use two water-cooled,
Mercedes D.I straight-six
A straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine balanc ...
piston engines in a
tractor configuration
In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...
. These were mounted on
struts located between the
two-bay wings. The K.I's
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...
was built from steel tubing and its nose was protected by thin armor plate to protect the
gunner; the rest of the fuselage was covered by
doped fabric. The pilot's
cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, on the front part of an aircraft, spacecraft, or submersible, from which a pilot controls the vehicle.
The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the controls th ...
was located underneath the upper wing. The aircraft made its first flight in January 1915. 's designation system had changed from K to G for multi-engined aircraft by the time that the G.I was ordered for combat trials. That aircraft was completed in March and differed from the K.I in that it had two gunners, one in the nose and the other behind the pilot's cockpit. Some parts from the K.I may have been incorporated into the second prototype. The G.I was shipped from the factory to a combat unit on 24 April.
[Herris 2015, pp. 92–93]
Specifications (AEG G.I)
See also
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Aeg G.I
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 ...
1910s German bomber aircraft
Biplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1915
Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear