The AEG PE (factory designation ''Panzer Einsitzer'' – "armoured one-seater") 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 ...

triplane A triplane is a fixed-wing aircraft equipped with three vertically stacked wing planes. Tailplanes and canard (aeronautics), canard foreplanes are not normally included in this count, although they occasionally are. Design principles The trip ...

fighter 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 ...

(). It was intended to attack enemy

ground-attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...

at low level within range of anti-aircraft defenses. The aircraft began flight testing in late 1917, but it was rejected on the grounds of poor flight characteristics.

Development

Documentation on the PE is lacking, but aviation historian Jack Herris believes that it was inspired by the head of the Inspectorate of Flying Troops ( (), Lieutenant-Colonel () Wilhelm Siegert, who believed in "specialized aircraft to fulfill specific roles". The aircraft was an armored fighter designed to attack enemy aircraft at low level and needed to be able survive hits by

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

s. To this purpose the PE'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 ...

had integral armor that protected the pilot, the engine and the fuel tank. The rear portion of the fuselage was built from

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

while the two-bay wing structure was constructed from the company's usual steel-tube

spars SPARS was the authorized nickname for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve. The nickname was derived from the USCG's motto, "—"Always Ready" (''SPAR''). The Women's Reserve was established by law in November 1942 during Wor ...

. The aircraft used a water-cooled Benz Bz.IIIb

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette, designed by Léon Levavasseur, a ...

. It was armed with a pair of forward-firing

LMG 08/15 The MG 08 ( 08) is a heavy machine gun (HMG) which served as the standard HMG of the Imperial German Army during World War I. It was an adaptation of Hiram Maxim's 1884 Maxim gun design, and was produced in a number of variants during the war. Th ...

machine guns and could carry four small bombs. A document dated 21 October 1917 states that AEG was developing an armored fighter with the factory designation of PE. Another document states that the flying trials were expected to be completed in December. In March 1918 the aircraft reached a height of in 48 minutes and the test pilot reported that it was easy to fly, but not fast. ordered that work on the PE should be canceled two months later because of "poor flight characteristics". AEG used the same fuselage design in its DJ.I biplane.Herris, pp. 83–84

Specifications (AEG PE)

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aeg Pe PE Single-engined tractor aircraft 1910s German attack aircraft Triplanes Aircraft first flown in 1918 Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear Single-engined piston aircraft

Development

Specifications (AEG PE)

See also

References

Bibliography