W.12
Van Berkel W-A, above cruiser Java
Role Floatplane fighter
Manufacturer Hansa-Brandenburg
Designer Ernst Heinkel
First flight Early 1917
Primary users Kaiserliche Marine
Marine-Luchtvaartdienst
Number built 181

The Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 was a German biplane fighter floatplane of World War I. It was a development of Ernst Heinkel's previous KDW, adding a rear cockpit for an observer/gunner, and had an unusual inverted tailfin/rudder (which instead of standing up from the fuselage, hung below it) in order to give an uninterrupted field of fire.

The W.12s (under the Naval designation C3MG) served on the Western Front, based at the Naval air bases at Ostend and Zeebrugge. The aircraft had some success, and one shot down the British airship C.27.

In April 1918, a W.12 made an emergency landing in the neutral territory of the Netherlands, where it was interned and flight tested by the Dutch. In 1919 the government of the Netherlands bought a licence to build the aircraft. 35 W.12s were subsequently manufactured by the Van Berkel company of Rotterdam as the W-A, serving with the Dutch Naval Air Service until 1933.

Variants

  • W.12 : German Navy model. 146 built.
  • Van Berkel W-A : Dutch licence-built W.12, with Benz engine. 35 built.

Operators

Specifications (W.12)

Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 official Baubeschreibung drawing

Data from Encyclopedia of Military Aircraft[1]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2
  • Wingspan: 9.6 m (31 ft 6 in)
  • Height: 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)
  • Wing area: 36.2 m2 (390 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 997 kg (2,198 lb)
  • Gross weight: 1,454 kg (3,206 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.III 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine, 119 kW (160 hp)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 160 km/h (99 mph, 86 kn)
  • Range: 520 km (320 mi, 280 nmi)
  • Endurance: 3 hours 30 minutes
  • Service ceiling: 5,000 m (16,000 ft)

Armament

  • Guns: :* 1 or 2 × fixed forward 7.92 (0.312 in) lMG 08 machine guns

See also

Related development

Related lists

References

  1. ↑ Jackson, Robert (2003). The encyclopedia of military aircraft. Bath: Parragon Pub. ISBN 9780752581309.

Bibliography

  • Klaauw, Bart van der (March–April 1999). "Unexpected Windfalls: Accidentally or Deliberately, More than 100 Aircraft 'arrived' in Dutch Territory During the Great War". Air Enthusiast (80): 54–59. ISSN 0143-5450.
  • Herris, Jack (2012). German Seaplane Fighters of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Seaplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 2. Charleston (S.C.): Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-09-4.
  • Owers, Colin A. (2015). Hansa-Brandenburg Aircraft of WWI: Volume 2–Biplane Seaplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 18. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-32-2.
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