Schütte-Lanz
Schütte-Lanz G.I
The Schütte‑Lanz G.I was a German twin‑engine reconnaissance and bomber aircraft built by the Luftschiffbau Schütte‑Lanz company during World War I. Designed in 1915 as the firm’s first attempt to enter the fixed‑wing market, the G.I borrowed the company’s familiar wooden‑frame construction techniques used for its rigid airships, employing a semi‑monocoque fuselage of laminated plywood and a wing structure of spruce ribs covered with fabric. Power came from two 160 hp Mercedes D.III six‑cylinder inline engines mounted in nacelles on the lower wings, driving two‑bladed wooden propellers. The aircraft featured an enclosed cockpit for a pilot and observer, a forward‑firing LMG 08/15 machine gun, and a rear defensive gun station. Its payload capacity allowed up to 200 kg of bombs to be carried beneath the wing.
Only a handful of prototypes were completed before the project was cancelled in early 1916, as Schütte‑Lanz shifted resources back to airship production and the German military favored the more robust metal‑frame designs of rival manufacturers such as Gotha. Although the G.I never reached operational service, it marked an important transitional step for Schütte‑Lanz, illustrating the challenges of converting air‑ship expertise to conventional aircraft and influencing later wooden‑airframe concepts.
Only a handful of prototypes were completed before the project was cancelled in early 1916, as Schütte‑Lanz shifted resources back to airship production and the German military favored the more robust metal‑frame designs of rival manufacturers such as Gotha. Although the G.I never reached operational service, it marked an important transitional step for Schütte‑Lanz, illustrating the challenges of converting air‑ship expertise to conventional aircraft and influencing later wooden‑airframe concepts.
