Friedrichshafen G.II

__NOTOC__ infobox Aircraft
name = G.II
type = Bomber
manufacturer = Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH


caption =
designer = Karl Gehlen
first flight = July avyear|1916
introduced =
retired =
status =
primary user = "Luftstreitkräfte"
more users =
produced = 1916
number built =35
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =The Friedrichshafen G.II (factory designation FF.38) was a medium bomber aircraft that was designed and manufactured in Germany during World War I by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen. The plane was used by the German Imperial Air Service (the "Luftstreitkräfte") for tactical and limited strategic bombing operations.

While the Friedrichshafen G.I had been a generally successful design it was clear it needed further improvement before it was fit for combat. The G.I was thus developed further into the G.II. The wings now only had two pairs of interplane struts on each side of the fuselage and the box shaped tail unit was replaced by a simple horizontal and vertical stabilizer assembly. Experience with the G.I had shown it to be underpowered and the G.II had more powerful six-cylinder 200 hp Benz Bz.IV engines installed which increased the bomb load. The increase in power also enabled the installation of a second defensive machine gun aft of the wings between the propellers which were still mounted in a pusher configuration. The crew still consisted of three men, a rear gunner, a pilot and a bomb aimer who doubled as a nose gunner.

Operational history

While the Friedrichshafen G.I remained a prototype the G.II went into production with 35 aircraft being built by Friedrichshafen (18 built) and Daimler (17 built). The G.II saw active service from early 1916 with German bomber units on the Western Front and in Macedonia where it was mostly used for tactical bombing operations. At first these were conducted in daylight but later, as losses mounted, most attacks were conducted at night.

Operators

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** Luftstreitkrafte

pecifications

aerospecs
ref=
met or eng?= met
crew=Three
capacity=
length m=11.41
length ft=37
length in=5
span m=19.70
span ft=64
span in=8
height m=3.65
height ft=12
height in=0
wing area sqm=75.0
wing area sqft=807
empty weight kg=1,930
empty weight lb=4,254
gross weight kg=3,171
gross weight lb=6,991
eng1 number=2
eng1 type=Benz Bz.IV
eng1 kw=149
eng1 hp=200
eng2 number=
eng2 type=
perfhide = Y
max speed kmh=
max speed mph=
cruise speed kmh=
cruise speed mph=
range km=
range miles=
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=
ceiling ft=
climb rate ms=
climb rate ftmin=
armament1=3 × 7.9 mm Parabellum MG14 machine guns
armament2=300 kg (660 lb) of bombs
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6=

ee also

aircontent
related=
similar aircraft=
* Gotha G.I, G.II, G.III, G.IV, G.V
* AEG G.I, AEG G.II, AEG G.III, AEG G.IV, AEG G.V
lists=
see also=Idflieg aircraft designation system

References

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