Lohner B.I

The Lohner B.I was a military reconnaissance aircraft produced in Austria-Hungary during World War I. As Lohner strove to perfect the design, a variety of increasingly powerful engines were fitted, reflected in a range of military designations from B.II through to B.VI until the definitive B.VII was finally produced. This last version was also produced in an armed variant, designated the C.I.

The B.I design originated before the war and was initially known as the Pfielflieger ("Arrow-flier") on account of its sharply swept-back wings, giving it an arrow-shaped planform. Apart from this feature, it was an otherwise conventional biplane design with two-bay, staggered wings of unequal span. The pilot and observer (or instructor) sat in tandem in an open cockpit. The first batch was produced for the Luftschiffabteilung ("Airship Section") of the Austro-Hungarian army in late 1912, after a national fundraising campaign conducted by the Österreichischer Aero-Club ("Austrian Aero-Club"). Known at this time as the Type B, the army took delivery of 28 aircraft before asking Lohner to develop a version better suited for mountain-flying, leading to the B.II which replaced the B.I in production in mid 1914. However, during the course of 1915, production was briefly revived (along with the then-surpassed B.II) under licence at Flugzeugwerk Fischamend for use as trainers.

Operators

 * Austria-Hungary
 * Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops