Rumpler 6B

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Rumpler 6B

Rumpler 6B-1 numbered 751 at Zeebrugge.
Type Floatplane fighter
Manufacturer Rumpler Flugzeugwerke
Maiden flight 1916
Introduced 1916
Retired 1920s
Primary users German Air Force
Finnish Air Force
Produced 1916 - 1918
Number built 88
Developed from Rumpler C.I

Rumpler 6B was a German single-engine floatplane fighter with biplane wing structure, designed and built by Rumpler Flugzeugwerke, in Berlin Johannisthal and introduced in 1916.

Contents

[edit] Design and development

Born out of requirement of the Imperial Navy for a seaplane fighter, the Rumpler 6B, was, like its contemporaries Albatros W.4 and Hansa-Brandenburg W.9, an adaptation of an existing landplane design. In Rumpler's case the new floatplane fighter was based on company's 2-seat C.I reconnaissance aircraft. The modifications included adding forward stagger to wings, removal of the second (observer's) cockpit and fitting a larger rudder to offset the increased side area caused by the addition of floats. In the production aircraft the area of horizontal tail surfaces was also slightly reduced. The armament consisted of a synchronised fixed forward-firing Spandau machine gun mounted on port side of the engine block.

The initial version of the fighter was the 6B-1. A total of 39 of these were produced, with all but one of the number having been delivered by the end of May 1917. A new version of the basic design, the 6B-2, was introduced in October 1917. These aircraft retained the Mercedes D.III engine, but otherwise they were based on the Rumpler C.IV, with larger dimensions and more rounded horizontal tail surfaces. In spite of decrease in performance, 49 of this type were delivered between October 1917 and January 1918, during which time the remaining 6B-1 also left the factory.

The Rumpler 6Bs were mostly employed at German seaplane bases at Ostend and Zeebrugge. Some were also sent to Black Sea area to fight the Russians.

[edit] Use in Finland

In February 1918 the Finnish White army ordered one Rumpler and seven other aircraft from Germany. The aircraft was destroyed in an accident in 1918. Another Rumpler aircraft was bought from the Germans in Tallinn in 1918 and it was used for 7 years.

[edit] Museum aircraft

Hallinportti Aviation Museum has one Rumpler in storage.

[edit] Operators

[edit] Specifications (6B-1)

Data from Fighters, Attack and Training Aircraft 1914 - 1919

General characteristics

  • Crew: One, pilot
  • Length: 9.40 m (30 ft 10 in)
  • Wingspan: 12.05 m (39 ft 6 in)
  • Height: m (ft in)
  • Wing area: 36.00 m² (387.5 ft²)
  • Empty weight: kg (lb)
  • Useful load: kg (kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 1,140 kg (2,513 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1× Mercedes D.III 6-cylinder, liquid cooled inline engine, 120 kW (160 hp)

Performance

Armament

  • 1 × fixed forward-firing 7.92 mm LMG08/15 with an interruptor gear

[edit] Sources

  • Munson, Kenneth - Fighters, Attack and Training Aircraft 1914 - 1919 ISBN 0 7537 0916 3
  • Keskinen, Kalevi; Partonen, Kyösti and Stenman, Kari: Suomen Ilmavoimat I 1918-27, 2005. ISBN 952-99432-2-9.
  • Keskinen, Kalevi; Stenman, Kari and Niska, Klaus: Suomen ilmavoimien lentokoneet 1918-1939, Tietoteos, 1976.

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Aviation in World War I


Comparable aircraft Albatros W.4 - Hansa-Brandenburg KDW
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