AEG
AEG J.II
The AEG J.II was a German two‑seat, single‑engine biplane developed by the electrical‑equipment firm AEG in the final months of World War I. Conceived as a successor to the earlier J.I, the J.II first flew in early 1918, when the Imperial German Army sought a robust, low‑speed aircraft capable of close‑support duties, reconnaissance, and artillery‑observation on the Western Front. Powered by a 150 hp Mercedes D.IIIa six‑cylinder inline engine, the J.II featured a wooden frame covered with fabric, a spacious, fully enclosed cabin for pilot and observer, and a sturdy, wide‑track undercarriage designed to handle rough, shell‑scarred fields. Its most distinctive element was the reinforced lower wing, equipped with additional bracing struts that allowed the aircraft to carry up to 200 kg of small bombs or four 7.92 mm machine‑guns—one mounted forward, the other on a flexible ring for the observer. Although only a limited number were produced before the armistice, the J.II’s emphasis on survivability, payload flexibility, and ease of maintenance made it a useful stop‑gap in Germany’s dwindling air‑force. Post‑war, the design influenced early inter‑war German civil trainers and contributed to AEG’s transition from wartime aircraft production to peacetime aeronautical research.
