Rumpler B.I

B.I
B.I
General information
Type	Reconnaissance aircraft
National origin	Germany
Manufacturer	Rumpler
Primary user	Luftstreitkräfte
Number built	ca 225
History
First flight	1914

The Rumpler B.I (factory designation 4A) was a military reconnaissance aircraft produced in Germany during World War I.¹

Design and development

The B.I was a conventional two-bay biplane with unstaggered wings of unequal span.² It featured two open cockpits in tandem and fixed, tailskid undercarriage.² Its upper wing reflected the wing design of the Etrich Taube that Rumpler was building at the time.³

Rumpler built 198 of these aircraft for the Luftstreitkräfte, plus 26 seaplane versions for the Imperial German Navy.²

Variants

4A - landplane with Mercedes D.I engine, military designation B.I³
- 4A13 - B.I with balanced, comma-style rudder⁴
- 4A14 - version with Benz Bz.III engine⁵
4B - seaplane
- 4B1 - version with Mercedes D.I engine⁶
- 4B2 - version with Benz Bz.III engine⁶
- 4B11 - version with Benz Bz.I engine⁵
- 4B12 - version with Benz Bz.III engine⁵

Operators

Denmark

Royal Danish Air Force - Postwar.

Germany

Turkey

Ottoman Air Force

Specifications

Data from Gray & Thetford 1962, p.518

General characteristics

Crew: Two, pilot and observer
Length: 8.40 m (27 ft 7 in)
Wingspan: 13.00 m (42 ft 8 in)
Height: 3.10 m (10 ft 2 in)
Empty weight: 750 kg (1,650 lb)
Gross weight: 970 kg (2,100 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.I , 75 kW (100 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 145 km/h (90 mph, 78 kn)

Notes

Taylor 1989, p.771
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft, p.2833
Gray & Thetford 1962, p.518
Gray & Thetford 1962, p.519
Gray & Thetford 1962, p.520
Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.127

References

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.
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.