The Halberstadt B-types of the

Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke Halberstädter Flugzeugwerke or Halberstadt was a German aircraft manufacturer. It was formed on 9 April 1912 under the name ''Deutsche Bristol Werke Flugzeug-Gesellschaft mbH'' in Halberstadt, Province of Saxony. History The British-German jo ...

were two-seat unarmed reconnaissance/training aircraft of the

German Air Force The German Air Force (german: Luftwaffe, lit=air weapon or air arm, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ''Bundeswehr'') was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War a ...

in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Development

In 1914, Halberstadt developed a biplane with the

Oberursel U.0 Oberursel (Taunus) () is a town in Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It is located to the north west of Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt, in the Hochtaunuskreis county. It is the 13th l ...

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...

with 80 hp, which was referred to as Halberstadt B.I and was given the factory name A15. The Halberstadt B.II (B15) was built with a

Mercedes D.I The Mercedes D.I (also known as the Type E6F) was a six-cylinder, water-cooled, SOHC valvetrain inline engine developed in Germany for use in aircraft in 1913. Developing 75 kW (100 hp), it powered many German military aircraft during t ...

inline engine with 105 hp and in 1915 the Halberstadt B.III was produced with the slightly stronger

Mercedes D.II The Mercedes D.II was a six-cylinder, SOHC valvetrain liquid-cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler during the early stages of World War I. Producing about 110 to 120 hp, it was at the low-end of the power range of contemporary eng ...

(120 hp). Halberstadt B.II was used as the base for the first armed two-seater, the

Halberstadt CL.II The Halberstadt CL.II was a German two-seat escort fighter/ground attack aircraft of World War I. It served in large numbers with the German ''Luftstreitkräfte'' (Imperial German Army Air Service) in 1917-18. Development and design Early in 1 ...

Variants

;A15:Company designation of the aircraft that became the B.I ;B15:Company designation of the aircraft that became the B.II ;B.I: (Company A15) Reconnaissance aircraft powered by a

rotary engine. ;B.II: (Company B15) Reconnaissance aircraft powered by a

in-line engine. ;B.III: (Company B15) Reconnaissance aircraft powered by a

in-line engine.

Operational history

The B.I was used as a

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

, while the B.II and B.III briefly served as

reconnaissance aircraft A reconnaissance aircraft (colloquially, a spy plane) is a military aircraft designed or adapted to perform aerial reconnaissance with roles including collection of imagery intelligence (including using photography), signals intelligence, as ...

, but were later also used for pilot training.

Development

Variants

Operational history

Specifications (B.II)

References

Further reading