Rumpler C.IV

C.IV
Role Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer Rumpler Flugzeugwerke
Designer Dr. Edmund Rumpler
Introduction 1917
Primary user Luftstreitkräfte
Variants Rumpler 6B-2

The Rumpler C.IV was a German single-engine, two-seat reconnaissance biplane. The C.IV was a development of C.III with different tail surfaces and using a Mercedes D.IVa engine in place of C.III's Benz Bz.IV. In addition to the parent company, the aircraft was also built by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke as the Pfalz C.I. Another variant of the basic design was the Rumpler 6B-2 single-seat floatplane fighter, with a 120 kW (160 hp) Mercedes D.III engine, built for the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy).

For a two-seater reconnaissance aircraft, Rumpler C.IV had an excellent performance, which enabled it to remain in front-line service until the end of World War I on the Western Front, as well as in Italy and Palestine. Its exceptional ceiling allowed pilots to undertake reconnaissance secure in the knowledge that few allied aircraft could reach it.

300 aircraft were licence-built by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke as the Pfalz C.I, differing in ailerons on all four wings. From February 1917 they were renamed Rumpler C.IV (Pfal).[1]

For use during filming, Slingsby Sailplanes built two Slingsby T.58 Rumpler C.IV replicas. While these were visually similar to the original aircraft, they were structurally completely different, having a steel-tube fuselage structure and wooden wings, and being powered by a de Havilland Gipsy Major engine.[2]

Operators

 Belgium
 German Empire
  Switzerland
 Turkey
 Kingdom of Yugoslavia

Specifications (C.IV)

Rumpler C.IV as seen in Deutsches Museum
Rumpler C.IV inside visible

Data from German Aircraft Of The First World War [3]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

References

Notes

  1. Herris, Jack. Pfalz Aircraft of World War I. Great War Aircraft in Profile, Volume 4. 2001. ISBN 1891268155. P.9
  2. Taylor 1969, pp. 225–226.
  3. Gray and Thetford 1962, p.201.
  4. Munson 1967, p.99.

Bibliography

  • Gray, Peter and Thetford, Owen. German Aircraft of the First World War. London, Putnam, 1962.
  • Munson, Kenneth. Aircraft of World War I. London: Ian Allan, 1967. ISBN 0-7110-0356-4.
  • Munson, Kenneth. Bombers, Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft 1914 - 1919. ISBN 0-7537-0918-X
  • Munson, Kenneth. Fighters, Attack and Training Aircraft 1914 - 1919. ISBN 0-7537-0916-3.
  • Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1969–70. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1969. ISBN 0-354-00051-9.
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