Hansa-Brandenburg C.I
reconnaissance aircraft model by Hansa-Brandenburg
The Hansa-Brandenburg C.I, also known as Type LDD, was a 2-seater armed single-engine reconnaissance biplane designed by Ernst Heinkel, who worked at that time for the parent company in Germany. The C.I had similarities with the earlier B.I (Type FD, also designed by Heinkel), including inward-sloping interplane bracing struts. Like other early-war Austro-Hungarian reconnaissance aircraft, such as C-types of Lloyd or Lohner, the Type LDD had a communal cockpit for its crew.
The C.I served in the Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops in visual- and photographic reconnaissance, artillery observation and light bombing duties from early spring 1916 to the end of World War I. The aircraft had good handling characteristics, and steady introduction of more powerful engines in successive production batches (see below) enabled the improvement of performance and thus the continuing front-line service.
Armament of the type consisted of a free-firing 8 mm (0.315 in) Schwarzlose machine gun at the rear for the observer, and at least in some aircraft for the pilot there was also a similar fixed, non-synchronised forward-firing gun in a pod above the top wing. This latter weapon was replaced in later production examples by a synchronised 8 mm (0.315 in) Schwarzlose gun on the port side of the fuselage. The normal bomb load for the C.I was 60 kg (130 lb), but some aircraft could carry one 80 kg (180 lb) and two 10 kg (22 lb) bombs.
Production
Data from Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War One
In addition to 84 aircraft built by Hansa-Brandenburg, Phönix Flugzeugwerke (400 C.I(Ph)), Ungarische Flugzeugfabrik A.G. (834 C.I(U)) and Aero (A-14, A-15, A-26) also made the type under licence in the following batches:
Phönix
(Brandenburg C.I(Ph))
Series 26 with 120 kW (160 hp) Austro-Daimler
Series 27 with 140 kW (190 hp) Austro-Daimler
Series 29 with 160 kW (210 hp) Austro-Daimler
Series 29.5, 129 (ex 23), 229 and 329 with 150 kW (200 hp) Hiero 6
Series 429 with 170 kW (230 hp) Hiero 6
Ufag
(Brandenburg C.I(U))
Series 61, 64, 67 and 68 with 120 kW (160 hp) Austro-Daimler
Series 63 with 120 kW (160 hp) Mercedes D.III
Series 269 with 150 kW (200 hp) Austro-Daimler
Series 69 with 150 kW (200 hp) Hiero
Series 169 with 160 kW (210 hp) Benz Bz.IVa
Series 369 with 170 kW (230 hp) Hiero
Aero (Czechoslovakia) post-war
Aero A.14 copy BA369 with Hiero N 169 kW, Aero A.15 copy BA369 with Hiero L 169 kW and Aero A.26 copy BA26 with Walter-built 138 kW (185 hp) BMW IIIa
Poland (post war)
In 1919-1920, fifteen aircraft, differing in construction and engines, were assembled by the Poles in Lviv RPL-III workshops, and then in 1920-1924 some fifteen were made in Kraków workshops (known locally as Brandenburg K).
Arsenalul Aeronautic (Romania) post-war
In the 1920s with the increase in need of training aircraft, the Romanian Ministry of War approved the construction of Hansa-Brandenburg C.I airplanes at Arsenalul Aeronautic from Cotroceni. The aircraft were powered by the Austro-Daimler 160 hp engine.
“Hansa-Brandenburg C.I” enters the record as reconnaissance aircraft model by Hansa-Brandenburg. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hansa-Brandenburg, reconnaissance and aircraft can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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