C.III and C.V
Role Reconnaissance aircraft
National origin Germany
Manufacturer Rumpler
First flight 1916

The Rumpler C.III (factory designation 6A 5) was a biplane military reconnaissance aircraft built in Germany during World War I.[1]

Development

Rumpler C.III

It was a development of the Rumpler C.I design incorporating many aerodynamic refinements, including wing planform, airfoil section, and horn-balanced ailerons,[2] revised empennage,[2] and new rear fuselage decking with compound curves.[3] This latter feature was later removed and replaced with a simplified structure, at which point the factory designation was changed to 6A 6.[3] Performance was improved over that of the C.I,[1] and the C.III was selected for limited production, thought to be about 75 aircraft. The Frontbestand table of C-type aircraft at the front shows a maximum of 42 C.III aircraft at the front on 28 February 1917. With the introduction of the more powerful Rumpler C.IV based on a refined C.III airframe, the number of operational C.III aircraft at the front dropped rapidly and by the autumn of 1917 only one was at the front. The C.III was a qualified success, but its design served mainly as a stepping stone to the further refined C.IV.[2]

Specifications (C.III)

Data from Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.127

General characteristics

  • Crew: Two, pilot and observer
  • Length: 8.20 m (26 ft 11 in)
  • Wingspan: 12.66 m (41 ft 6 in)
  • Height: 3.25 m (10 ft 8 in)
  • Wing area: 34.8 m2 (374 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 839 kg (1,845 lb)
  • Gross weight: 1,264 kg (2,780 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Benz Bz.IV , 160 kW (220 hp)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 136 km/h (85 mph, 74 kn)
  • Range: 480 km (300 mi, 260 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 4,000 m (13,100 ft)

Armament

  • 1 × fixed, forward-firing 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine gun
  • 1 × trainable, rearward-firing 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine gun
  • 100 kg (220 lb) of bombs

Notes

  1. 1 2 Taylor 1989, p.771
  2. 1 2 3 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft, p.2833
  3. 1 2 Gray & Thetford 1962, p.522

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rumpler C.III.
  • 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.
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