Cameljockey
Flame On!
Did you ever wonder what all of the letters and numbers in German aircraft names mean
This is what they mean....
The German Idflieg (Inspektion der Fliegertruppen = Inspectorate of the Flying Troops) used a formalized aircraft designation system as early as 1913. Each aircraft was identified by the manufacturer's name, a letter designating the type (or mission) of the aircraft, and a roman numeral. Type letter and numeral were separated by a dot. One numeric series (I, II, III, ...) was used for each combination of manufacturer and type letter. In rare cases, lower-case suffix letters were used to designate variants of an aeroplane (e.g. Hannover CL.IIIa). However, it was much more usual to assign a new numeral even for small changes on the aircraft (e.g. Fokker E.II/III/IV were all variations of the basic Fokker E.I).
The following type letters were defined:
1. Type "CL" was a derivative of Type "C", the "L" was for "leicht" ("light"). Types "C" and "CL" shared a single numerical sequence for each manufacturer. In the same way, "GL" designated a lightened G-type.
2. Type "CLS" was apparently a derivative of Type "CL", but was applied only to a handful of aircraft in 1918. It possibly specified still lighter and faster two-seat fighters (perhaps "S" = schnell (fast)). The CLS-type designations were assigned in a separate numerical series, except for the Halberstadt CLS.X, which followed that company's C.IX.
3. In 1918, Type "Dr" was cancelled, and all new single-seat fighters became Type "D".
4. In 1918, Type "E" was cancelled, and all new single-seat fighters became Type "D".
5. "J" was used for Infantrieflugzeug instead of "I", because the latter would have led to confusion with the roman numeral "I" (e.g. in designations like I.I).
The original system of 1913 had only two type letters, "A" for monoplanes and "B" for biplanes. However, the system was expanded in early 1915 to distinguish between armed and unarmed aircraft. The original "A" and "B" types were redefined to cover only unarmed aircraft.
There are a few odd designations, which were apparently officially allocated to some aircraft, but which do not quite fit into the standard designation system. These include:
In the initial system, aircraft built under license by another manufacturer were given a new designation in the manufacturer's series. E.g. an L.F.G. Roland D.I built by Pfalz was known as a Pfalz D.I. However, in late 1916 (or early 1917) the system was changed. A license-built aircraft then retained the original designer's designation, followed by a two- to five-letter abbreviation of the manufacturer's name in parentheses. This was retroactively applied to existing machines, so that e.g. the Pfalz D.I was redesignated as L.F.G. Roland D.I (Pfal.). The following table lists the official abbreviations of German aircraft manufacturers:
This is what they mean....
German Aircraft Designation System
The following type letters were defined:
- A - Single-seat unarmed monoplane observation or training aircraft
- B - Two-seat unarmed biplane observation or training aircraft
- C - Two-seat armed biplane scout
- CL - Two-seat armed biplane fighter (note 1)
- CLS - Two-seat armed biplane fighter (note 2)
- D - Single-seat armed biplane scout or fighter; changed in 1918 to single-seat fighter of any configuration
- Dr - Single-seat armed triplane scout or fighter (note 3); "Dr" = Dreidecker (Triplane)
- E - Single-seat armed monoplane scout or fighter (note 4); "E" = Eindecker (Monoplane)
- F - Single-seat armed triplane scout or fighter; short-lived type, soon changed to "Dr"
- G - Multiplace twin-engine bomber; "G" = Großflugzeug (Large Aircraft)
- GL - Multiplace twin-engine light bomber (note 1)
- J - Two-seat armed and armoured ground-attack aircraft; "J" = Infantrieflugzeug (Infantry Aircraft) (note 5)
- K - Multiplace multi-engine (two or more) bomber; later changed to "G"; "K" = Kampfflugzeug (Battle Aircraft)
- N - Two-seat armed biplane scout for night-fighting; "N" = Nacht (Night)
- R - Multiplace multi-engine (three or more) long-range bomber; "R" = Riesenflugzeug (Giant Aircraft)
- Rs - Multiplace multi-engine (three or more) long-range seaplane; "Rs" = Riesenseeflugzeug (Giant Flying Boat)
1. Type "CL" was a derivative of Type "C", the "L" was for "leicht" ("light"). Types "C" and "CL" shared a single numerical sequence for each manufacturer. In the same way, "GL" designated a lightened G-type.
2. Type "CLS" was apparently a derivative of Type "CL", but was applied only to a handful of aircraft in 1918. It possibly specified still lighter and faster two-seat fighters (perhaps "S" = schnell (fast)). The CLS-type designations were assigned in a separate numerical series, except for the Halberstadt CLS.X, which followed that company's C.IX.
