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).Herris, Jack. Pfalz Aircraft of World War I. Great War Aircraft in Profile, Volume 4. 2001. . P.9
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.Taylor 1969, pp. 225–226.
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 replicaSlingsby 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
SNETA (post-war)
Luftstreitkrafte Kaiserliche Marine
Swiss Air Force
Ottoman Air Force
Yugoslav Royal Air Force - Postwar.
Specifications (C.IV)
See also
References
Notes
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
de:Rumpler C.IV