The Hansa-Brandenburg G.I was a bomber aircraft used to equip the Austro-Hungarian aviation corps in World War I. It was a mostly conventional large, three-bay biplane with staggered wings of slightly unequal span. The pilot and bombardier sat in a large open cockpit at the nose of the aircraft, with a second open cockpit for a gunner in a dorsal position behind the wings. An unusual feature was the placement of the twin tractor engines. While the normal practice of the day was to mount these to the wings, either directly or on struts, the G.I had the engines mounted to the sides of the fuselage on lattices of steel struts. This arrangement added considerable weight to the aircraft and transmitted a lot of vibration to the airframe.
A small initial production batch of six aircraft was delivered by March 1917, but were all grounded soon thereafter and put into storage due to a contractual dispute between the manufacturer and Flars (the Imperial and Royal Aviation Arsenal). When this was resolved, deliveries recommenced, although the size of the order was reduced, and the bombers were modified by Flars before being sent to the Divača airfield, on the Italian Front. Twelve aircraft were built by UFAG and differed slightly from the German-built machines.
The G.I eventually equipped three squadrons plus a replacement unit, but reports from pilots were unfavourable, especially in comparison to the Gotha G.IV that was becoming available. The Hansa-Brandenburg machine was therefore quickly relegated to training duties. In the three months that these aircraft had been at the front, they had only carried out a single successful sortie. As a footnote to the G.I's military service, the type also served as a testbed in experiments in mounting large-caliber cannon on aircraft; flying with nose-mounted 50 mm (2 in) and (separately) 70 mm (2.75 in) Skoda weapons, and a 37 mm (1.46 in) Skoda cannon mounted in the dorsal gunner's position.
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Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. p. 472.
December 18, 2023
hansa, brandenburg, bomber, aircraft, used, equip, austro, hungarian, aviation, corps, world, mostly, conventional, large, three, biplane, with, staggered, wings, slightly, unequal, span, pilot, bombardier, large, open, cockpit, nose, aircraft, with, second, o. The Hansa Brandenburg G I was a bomber aircraft used to equip the Austro Hungarian aviation corps in World War I It was a mostly conventional large three bay biplane with staggered wings of slightly unequal span The pilot and bombardier sat in a large open cockpit at the nose of the aircraft with a second open cockpit for a gunner in a dorsal position behind the wings An unusual feature was the placement of the twin tractor engines While the normal practice of the day was to mount these to the wings either directly or on struts the G I had the engines mounted to the sides of the fuselage on lattices of steel struts This arrangement added considerable weight to the aircraft and transmitted a lot of vibration to the airframe Hansa Brandenburg G IRole BomberManufacturer Hansa Brandenburg UFAGDesigner Ernst HeinkelFirst flight early 1916Introduction 1917Primary user KuKLFTProduced 1917 to 1918Number built ca 50A small initial production batch of six aircraft was delivered by March 1917 but were all grounded soon thereafter and put into storage due to a contractual dispute between the manufacturer and Flars the Imperial and Royal Aviation Arsenal When this was resolved deliveries recommenced although the size of the order was reduced and the bombers were modified by Flars before being sent to the Divaca airfield on the Italian Front Twelve aircraft were built by UFAG and differed slightly from the German built machines The G I eventually equipped three squadrons plus a replacement unit but reports from pilots were unfavourable especially in comparison to the Gotha G IV that was becoming available The Hansa Brandenburg machine was therefore quickly relegated to training duties In the three months that these aircraft had been at the front they had only carried out a single successful sortie As a footnote to the G I s military service the type also served as a testbed in experiments in mounting large caliber cannon on aircraft flying with nose mounted 50 mm 2 in and separately 70 mm 2 75 in Skoda weapons and a 37 mm 1 46 in Skoda cannon mounted in the dorsal gunner s position Operators edit nbsp Austria HungaryKaiserliche und Konigliche Luftfahrtruppen Flik 101 G Flik 102 G Flik 103 G Flek 22Specifications editGeneral characteristics Crew Three pilot bombardier and gunner Length 9 80 m 32 ft 2 in Wingspan 18 00 m 59 ft 1 in Wing area 70 0 m2 753 sq ft Empty weight 1 776 kg 3 915 lb Gross weight 2 740 kg 6 040 lb Powerplant 2 Austro Daimler 6 cyl water cooled inline piston engine 120 kW 160 hp eachPerformance Maximum speed 133 km h 82 mph 71 kn Rate of climb 1 7 m s 330 ft min Armament 2 8 mm 315 in Schwarzlose machine guns BombsReferences edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hansa Brandenburg G I Taylor Michael J H 1989 Jane s Encyclopedia of Aviation London Studio Editions p 472 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Hansa Brandenburg G I amp oldid 1088549851, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
