| Lohner B.I | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The Lohner B.1 at theMuseum of Military History, Vienna | |
| Role | Reconnaissance aircraft Type of aircraft |
| National origin | Austria-Hungary |
| Manufacturer | Lohner |
| Primary user | KuKLFT |
| Variants | B.II andB.VII |
TheLohner B.I was a militaryreconnaissance aircraft produced in Austria-Hungary duringWorld War I.[1] As Lohner strove to perfect the design, a variety of increasingly powerful engines were fitted, reflected in a range of military designations fromB.II through to B.VI until the definitiveB.VII was finally produced. This last version was also produced in an armed variant, designated the C.I.[2]
The B.I design originated before the war[3] and was initially known as thePfeilflieger ("Arrow-flier") on account of its sharply swept-back wings,[4] giving it an arrow-shaped plan form. Apart from this feature, it was an otherwise conventional biplane design with two-bay, staggered wings of unequal span. The pilot and observer (or instructor) sat in tandem in an open cockpit.
The first batch was produced for theLuftschiffabteilung ("Airship Section") of the Austro-Hungarian army in late 1912, after a national fundraising campaign conducted by theÖsterreichischer Aero-Club ("Austrian Aero-Club").[4] Known at this time as theType B, the army took delivery of 28 aircraft before asking Lohner to develop a version better suited for mountain-flying, leading to the B.II which replaced the B.I in production in mid 1914. However, during the course of 1915, production was briefly revived (along with the then-surpassed B.II) under licence atFlugzeugwerk Fischamend for use as trainers.
On 17 December 1913, during the war withMorocco, a Spanish expeditionary squadron of theAeronáutica Militar became the first organized air force unit to see combat during the first systematic bombing in history by droppingaerial bombs from a LohnerFlecha airplane on the plain of Ben Karrix inMorocco.[5]
Data from Grosz 2002
General characteristics
Performance
