With a few differences, such as the fact that the Gotha is a pusher type, whereas the A.E.G. twin-motored bombing plane is a tractor, the latter machine is designed along essentially the same lines as the Gotha, which has been developed by the Germans especially for bombing service. Doubtless, machines of both these types have been employed in air raids. The name “A.E.G.” is taken from the initials of the builders, the Allgemeine Electrizitäts Geschäft, or General Electric Company.
Top Speed: 103 m.p.h.
Engine: 2 six-cylinder Mercedes, 260 h.p. each
Wingspan: 57 feet
Weight: 7,986 lb.
Armament: 2 machine guns
Specifications from “Practical Aviation,” by Charles Hayward, 1919
Planes
The spread of the machine is 57 feet, both planes being of the same length. They have a chord of 7 feet and a gap of 8 feet 6 inches, the supporting area being in excess of 800 square feet. The ailerons, fitted to the upper planes only, arc of a peculiar shape, the trailing edge being curved inward considerably for aluHit three-fourths of its length and the aileron itself being carried beyond the end of the wing and given a projection extending forward along the outer edge of the wing for a foot or so—probably to act a balancer. To operate the aileron, a crank lever working in a ot in the plane is employed—an arrangement that also characterizes the Albatross biplanes.
The wings have a sweep back of 5 degrees and a pronounced dihedral which is apparently greater in the lower than in the upper wing. With the exception of the ribs of the main planes, steel is used almost entirely in the construction. Even the main spars of e planes are steel tubes, although a tube is the least suitable ion that could be employed in these members. The longerons of the fuselage as well as the struts and cross members are all steel tubes, joined by being welded together and by triangular pieces of sheet steel being welded in the angles formed by the joints to stiffen them. These triangles also provide an anchorage for the cross-bracing wires.
Tail Unit
The horizontal stabilizer, which is of triangular form, has an area of 30 square feet, while the elevators have a span of 12 feet and a surface of 25 square feet. The rudder is x feet 0 inches high and has an area of 17 square feet, both the rudder and the elevators being provided with balancing sections to reduce the amount of effort required to operate them by the controls. In a machine of this size, the balancing of working surfaces is essential to prevent placing too great a strain on the control cables and connections.
Fuselage and Loading
The machine is designed to carry four men, one of whom is seated in an individual cockpit right at the nose of the fuselage. This is the bomber who obtains a view of the ground below through a circular opening in the floor. At his right there is a rack for holding small caliber bombs, while under the center of the body there is another bomb rack for carrying the heavier bombs. Near the inner ends of the lower planes still other racks are provided for carrying an additional supply of bombs, though it seems that the greater part of the ammunition is not carried in this way but inside the body.
In the center of the cockpit there are two seats, side by side, for a pilot and an observer or possibly for two pilot gunners, one relieving the other at the controls during a long flight. Although placed side by side, the two seats do not extend the full width of the body but are placed a little to the left of the center line, the leaving room on the right-hand side for a rack capable of holding to twelve large bombs. Behind the pilot’s cockpit is another scat for a gunner who operates a machine gun mounted on a turntable, which enables the gunner to fire to either side as well as to 1e rear and upward. On the left-hand side of the gunner’s cockpit : ere is another bomb rack of about the same capacity asthat in the pilot’s cockpit. In the floor of the bay to the rear of the gunner’s cockpit there is a trap door hinged along its rear edge. When Iis is held open by its catch, the fire of the gun may be directed u downward as well as in a rearward direction. To do this, the machine gun is lifted from the turntable and set on a small gun pivot mounted on the floor of the body.
Power Plant
Two six-cylinder vertical water-cooled engines of the Mercedes type, capable of developing 260 h.p. each, are Suspended between the main planes on either side of the body. The radiators are mounted on the forward ends of housings which completely inclose the motors. In addition to the radiators, the housings also inclose small fuel tanks which are supplied by means of a pump from the main fuel tank. The latter is placed in the pilot’s cockpit and forms the support for the two seats. The four- wheel landing gear is so designed that each outside wheel comes directly under one of the motors. In spite of the great amount of power, the speed of the machine is not estimated to exceed 90 m.p.h. in view of the unusually large head resistance involved in its design.