Hansa-Brandenburg B.I

B.I
General information
TypeReconnaissance aircraft
National originGermany
ManufacturerHansa-Brandenburg
Designer
Primary userKuKLFT
Number built27
History
First flight1914

The Hansa-Brandenburg B.I was an unarmed military trainer and reconnaissance biplane of World War I, flown by the Austro-Hungarian Air Service. Early models were known internally to the Hansa-Brandenburg firm as the type D, while later models with a more powerful engine were designated FD. This aircraft was one of the earliest designs of Ernst Heinkel, who was working for Hansa-Brandenburg at the time. It was an entirely conventional two-bay biplane with staggered wings of unequal span. The pilot and observer sat in tandem in a long open cockpit.

The aircraft was produced under license by Aero, both during the war and afterwards (when it became known as the Aero Ae 01), and also by Letov, as the Š10.[1] Experience gained with this design would provide Aero with the basis for a number of derivative civil and military designs throughout the 1920s.

The design formed the basis for the C.I and C.II armed reconnaissance types.

  1. ^ Krzysztof Chołoniewski, Wiesław Bączkowski (in Polish), Samoloty wojskowe obcych konstrukcji 1918-1939 [Military aircraft of foreign designs 1918-1939]. Warsaw, WKiŁ, 1987. ISBN 83-206-0566-0, p. 7