Germany - 1917 J Class Aircraft

German Armored Ground Attack Craft Revisited Part 2

Germany lead the way in development of armored ground attack aircraft. My last post covered the Albatros J.I. Today I decided to some of the other J class aircraft flown by Germany during World War One.

Albatros Ground Attack Planes

Albatros J.I - 1917

Albatros J.II - 1917

The Albatros J.II was a German single-engine, single-seat, biplane ground-attack aircraft of World War I.

The J.2 armored reconnaissance biplane was an improvement on the J.1 with the armor plate extending to the nose to protect the more powerful 220 hp Benz IVa engine. The J.II dispensed with the propeller spinner of the earlier aircraft. Per A. Imrie, twenty machines were at the front in August 1918. The plane originally had two downward firing machine guns exiting through the fuselage floor between the undercarriage legs. This arrangement was abandoned since low altitude operations made sighting very difficult.

Junkers Ground Attack Planes

Junkers J.I - 1917

In late 1916, the demand for a durable observation aircraft capable of performing ground attack missions led to the introduction of the Junkers J.I. Developed in early 1917, it was the world's first all-metal aircraft produced in quantity. Eliminating the need for external bracing wires, the fuselage, wings and tail were constructed of Duralumin while the engine and two-man crew were protected by a nose-capsule of 5-mm chrome-nickel sheet-steel. Although this unique design resulted in a strong and durable aircraft capable of surviving the effects of enemy ground fire, the Junkers J.I was heavy, cumbersome and took forever to get off the ground.

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Cleaning Up After the Crash

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