World War One Aviation: German Two-Seaters 1914The German aircraft industry responded to the need for reconnaissance aircraft by producing two seat unarmed aircraft designated as B-Type.
The Albatros B.I was a German military reconnaissance aircraft designed in 1913 and which saw service during World War I.
It was a two-seat biplane of conventional configuration which seated the observer and pilot in separate cockpits in tandem. The wings were originally of three-bay design, later changed to two-bay, unstaggered configuration. A floatplane version was developed as the W.I.
B.Is were withdrawn from front line service in 1915 but examples served as trainers for the remainder of the War.
The Albatros B.II was an unarmed German two-seat reconnaissance biplane of the First World War.
Designed by Ernst Heinkel based on his 1913 Albatros B.I, the B.II was the aircraft that brought the aircraft manufacturer Albatros Flugzeugwerke to the world's attention.
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The B.II had a shorter wingspan than the B.I and used a variety of engines up to 120 hp (89 kW). In 1914 it set an altitude record of 14,800 ft (4,500 m). The seating arrangement was not ideal; the pilot occupied the rear cockpit and the observer sat in front over the wings which greatly reduced his downward view while the protruding engine block almost completely obscured the view over the nose. When Albatros developed the armed C.I based on their B-series, the seat positions were swapped so that the observer/gunner had a better view and clear field of fire.
First flying in 1914, large numbers of the B.II were built and, though it was retired from front-line service in 1915 following the introduction of the armed C-type two-seaters, the B.II remained in service as a trainer until 1918
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The Aviatik B.I was a relatiely slow, unarmed, two-seater biplane, it entered into service in 1914, and was used for observation and reconnaissance in the early years of the war.
LVG had been involved in the operation of dirigibles before it started design, in 1912, of the company's first original design, the B.I. The B.I was an unequal-span two-seat biplane with a fixed tail-skid landing gear. It was powered by a nose-mounted 80 kW (100 hp) Mercedes D.I engine.
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After entering service an improved variant, the B.II was developed with a cut-out in the upper wing to improve visibility for the pilot in the rear cockpit and fitted with a 90 kW (120 hp) Mercedes D.II engine. The B.II entered service in 1915 and although mainly used as a trainer it was also used for unarmed reconnaissance and scouting duties. A further variant was the B.III which had structural strengthening to allow it to be used as a trainer.
The Rumpler B.I (factory designation 4A) was a military reconnaissance aircraft produced in Germany during World War I. It was a conventional two-bay biplane with unstaggered wings of unequal span. It featured two open cockpits in tandem and fixed, tailskid undercarriage. Its upper wing reflected the wing design of the Etrich Taube that Rumpler was building at the time.
Rumpler built 198 of these aircraft for the Luftstreitkräfte, plus 26 seaplane versions for the Imperial German Navy.
