AGO C.I

Twin-Seat, Single-Engine Pusher Reconnaissance Biplane Aircraft [ 1915 ]

The AGO C.I was an early-form reconnaissance biplane for the German Empire during World War 1 - utilizing a pusher configuration and twin-seat approach.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 07/31/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

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AGO ("AktienGesellschaft Otto") Flugweugwerke of the German Empire was founded in Munich during 1911 and managed as existence until the end of World War 2 in 1945. As early as 1913, under the Otto name, the company put forth a pusher biplane. From this work spanned a series of other multi-winged aircraft of similar form and function that would soon be pressed into military service during the fighting of World War 1 (1914-1918).

With the war already underway by January of 1915, many aircraft were trialed and adopted by all sides, as powers looked to gain the advantage through use of these new-fangled aerial devices. In June of 1915, AGO was able to sell a new biplane type to the German Air Service and the Kaiserliche Marine (Navy) - the "AGO C.I".

The C.I utilized a typical biplane winged arrangement in which one primary member sat over the other. Struts were parallel and "bays" were created between these structures supporting the wings. As with other early-form reconnaissance platforms of the war, the C.I relied on a pod-and-boom fuselage arrangement in which the crew, armament, engine, fuel stores, and avionics were held in a centralized pod making up the fuselage while a twin-boom tail arrangement was used to support the tailplanes. The tailbooms connected to the mainplanes at the struts for added support and extended beyond the wing leading edges some. The crew numbered two, pilot and observer, with the observer positioned ahead of the pilot. On some aircraft, the observer was granted use of a single 7.92mm Parabellum air-cooled machine gun set atop a flexible mounting. The ground-running gear was made up of a four-wheeled arrangement for the best possible balance. These legs were interconnected by a network of struts under the aircraft and its lower mainplane member. At least one C.I example was reworked with floats to serve the German Navy in the maritime patrol role as the "C.I-W".

In an effort to provide the crew with the best possible vision out-of-the-cockpit - particularly to the front and sides - the engine was fitted at the rear of the pod so the propellers were arranged in a "pusher" configuration - literally pushing air so as to push the aircraft through the sky. The engine of choice became the readily-available Mercedes D.III outputting 158 horsepower and driving a two-bladed wooden propeller at the rear.

Structural dimensions included an overall length of 29.5 feet and a wingspan of 49.1 feet.

In practice, the aircraft could reach speeds of 90 miles-per-hour, which was good for an early-form biplane aircraft. Range was out to 300 miles giving the platform a good "reach". Its service ceiling was 16,000 feet.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1915

Origin

Imperial Germany

Status

RETIRED
Not in Service.

Crew

2

Production

20
UNITS

AGO Flugzeugwerke - German Empire

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

German Empire

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Intelligence-Surveillance-Reconnaissance (ISR), Scout
Surveil ground targets / target areas to assess environmental threat levels, enemy strength, or enemy movement.

Length

32.3 ft
(9.85 m)

Width/Span

47.6 ft
(14.50 m)

Height

10.5 ft
(3.20 m)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the base AGO C.I production variant)

Installed: 1 x Benz engine of unknown power output driving a two-bladed wooden propeller unit.

Max Speed

81 mph
(130 kph | 70 kts)

Ceiling

13,780 ft
(4,200 m | 3 mi)

Range

342 mi
(550 km | 1,019 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the base AGO C.I production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

OPTIONAL:
1 x 7.92mm Parabellum machine gun on a trainable mounting in the front (observer's) cockpit.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft medium machine gun

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 0

C.1 - Base Series Designation

C.I-W - One-off example equipped with floats for maritime patrol duty with the German Navy.

General Assessment

Firepower

Performance

Survivability

Versatility

Impact

Values are derrived from a variety of categories related to the design, overall function, and historical influence of this aircraft in aviation history.

Overall Rating

The overall rating takes into account over 60 individual factors related to this aircraft entry.

22

Rating is out of a possible 100 points.

Relative Maximum Speed

Hi: 100mph

Lo: 50mph

This entry's maximum listed speed (81mph).

Graph average of 75 miles-per-hour.

City-to-City Ranges

NYC

LON

PAR

BER

MOS

TOK

SYD

LAX

NYC

AGO C.I operational range when compared to distances between major cities (in KM).

Max Altitude Visualization

Design Balance

The three qualities reflected above are altitude, speed, and range.

Aviation Era Span

Showcasing era cross-over of this aircraft design.

Unit Production (20)

20

36183

44000

Compared against Ilyushin IL-2 (military) and Cessna 172 (civilian).

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