Hansa-Brandenburg W.23
| W.23 | |
|---|---|
| Role | Flying-boat fighter |
| Manufacturer | Hansa und Brandenburgische Flugzeug-Werke |
| Designer | Ernst Heinkel |
| First flight | 1917 |
| Number built | 3 |
The Hansa-Brandenburg W.23 was a prototype biplane flying-boat fighter designed by the Hansa-Brandenburg Aircraft Company (Hansa Brandenburgische Flugzeugwerke) for the Imperial German Navy's (Kaiserliche Marine) Naval Air Service (Marine-Fliegerabteilung) during World War I. Three aircraft were ordered in 1917 and delivered the following year, but it was not ordered into production.
Design
[edit]The W.23 followed the design philosophy for all flying boat biplanes built by Hansa-Brandenburg, including a swept lower wing, wing floats, pusher engine arrangement, and a single-step hull. Although similar to design to the Hansa-Brandenburg W.18, it differed in having a longer fuselage. Three aircraft (MN 1647-1649) were delivered from June 1917 to January 1918, but flight characteristics were deemed poor.[1]
Specifications
[edit]Data from Hansa-Brandenburg Aircraft of WWI: Volume 2–Biplane Seaplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series[2]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 9.13 m (29 ft 11 in) overall
- Upper wingspan: 10.7 m (35 ft 1 in)
- Lower wingspan: 10.24 m (33 ft 7 in)
- Height: 3.6 m (11 ft 10 in)
- Wing area: 34.7 m2 (374 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 918 kg (2,024 lb)
- Gross weight: 1,261 kg (2,780 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.III water-cooled straight-six engine, 120 kW (160 hp)
- Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
Performance
- Maximum speed: 165 km/h (103 mph, 89 kn)
- Service ceiling: 3,000 m (9,800 ft)
- Time to altitude:
- 800 m (2,600 ft) in 6 minutes
- 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 7 minutes
- 1,500 m (4,900 ft) in 12 minutes
- 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 18 minutes 12 seconds
- 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 38 minutes 18 seconds
Armament
- Guns: *1 × fixed, forward-firing 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 machine gun
- 1 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Becker autocannon
See also
[edit]Related lists
References
[edit]Bibliography
[edit]- Andersson, Lennart & Sanger, Ray (2014). Retribution and Recovery: German Aircraft and Aviation 1919 to 1922. Air-Britain (Historians). ISBN 978-0-85130-467-0.
- Green, William & Swanborough, Gordon (2001) [1994]. The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown (Revised and Updated ed.). Salamander Books. ISBN 1-84065-269-1.
- Owers, Colin A. (2015). Hansa-Brandenburg Aircraft of WWI: Volume 2–Biplane Seaplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 18. n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-935881-32-2.