Putting planes away in my two-seater box I realised I had a C.I, a C.II, a C.III, a C.IV and a C.V.
That is a UFAG C.I, a Roland C.II, an Albatros C.III, a Rumpler C.IV, and a DFW C.V.
Do you cee?
Putting planes away in my two-seater box I realised I had a C.I, a C.II, a C.III, a C.IV and a C.V.
That is a UFAG C.I, a Roland C.II, an Albatros C.III, a Rumpler C.IV, and a DFW C.V.
Okay I will bite ..... What did the C stand for? It seems to have been applied to al their armed 2 seaters.
That's what it stood for; armed observation airplane. Unarmed ones had the B designation.Originally Posted by Baxter
The standard Military designation for aircraft evolved gradually in Germany. Notice I said "Military"- in its strictest sense.
Throughout the war, the German Navy stuck almost exclusively to the aircraft Manufacturer's designation-oh, random example, the Friedrichhafen FF. 33. The Heer-Army in English- instituted a designation system determined by the IdFlieg (Inspekteur der Flieger). At the beginning of the war this was quite simple: A for monoplanes, B for biplanes. Examples of these are the Etrich Taube, the basic design built by various manufacturers, and would have been designated as for example, Rumpler A-type. They could be either one-or two-seat aircraft. The most famous B-type was probably the Albatros B-II. Again, a two-seater. There were also several copies of the Morane monoplane built-a single seaeer. Most numerous of these was the Fokker A-types.
But in 1915, aircraft started being regularly armed with machineguns. Lacking synchronization gear, these armaments were very early on, were restricted to two-seaters. Oh, says the IdFlieg, we need a new category. Let's call them category C.
Oh, but then the situation became even more complex. Fokker developed a synchronizatin gear (actually patented by Franz Schneider before the war, but a combination of the all too familiar early technology being unreliable, the tendency of some cartridges to delay ignition, lack of perceived need from the military, and poor power output of early aircraft engines needed to carry the extra weight needed for the gun, the ammunition, the synchronization and associated gear made him give up on it) allowing single seat aircraft to carry a gun that could be aimed by pointing the whole aircraft at a target.
From this poit on, the IdFlieg started with a designatin system that was more or less mnemonic, and added to as needed:
Cl-C "leicht" (light) armed two-seat aircraft used as escort fighters and ground attack planes.
CN-C Nacht (night) A C-type for night bombing. Not widely used category, and later replaced by simply N (Nacht, night)
D-Doppledecker: a single-set biplane used as a fighter.
Dr- Dreidecker: a single-seat triplane used as a fighter.
E-Eindecker: a single-seat monoplane used as a fighter.
F-original designation of the Dr-type. Only used for the Fokker Dr-I, and probably a factory designation rather than the IdFlieg designation.
G-Gross (Large): Usually twin-engined, two or three-seat aircraft mainly used for longer-ranged bombardment.
Gl-G-type "Leicht" (Light) a G-Type developed for longer-ranged reconaissance, usually a design derived for a more traditional G-type by the elimination of a crew position.
J- Jäger (Hunter): an armored variant of the C-type, developed later in the war for ground attack
K-Kampfflugzeug (Battle airplane): The original designation of G-types, built for escort of unarmed B-types, and for bombardment. Later replaced by the G designation
N-Nacht (Night): see the CN category.
R-Riesenflugzeug (Giant airplane): A very large airplane, usually having more than three crew members, and at least three engines. The main difference between G & N types was not only the number of crew & engines, but also that the engines had to be accessible in flight. Hence, the "spare" crew were usually flight engineers, who could carry out minor repairs on the engines in flight.
Anyway, most of thius information can be found at:
https://military-history.fandom.com/...ere%20produced.
Hope this helps.
Last edited by zenlizard; 05-18-2024 at 10:17.
Thanks Robert and Sam. I can see why the Brits tended to call everything either Fokkers or Rumplers.
Excellent explanation, Sam!
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Thanks for the info Sam. Didn't know all of this. Learn something new most times I access the aerodrome!
great info sam!
Thanks for the info Sam
I had no idea where this post would go when I started it. Thanks to Sam who turned an idle observation into some useful information, which people have already found helpful and interesting.
And the Germans tended to call any British 2-seat pusher aircraft a "Vickers." Even long after the F. B. 5 had been withdrawn from front-line service.I can see why the Brits tended to call everything either Fokkers or Rumplers.
And they also called any unidentified shot-down biplane a "Sopwith"
I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!
Fascinating, thank you.
Never Knowingly Undergunned !!
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