Aircraft ID Assistance

[musec]

Hello All,

Currently for sale on ebay at : https://www.ebay.de/itm/Foto-Pilot-s...IAAOSwvWtbkRAp

is an interesting image of a German aircraft serialed B.99/16. I believe it looks something like an Euler B.I, in which case the serial is unusual. Can anyone identify the machine?

Regards,

Clint

[Aquilius]

Hi Clint,

the aircraft, also the second and maybe the others as well, seem to be AEG B.I trainers.

Those machines were 1914 designs and mainly were used in the AEG company flying school. The company flight school was closed at beginning of 1917 and remaining machines were taken over by the army and distributed to other military flight schools.

This might explain the 1916 serial in combination with the old iron cross. Maybe retroactive applied, while serials generally started with X.100/16 at this time. The military fiscal year started in April. However, another 19 AEG trainers (a combination of AEG B.I/B.II/B.III) got 1917 serials then.


Cheers

Andreas

[Volker_Nemsch]

.
... that the machine on the photo is an Aviatik B.I (P.14) with the serial number 33/14?
----

The whole machine really looks like a pre-war design and the B-type aircraft ordered in 1916 would have had a much more "modern appearance" due to the experiences made during the first months of the war.
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[Barry Hickson]

I noticed the aircraft on the extreme Right appears to have collided with the fence. Note it is also at an angle & not level.

[musec]

Thank you all for the replies.

I guess I should have checked my own earlier posts as the /17 serialed AEG B machines referred to by andreas followed the posting of an image of B.100/17 by myself at : http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=65596
I was alas too carried away by the resemblance of the tailplane to Euler machines.

What I find intrigueing about the image of this machine, like yourself Andreas, is the cross on the tailpane which does indeed look like an early type to my eyes. In this regard it differs from the close up photo of B.100/17 in the earlier photo of which Tork 1945 was kind enough to post a close up. So I do wonder if the number shown in the photo of B.99 is actually /16 as it appears (to myself at least) unclear in the photo perhaps supporting Volker's reading of /14 or indeed another year.

BTW Andreas I note that you state that the whole 19 AEG machines got /17 numbers after the flying school changed. Have you then seen further evidence for any of the other serials betwen B.100/17 and B.118/17 since my previous post?

Regards,

Clint

[Aquilius]

Hi Clint,

I can't supply other photos at the moment. The whole story in general is rather evidence based than really proven by documents. I haven't reviewed the company archive for this (and other) matters yet.

What I have is a company history report, that tells of the closure of the flight school and existing material taken over by the army. At least this is 'proven' by a few pictures of old aircraft with new serials. And I cannot match this AEG serial to any 1914-1916 number, other than B.99/16.

Regarding the old-fashioned iron cross: this might have been painted on an early machine here, which could have survived until 1917. Those private institutions have not always renewed their markings to new orders. Euler for instance had used the standard iron cross throughout 1918, even on his new prototypes. He only applied the new Balkenkreuz on machines sold to the army then.

Please take this as my personal conclusion. Maybe there is more to find in future.

Regards

Andreas

[musec]

Hi Andreas,

Thanks for your response. I agree the serial number doesn't appear to fit any year other than /16. If you are contemplating researching the AEG company archives I look forward to reading your work when available.

Regards,

Clint

[Cigogne]

The aircraft shown in the e-Bay image is definitely an early AEG. Note the hinged nose panel that is shown swung open on vertical hinges. This was a feature on nearly all AEG single-engine types Z-types, B-types, C-types, N-types, etc. That is a dead giveaway. I'll do some double-checking in my AEG stuff, but I'm more than certain that this is an early AEG trainer. There are many photos showing AEG, Euler, LVG, Rumpler, and Albatros early types with tricycle-type undercarriages. They didn't use them long!

[musec]

Hello All,

Thanks to the posting by Saxon Lions I became aware of the collection of the Stiftung Deutsches Technik Museum.

In Fotoalbum D 063 is a photo of B.99/16 prior to the application of the 'B' just showing 99 on the tail. The image is D 063-04a.

Regards,

Clint

[Volker_Nemsch]

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So this B.99/16 is one of the "serials" for B-class aircraft of 1916 (B.100/16 and following were "regular orders") that were used for already existing, older machines?

I'm asking this, because my list of serial numbers has a gap between 1 and 99 for the B-class orders of 1916?

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