The Halberstadt CL.IV was a German
ground attack aircraft
An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...
of
World War I
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 ...
.
Design and development
Karl Thies, chief designer 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 j ...
, G.m.b.H., designed the CL.IV as a replacement for the
CL.II. As the CL.II had proven to be particularly effective in the ground support role, the focus of an improved version was to create a specific ground attack aircraft.
The new CL.IV featured a shorter, strengthened fuselage and a horizontal stabilizer of greater span and higher aspect ratio than that of the CL.II. These changes, along with a one-piece, horn-balanced elevator, gave the CL.IV much greater maneuverability than its predecessor. After tests were completed of the prototype in April 1918, at least 450 were ordered from Halberstadt, and an additional 250 aircraft from a subcontractor,
LFG
LFG may refer to:
* Landfill gas, a waste gas containing methane and other gases emitted by landfills
* Lexical functional grammar, a theory of syntax
* Lagged Fibonacci generator, an example of a pseudorandom number generator
* "Looking for grou ...
(Roland), as Halberstadt CL.IV(Rol).
Operational history
The Halberstadt CL.IV was one of the most effective ground attack aircraft of World War I, relying on its good maneuverability to avoid ground fire. It appeared on the
Western Front towards the end of the German offensives in 1918. Flights of four to six aircraft flew close support missions, at an altitude of less than one hundred feet, suppressing enemy infantry and artillery fire just ahead of the advancing German troops. After these late German offensives stalled, Halberstadt CL.IVs were used to disrupt advancing Allied offensives by striking at enemy troop assembly points and night sorties were also made against Allied airfields.
Towards the end of the war, on bright, moonlit nights, CL.IV squadrons attempted to intercept and destroy Allied bombers as they returned from their missions.
In 1921, the newly established German airline
Luftverkehr Paul Strähle operated three CL.IVs, converted to carry two passengers, operating them on services between
Stuttgart and
Konstanz
Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...
, adding a route between Stuttgart and
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
in 1922. They remained in use until 1923.
[Stroud 1966, pp. 280–281]
Operators
;
*''
Luftstreitkräfte
The ''Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte'' (, German Air Force)—known before October 1916 as (Flyer Troops)—was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. In English-language sources it is usually referred to as the Imperial German Air Service, alth ...
''
;
* Luftverkehr Paul Strähle
;
*
Estonian Air Force
The Estonian Air Force ( et, Õhuvägi, ) is the aviation branch of the Estonian Defence Forces. The air force traces its history to 1918, and was re-established in its current form in 1991.
As of 2016, the Estonian Air Force has a strength of ...
;
*
Lithuanian Air Force
The Lithuanian Air Force or LAF ( lt, Lietuvos karinės oro pajėgos, abbreviated as ''LK KOP'') is the military aviation branch of the Lithuanian armed forces. It is formed from professional military servicemen and non-military personnel. Units ...
: 12 aircraft (No. 9432, 5814, 5831, 5909, 5915, 5920, 5937, 6589, 8176, 8192, 9409, 9486)
;
*
Polish Air Force: 3 aircraft
[Morgała, Andrzej (1997). ''Samoloty wojskowe w Polsce 1918-1924''. Warsaw: Lampart. , pp.118-119, 295]
;
*
Russian Air Force[Grosz, Peter M. (1994). ''Halberstadt Cl.IV'', Windsock Datafile no. 43, Albatros Productions, , pp.4,12]
Specifications
Notes
Bibliography
* Gerdessen, Frederik. "Estonian Air Power 1918 – 1945". ''
Air Enthusiast
''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to ''Air International'' maga ...
'', No. 18, April – July 1982. pp. 61–76. .
* Gray, Peter and Thetford, Owen. ''German Aircraft of the First World War''. London: Putnam, 1962.
*
*
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External links
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Halberstadt CL.IV
{{Idflieg C-class designations
Halberstadt aircraft, CL.IV
1910s German attack aircraft
Military aircraft of World War I
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Biplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1918