AEG PE (Panzer Einsitzer)

Ground Attack Triplane Prototype Aircraft

Imperial Germany | 1918

"One flyable prototype was completed of the ultimately-abandoned AEG PE attacker - performance against enemy fighters providing the death knell."

Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the AEG PE Ground Attack Triplane Prototype Aircraft.

1 x Benz Bz.IIIb V8 water-cooled inline piston engine developing 192 horsepower and driving a two-bladed propeller at the nose.
Propulsion

103 mph
166 kph | 90 kts
Max Speed

565 ft/min
172 m/min
Rate-of-Climb

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the AEG PE Ground Attack Triplane Prototype Aircraft.

1
(MANNED)
Crew

21.7 ft
6.60 m
O/A Length

36.7 ft
(11.20 m)
O/A Width

2,606 lb
(1,182 kg)
Empty Weight

3,120 lb
(1,415 kg)
MTOW

Armament
Available supported armament and special-mission equipment featured in the design of the AEG PE (Panzer Einsitzer) Ground Attack Triplane Prototype Aircraft .

STANDARD:
2 x 7.92mm LMG 08/15 machine guns synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades.

OPTIONAL:
4 x Conventional drop bombs.

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the AEG PE (Panzer Einsitzer) family line.

PE ("Panzer Einsitzer") - Base Series Designation; single prototype constructed in 1918.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 02/25/2020 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

Like fighter and bomber aircraft in The Great War, the dedicated ground-attack aircraft came into its own during the conflict. There were few notable mounts designed specifically for the role and one hopeful became an offering put forth by the German concern of AEG (Allgemeine Elektricitats-Gesellschaft AG) through its AEG PE ("Panzer Einsitzer"). A unique quality of the aircraft was its triple wing arrangement - better known as a "triplane" - when most other contemporary ground attackers utilized biplane wing arrangements.

The aircraft took on a conventional form and seated its pilot in an open-air cockpit under and aft of the upper wing assembly. The mid-wing assembly was affixed at shoulder-height along the sides of the fuselage and the lower wing members were set at the bottom of the fuselage sides. The undercarriage was wheeled at its two main legs and fixed in flight, a skid bringing up the tail when ground running. The tail unit was conventional for the period and used a single vertical fin with low-set horizontal planes. Armament was 2 x 7.92mm LMG 08/15 machine guns set over the nose and synchronized to fire through the spinning propeller blades. Additionally 4 x small diameter drop bombs could be carried. Construction of the aircraft included light-alloy skinning along the fuselage and fabric skinning along the wing members. Armoring was used at the more vital components of the aircraft due to the low-flying nature involved in the ground-attack role.

Performance from the Benz Bz.IIIb V8 liquid-cooled piston engine of 192 horsepower included a maximum speed of 103 miles per hour and a rate-of-climb of 565 feet per minute.

A first-flight was recorded during March 1918.

While the third wing made for good controlling and inherent stability, it was found to add too much drag and therefore reduce performance needed for fighter-versus-fighter dueling. This helped to end the PE project in full and only one flyable prototype was ever completed. The AEG DJ.I was a ground-attack offshoot of the project that only made it to evaluations before the end of the war in November of 1918.

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Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the AEG PE (Panzer Einsitzer). Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 1 Units
Contractor(s): Allgemeine Elektricitats-Gesellschaft AG (AEG) - Imperial Germany

[ German Empire (cancelled) ]

1 / 1

Image from the Public Domain.

Going Further...
The AEG PE (Panzer Einsitzer) Ground Attack Triplane Prototype Aircraft appears in the following collections:

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