The Albatros G.I (post-war company designation L.4) was a four-engined
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
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 ...
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 ...
of
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 ...
.
Development
Founded on 27 April 1914 the Ostdeutsche Albatroswerke G.m.b.H. at
Schneidemühl by
Otto Wiener and Dr. Walter Huth, the OAW maintained close ties with Albatros, remaining an independent
company until October 1917. The majority of OAWs work involved licence manufacture of products from the parent Albatros company.
Given the company designation L4, one of the few homegrown designs was the Albatros G.I a four-engined heavy bomber inspired by the
Sikorsky Ilya Muromets
The Sikorsky ''Ilya Muromets'' (; versions S-22, S-23, S-24, S-25, S-26 and S-27) was a class of Russian pre-World War I large four-engine commercial airliners and military heavy bombers used during World War I by the Russian Empire. The air ...
. The G.I was of typical construction for 1915, with wooden structure, wire-braced and covered with fabric and four engines mounted in nacelles on the lower wing upper surface.
First flown on 31 January 1916 by
Alexander Hipleh, flight trials revealed not only poor flying qualities, but also poor performance, which resulted in further development being abandoned. The later G.II and G.III were not directly related to the G.I, being twin-engined, a lot lighter and having completely different wing designs.
Specifications (G.I)
See also
References
Bibliography
*
{{Idflieg G-class designations
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
Aircraft first flown in 1916