The Hansa-Brandenburg W was a
reconnaissance floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
produced in
Germany in 1914 to equip the
Imperial German Navy. Similar in general layout to the
Hansa-Brandenburg B.I
The Hansa-Brandenburg B.I was an unarmed military trainer and reconnaissance biplane of World War I, flown by the Austro-Hungarian Air Service. Early models were known internally to the Hansa-Brandenburg firm as the type D, while later models wi ...
landplane, the W was a conventional three-bay
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
with unstaggered wings of equal span. The pilot and observer sat in tandem, open cockpits, and the undercarriage consisted of twin pontoons.
The NW and GNW of 1915 were a revised versions powered by a more powerful engine.
Variants
* W - initial production version with
Benz Bz.II
The Benz Bz.II (manufacturer's designation Benz Type FD) was a six-cylinder, water-cooled, inline engine developed in Germany for use in aircraft in 1913.Gunston 1986, pp. 22–23
With a displacement of it developed about .Benz Type FD engine ...
engine (27 built)
* NW - revised version with
Mercedes D.III
The Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder SOHC valvetrain liquid-cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introd ...
engine
* GNW - revised version with
Mercedes D.III
The Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder SOHC valvetrain liquid-cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introd ...
engine
Operators
;
*
Kaiserliche Marine
;
*
Ottoman Air Force
Specifications (NW)
References
*
*
{{Hansa-Brandenburg aircraft
1910s German military reconnaissance aircraft
W
Floatplanes
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Biplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1914