Rumpler C.IV

C.IV
File:Rumpler C.IV.jpg
General information
Type	Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Rumpler Flugzeugwerke
Designer	Dr. Edmund Rumpler
Primary user	Luftstreitkräfte
History
Introduction date	1917
Variant	Rumpler 6B-2

The Rumpler C.IV was a German single-engine, two-seat reconnaissance biplane. It was a development of C.III with different tail surfaces and using a Mercedes D.IVa engine in place of the C.III's Benz Bz.IV. The Rumpler 6B 2 was a single-seat floatplane fighter variant with a 120 kW (160 hp) Mercedes D.III engine built for the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy).

For a two-seater reconnaissance aircraft, Rumpler C.IV had an excellent performance, which enabled it to remain in front-line service until the end of World War I on the Western Front, as well as in Italy and Palestine. Its exceptional ceiling allowed pilots to undertake reconnaissance secure in the knowledge that few allied aircraft could reach it.

300 aircraft were licence-built by Pfalz Flugzeugwerke as the Pfalz C.I, differing in ailerons on all four wings. From February 1917 they were renamed Rumpler C.IV (Pfal).

For use during filming, Slingsby Sailplanes built two Slingsby T.58 Rumpler C.IV replicas. While these were visually similar to the original aircraft, they were structurally completely different, having a steel-tube fuselage structure and wooden wings, and being powered by a de Havilland Gipsy Major engine.

Variants

Rumpler C.IV

Pfalz C.I

Production by Pfalz, with ailerons on all four wings: 300 built.

Rumpler C.IV (Pfal)

The Pfalz C.I re-designated

Slingsby T.58 Rumpler C.IV replica

Slingsby Sailplanes built two Slingsby T.58 Rumpler C.IV replicas. While these were visually similar to the original aircraft, they were structurally completely different, having a steel-tube fuselage structure and wooden wings, and being powered by a de Havilland Gipsy Major engine

Rumpler 6B 2

floatplane fighter

Operators

Belgium

• SNETA (post-war)

German Empire

• Luftstreitkrafte
• Kaiserliche Marine

Switzerland

• Swiss Air Force

Turkey

• Ottoman Air Force

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

• Yugoslav Royal Air Force - Postwar.

Specifications (C.IV)

File:Rumpler C.IV abbatu (15391256882).jpg

Rumpler CIV shot down near Châlons-sur-Marne by French ace Hector Garaud.

File:Rumpler C IV 1.jpg

Surviving Rumpler C.IV as seen in Deutsches Museum

File:Rumpler C IV 2.jpg

Rumpler C.IV inside visible

Data from German Aircraft Of The First World War

General characteristics

• Crew: 2 (pilot and observer)
• Length: 8.41 m (27 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 12.66 m (41 ft 6 in)
• Height: 3.25 m (10 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 33.5 m² (361 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 1,080 kg (2,381 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,530 kg (3,373 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.IVa 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine, 190 kW (260 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 171 km/h (106 mph, 92 kn) at 500 m (1,600 ft)
• Endurance: 3½-4 hr
• Service ceiling: 6,400 m (21,000 ft)

Armament

• Guns: 1 × fixed, forward-firing 7.92 mm (.312 in) LMG 08/15 with an interruptor gear and 1 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine gun on a ring mounting
• Bombs: 100 kg (220 lb) of bombs

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Albatros C.X
• LVG C.VI
• Salmson 2

References

Bibliography

• Gray, Peter and Thetford, Owen. German Aircraft of the First World War. London, Putnam, 1962.
• Munson, Kenneth. Aircraft of World War I. London: Ian Allan, 1967. .
• Munson, Kenneth. Bombers, Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft 1914 - 1919.
• Munson, Kenneth. Fighters, Attack and Training Aircraft 1914 - 1919. .
• Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1969–70. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, 1969. .

External links

• A page about Max Psaar, an ethnic Sorbian Rumpler C.IV pilot of Luftstreitkräfte (in German).
• Page on Rumpler C.IV on website Deutsches museum