Kaiserliche Werft Kiel 463

Imperial German Navy seaplanes 463 to 466 were a unique seaplane design produced for the Navy's flying service during the First World War.[1][2][3][4] The seaplane base at Kiel-Holtenau ordered the type as a training aircraft in 1915, and the Navy allocated a batch of four serial numbers to the design.[1] No 463 and its siblings were conventional, two-bay biplanes with unstaggered wings of equal span and two open cockpits in tandem for the pilot and instructor.[1][2] The undercarriage consisted of twin pontoons.[1][2] The large, square rudder was hinged to the rear end of the fuselage, and extended below the ventral line of the fuselage.[1][2] The inline engine was neatly cowled in, with the exhaust being collected together in a single stack that extended above the upper wing.[1][2]

No. 463–466
Role Training seaplane
National origin Germany
Manufacturer Kaiserliche Werft Kiel
First flight 1917
Primary user Imperial German Navy

Kaiserliche Werft Kiel received an order for three machines in October 1915, and the first of these (No 463) was delivered to the seaplane testing unit (SVK – Seeflugzeug-Versuchskommando) at Warnemünde the following summer.[1] It remained there under test for well over one year, and was not finally accepted for service until summer 1918.[1] This lengthy delay was possibly due to the aircraft being used as a trainer at Warnemünde itself.[1]

Two of the seaplane trainers (No 461–462) built at Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven were possibly built to substantially the same design, as was possibly one of the reconnaissance seaplanes (No 947) built there.[1]


Specifications

Data from Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.154

General characteristics

  • Crew: Two, pilot and instructor
  • Powerplant: 1 × Benz Bz.III , 110 kW (150 hp)

Notes
  1. Nowarra 1966, p.78
  2. Gray & Thetford 1962, p.449
  3. Kroschel & Stützer 1994, p.154
  4. Taylor 1989, p.547

References
  • Gray, Peter; Owen Thetford (1962). German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam.
  • Kroschel, Günter; Helmut Stützer (1994). Die Deutschen Militärflugzeuge 1910–1918. Herford: Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn.
  • Nowarra, Heinz J. (1966). Marine Aircraft of the 1914–1918 War. Letchworth, Harts: Harleyford Publications.
  • Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.