3. In 1918, Type "Dr" was cancelled, and all new single-seat fighters became Type "D".
4. In 1918, Type "E" was cancelled, and all new single-seat fighters became Type "D".
5. "J" was used for Infantrieflugzeug instead of "I", because the latter would have led to confusion with the roman numeral "I" (e.g. in designations like I.I).
The original system of 1913 had only two type letters, "A" for monoplanes and "B" for biplanes. However, the system was expanded in early 1915 to distinguish between armed and unarmed aircraft. The original "A" and "B" types were redefined to cover only unarmed aircraft.
There are a few odd designations, which were apparently officially allocated to some aircraft, but which do not quite fit into the standard designation system. These include:
- CS - Used only for the Zeppelin-Lindau CS.I, a "C" type on floats. Possibly "S" = Seeflugzeug (Seaplane)
- DD - Used only for the Friedrichshafen DD.II, a quadruplane single-seat fighter. Possibly "DD" = Doppel-Doppeldecker (Double-biplane)
- DDr - Used for two twin-engined triplanes by S.S.W.
- DJ - Used only for the A.E.G. DJ.I, a single-seat fighter and ground-attack plane. "DJ" is obviously a combination of the "D" and "J" types.
- L - Used only for the S.S.W. L.I (originally designated G.III). The "L" type was probably supposed to designate a class of aircraft between the "G" and "R" types, but I don't know if "L" stood for any specific German word.
- S - Used only for the Ago S.I, a single-seat ground attack aircraft. Possibly "S" = Schlachtflugzeug (lit. "Battle Aircraft", i.e. close-support aircraft)
In the initial system, aircraft built under license by another manufacturer were given a new designation in the manufacturer's series. E.g. an L.F.G. Roland D.I built by Pfalz was known as a Pfalz D.I. However, in late 1916 (or early 1917) the system was changed. A license-built aircraft then retained the original designer's designation, followed by a two- to five-letter abbreviation of the manufacturer's name in parentheses. This was retroactively applied to existing machines, so that e.g. the Pfalz D.I was redesignated as L.F.G. Roland D.I (Pfal.). The following table lists the official abbreviations of German aircraft manufacturers:
- Aeg. - Allgemeine Electrizitäts-GmbH
- Ago. - Ago Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Alb. - Albatros Werke GmbH
- Av. - Automobil und Aviatik GmbH
- Bay. - Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke A.G. (absorbed by Otto-Werke 1916)
- Bayru. - Bayerische Rumpler-Werke A.G.
- Daim. - Daimler Motorengesellschaft Werke
- Dfw. - Deutsche Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Do. - Zeppelin Werke Lindau GmbH (Dornier)
- Eul. - Euler-Werke
- Fok. - Fokker Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Fdh. - Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen GmbH
- Germ. - Germania Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Go. - Gothaer Waggonfabrik A.G.
- Halb. - Halberstädter Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Han. - Hannoversche Waggonfabrik ("Hawa") A.G.
- Hansa. - Hanseatische Flugzeug-Werke (Karl Caspar A.G.)
- Junk. - Junkers Flugzeug-Werke A.G.
- Jfa. - Junkers-Fokker-Werke (Oct. 1917); also "Junk."
- KW. - Kaiserliche Marinewerft
- Kon. - Kondor Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Li. - Linke-Hofmann Werke A.G.
- Lvg. - Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft mbH
- Märk. - Märkische Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Mer. - Mercur Flugzeugbau GmbH
- Nfw. - National-Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Oaw. - Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke GmbH; sometimes "Albs.A.W.S."
- Ot. - Otto-Werke GmbH
- Pfal. - Pfalz Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Rat. - Waggonfabrik Joseph Ratgeber
- Rin. - Albert Rinne Flugzeug-Werke
- Rol. - Luftfahrzeug-Gesellschaft mbH (L.F.G. Roland)
- Ru. - Rumpler Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Sab. - Sablatnig Flugzeugbau GmbH
- Schül. - Luftfahrzeugbau Schütte-Lanz
- Ssw. - Siemens-Schuckert Werke GmbH
- Staak. - Zeppelin Werke Staaken GmbH
- Torp. - Luft-Torpedo-Gesellschaft mbH
- Ludwig Alter Werke
- Goedecker Flugzeug-Werke
- Hansa und Brandenburgische Flugzeug-Werke GmbH
- Jeannin Flugzeugbau GmbH (became N.F.W.)
- Flugzeugwerft Lübeck-Travemünde GmbH
- Norddeutsche Flugzeug-Werke
- Flugmaschine Rex GmbH
- Flugmaschinen-Fabrik Franz Schneider
- Schwade Flugzeug- und Motorenbau
- Union Flugzeug-Werke