Becker cannon armed aircraft (WWI)

[Avimimus]

Test mounts:
AGO C.I
Albatros D.II
Albatros J.I
AEG J.II
Friedrichshafen G.III


Purpose designed aircraft:
A twin engined 'Hansa D.I' with nose mounted cannon
Albatros D.VI
Caspar D.I
AGO S.I
AEG G.IVk
The real mystery are the three 'D' series fighters - I've seen references, but I've never seen drawings or more information.

 

[Arjen]

Caspar D.I and Hansa D.I are probably the same aircraft. Caspar D.I entry and image from 'German Aircraft of the First World War' by Peter Gray and Owen Thetford, Putnam 1962:

Designed by Karl Caspar, this twin-engined, single-seat fighter was built by Hanseatische Flugzeugwerke in late 1918, but the machine crashed on its first flight. Engines, two 100 h.p. Oberursel U I rotaries.

Entry from 'Typenhandbuch der Deutschen Luftfahrttechnik' by Bruno Lange, Bernard & Graefe 1986:

Hanseatische Flugzeugwerke, HFC, Karl Caspar AG, Hamburg-Fuhlsbüttel
[...]
D-Typ, Versuchseinsitzer, 2 x Oberursel-Umlaufmotoren. Doppeldecker, Motoren mit Zugpropeller zwischen den Trägflachen, konstruiert von Ing. R. Geringer. Beim Probelauf 1917/18 brach ein Motor heraus und verletzte einen Monteur tödlich, die Entwicklung wurde abgebrochen.

Single-seat experimental, 2 x Oberursel rotary engines, biplane, engines with tractor-propellors between wings, constructed by Ing. R. Geringer. In a 1917/18 trial-run one engine broke free and mortally wounded a mechanic, development was abandoned.

From the same book, Albatros D.VI entry:

D.VI (L28) Versuchseinsitzer, mit 118 kW (195 PS) Daimler D III. Einstieliger Gitterrumpf-Anderthalbdecker.
Spannweite: 9,80 m, Länge 7,75 m, Flugmasse 880 kg, Vmax 200 km/h.

Single-seat experimental, 118 kW (195 hp) Daimler D III. Single-strut sesquiplane with steel(?)-tube fuselage.
Span: 9.80 m, length 7.75 m, weight 880 kg, Vmax 200 km/h.

From 'The complete book of fighters' by William Green and Gordon Swanborough, Salamander 1994:

ALBATROS D VI
The D VI twin-boom single-seat pusher biplane powered by a 180 hp Daimler D IIIa engine was built during 1917, and was flown for the first time in February 1918. The undercarriage was damaged during the initial landing and had still to be repaired in May when further work on the D VI was suspended due to higher priority allocated to other projects. The engine was then removed for another application. Armament comprised a fixed forward-firing 20-mm Becker cannon and a 7,92-mm LMG 08/15 machine gun. Empty weight, 1,406 lb (638 kg). Loaded weight, 1,940 lb (880 kg). Span, 32 ft 17/8 in (9,80 m). Length, 25 ft 51/8 in (7,75 m).

 

[Avimimus]

Thank you for the marvelous information! I was very much surprised to see a picture of the D.I

I assume all drawings/photographs of the D.VI are lost to history?
Thanks you!

 

[sienar]

You may find this thread on the aerodrome enlightening (if you haven't found it already); http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/aircraft/29431-albatros-d-vi.html

And the most relevant snippet;

In the book Albatros experimentals by PM Grosz, the D.VI takes up about 1/2 of a page, with a simple line drawing of the forward view the only information shown. It was a pusher fighter with 160hp Mercedes, and was armed with a fixed forward firing 2cm Becker cannon and a Spandau. It was being assembled in August 1917, the guns were installed in October 1917, but due to no suitable radiator, it was not flown until February 1918. The undercarrage was damaged on landing and the project was abandoned. No known photos are known to exist, so no scale drawings were done for the book. In september 1918 Idfleig proposed reactivating the D.VI program as a 'special cannon fighter'.
All information from Albatros Experimentals Forgotten fighters 1 by PM Grosz, copyright 1992 by Albatros Publications.

Of course there seems to be conflicting info on this bird, and the linked thread contains some information contrary to the above. But there does seem to be a partial drawing of it in existence and maybe someone here has that publication.

 

[Arjen]

Of course there seems to be conflicting info on this bird, and the linked thread contains some information contrary to the above.

It was a long time ago, some pictures would be nice to find out what the Albatros D.VI really looked like. A side view of the Hansa D.I would be most welcome too.
(Adding Albatros Experimentals Forgotten fighters 1 to ever-increasing-wish-list)

 

[Arjen]

'Hanseatischen Flugzeugwerke Karl Caspar AG' or HFC was founded in 1916 when Karl Caspar left 'Hansa und Brandenburgischen Flugzeugwerke GmbH' or Hansa-Brandenburg. Hansa-Brandenburg was the result of Karl Caspar's previous company 'Hansa' merging with Igo Etrich's 'Brandenburgischen Flugzeugwerke' in 1914. That makes the D.I in the image from Gray/Thetford the HFC D.I.

There was a Hansa-Brandenburg D.I, produced in some numbers, but that was a single-engine fighter.

 

[Pelzig]

Image of the Ago S1 anti-tank aircraft.

 

[Arjen]

Images from Gray/Thetford.