The Hansa-Brandenburg W was a

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

floatplane produced in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1914 to equip the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

. Similar in general layout to the Hansa-Brandenburg B.I 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 engine (27 built) * NW - revised version with Mercedes D.III engine * GNW - revised version with Mercedes D.III engine

Operators

; *

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

; *

Ottoman Air Force The Aviation Squadrons of the Ottoman Empire were military aviation units of the Ottoman Army and Navy.Edward J. Erickson, ''Ordered To Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War'', "Appendix D The Ottoman Aviation Inspectorate an ...

Specifications (NW)

References

* * {{Hansa-Brandenburg aircraft 1910s German military reconnaissance aircraft W Floatplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1914