Junkers CL.I

J 8, J 10 (CL.I), and J 11 (CLS.I)

National origin: Germany
Manufacturer: Junkers
First flight: 10 December 1917
Primaryuser: Luftstreitkrx¤fte
Number built: 51

The Junkers CL.I was a ground-attack aircraft developed in Germany during World War I. Its construction was undertaken by Junkers under the designation J 8 as proof of Hugo Junkers' belief in the monoplane, after his firm had been required by the Idflieg to submit a biplane (the J 4) as its entry in a competition to select a ground-attack aircraft. The J 8 design took the J 7 fighter as its starting point, but had a longer fuselage to accommodate a tail gunner, and larger wings. The prototype flew in late 1917 and was followed over the next few months by three more development aircraft. The Idflieg was sufficiently impressed to want to order the type, but had misgivings about Junkers' ability to manufacture the aircraft in quantity and considered asking Linke-Hoffmann to produce the type under licence. Finally, however, Junkers was allowed to undertake the manufacture as part of a joint venture with Fokker, producing a slightly modified version of the J 8 design as the J 10. Like the other Junkers designs of the period, the aircraft featured a metal framework that was skinned with corrugated duralumin sheets. 47 examples were delivered before the Armistice, including three built as floatplanes under the designation CLS.I (factory designation J 11). After the war, one or two CL.Is were converted for commercial service by enclosing the rear cockpit under a canopy.

Specifications (CL.I)

Data from German Aircraft of the First World War

General characteristics

Crew: Two, pilot and gunner
Length: 7.90 m (25 ft 11 in)
Wingspan: 12.04 m (39 ft 6 in)
Height: 2.65 m (8 ft 8¼ in)
Wing area: 23.4 m² (253 ft²)
Empty weight: 710 kg (1,562 lb)
Gross weight: 1,050 kg (2,310 lb)
Powerplant: 1 x— Mercedes D.IIIa, 134 kW (180 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 161 km/h (100 mph)
Endurance: 2 hours
Service ceiling: 6,000 m (19,700 ft)

Armament

2 x— fixed, forward-firing machine guns
1 x— trainable, rearward-firing machine gun

Bibliography

Green, W; Swanborough, G (1994). The Complete Book of Fighters. New York: Smithmark. ISBN0-8317-3939-8.
Gray, Peter; Thetford, Owen (1962). German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam.
Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp.536.
World Aircraft Information Files. London: Bright Star Publishing. pp.File 897 Sheet 01.

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Source: WikiPedia