The Rumpler G.I was a bomber aircraft produced in Germany during World War I, together with refined versions known as the G.II and G.III.[1]
Design and development
Based on a prototype with the factory designation 4A15, the G.I and its successors were built to a conventional bomber design for their time, two-bay biplanes with unstaggered wings of unequal span.[2] The pilot sat in an open cockpit just forward of the wings, and open positions were provided in the nose and amidships for a gunner and observer. The engines were mounted pusher-fashion in nacelles atop the lower wings and enclosed in streamlined cowlings.[2] Fixed tricycle undercarriage was fitted, with dual wheels on each unit.[2]
The G.II version was almost identical, but featured more powerful engines and carried a second 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine gun and increased bombload.[2] The G.III was again similar, but had engine nacelles that were now mounted on short struts clear of the lower wing.[2]
1 × trainable 7.92 mm (.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine gun in nose
1 × trainable 7.92 mm (.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine gun in dorsal position
250 kg (550 lb) of bombs
Notes
^Taylor 1989, p.772
^ a b c d e fThe Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft, p.2834
^Gray & Thetford 1962, p.529
^Gray & Thetford 1962, p.530
^Gray & Thetford 1962, p.531
^ a bKroschel & Stützer 1994, p.140
^Gray & Thetford 1962, p.532
References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rumpler G.I, Rumpler G.II and Rumpler G.III.
Gray, Peter; Owen Thetford (1962). German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam.
Herris, Jack (2014). Rumpler Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 11. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-21-6.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft. London: Aerospace Publishing.
Kroschel, Günter; Helmut Stützer (1994). Die Deutschen Militärflugzeuge 1910–1918. Herford: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn.