AGO C.IV

The AGO C.IV was a German two‑seat reconnaissance and light bomber aircraft produced by AGO Flugzeugwerke in final years of World War I. First flown in spring 1918, the C.IV was intended to replace earlier C.II and C.III types that had proved cumbersome at the front. Powered by a 180 hp Argus As III inline six‑cylinder engine, it could reach a top speed of 170 km/h and a service ceiling of 5,500 m. Its wooden sesquiplane wing layout, combined with a streamlined plywood fuselage, gave the C.IV good handling and relatively low wing loading, improving short‑field performance on the rudimentary airfields of the Western Front. The crew of pilot and observer sat in tandem under a single, partially armored cockpit; the observer operated a flexible 7.92 mm Parabellum machine gun while the pilot could fire a forward‑fixed gun. The aircraft could also carry up to 120 kg of bombs on external racks.

Although only small numbers entered service before the Armistice, the AGO C.IV demonstrated the evolution of German two‑seat combat aircraft toward greater speed, reliability and payload. Its design influenced post‑war AGO projects and contributed to the broader shift in reconnaissance aviation from pure observation to combined reconnaissance‑strike roles.

AGO Flugzeugwerke

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