CFS2 AGO C.I/II twin-boom pusher observer/bomber biplanes!

[aleatorylamp]

A new entry has been added to Add-Ons Library, category CFS 2 Aircraft - World War I

Description: CFS2 AGO C.I twin-boom pusher reconnaissance biplane, 1915

Early version of the twin-boom pusher reconnaissance biplane, built by AGO Flugzeugwerke in 1915. 20 units were built. Its oval cross-sectioned tail booms were a considerable aerodynamic improvement over the lattice-tail usually employed at the time, and twin single-piece rounded fin/rudders provided excellent lateral control.

It was powered by one 172 hp Mercedes D.III engine, and had a maximum speed of 90 mph.
The design was renowned for its stable, reliable yet nimble behaviour and good handling characteristics both on the ground and in the air.

It was equipped with a very peculiar but efficient brake system: A sharp hook which was forced into the turf (activated by the spoiler key in the model).

Textures by Udo Entenmann. Dp files and custom panel included, as well as Custom gauges by Martin Klein and others. By Stephan Scholz.

To check it out, rate it or add comments, visit CFS2 AGO C.I twin-boom pusher observer biplane, 1915.zip
The comments you make there will appear in the posts below.

[hertzie]

Many thanks for this great model!! Never knew of it's existence. Hope you make more, much appreciated!!

hertzie.

[Finn]

I didn't know it either, which just makes it even more welcome. But ALL WW1 planes are missed very much, so THANK YOU for this great addition. Anyone out there with knowledge about it to make a historic mission?

Best regards and more thanksm

Finn

[The B24 Guy]

Thanks Aleatorylamp.

Regards,
B24Guy

[Ravenna]

Thanks Stephan. It was a very useful and influential aircraft in its day. Very nice model!

[Klein]

Thanks Aleatorylamp for this original and interesting "old crate", well done Stephan

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Folks,

Many thanks to all of you for your good words and positive comments! I´m glad you like the plane, and I definitely agree it is a very interesting old crate! It appears these planes were used on the Western Front.

The C.I observer was followed by the C.II bomber/observer, being essentially the same plane, but with a more powerful engine, albeit slower because of the added weight.

Later, an improved C.III bomber/observer followed, which however hardly saw any action because the war ended. The two variants appear to have been pale yellow and/or pale blue, although some sources also show them in beige or grey.

One or two floatplane versions also existed, although there is hardly any documentation to be found.

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[Ravenna]

Sticky here?!

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Folks,

This thread, originally intended for four rather peculiar Russian oberver/bomber biplane designs with twin fuselages or tailbooms, has now extended its scope to cover another peculiar twin-tailboom design, the German AGO C.I observer. I hope this mere nationality issue does not make the AGO off topic!

Initially, my intention was to upload only the AGO C.I model for CFS2, but in view of the interest it has awakened amongst simmers, I am currently converting it into a C.II observer/bomber using the necessary parts from the FS98 AGO C.II model I built in 2008. (It is easier to do it this way than to upgrade the 2008 C.II model, as for some reason, I hadn´t hollowed it out like the C.I).

The screenshot shows the blue FS98 livery. It is only approximate in the colour-hue, and I hope to be able to pale it down with the extended textures allowed in CFS2, to make the livery more accurate. Also, the crew and gun will be substituted by the ones in the Dp files, and some bombs will be hung from the nose sill.

Expounding on my last post on the later development of the AGO C.I, before the C.II came out, a C.I variant was built, equipped the same Class III motorization. It was structurally strengthened, presumably because the design was intended to carry bombs, and was thus 1078 lb heavier, which lowered top speed by 5 kt (6 mph).

Wingspan was 1 ft. 7 in. shorter, length was 7 ft. 3 in.longer, and it had a higher, triangular fin/rudder. Also, the lateral radiators were substituted by a more efficient larger, slanted, winged radiator above the engine.

However, engine performance was insufficient for a greater payload, and this model was also only used for reconnaissance. It is shown in a pale yellow livery by some sources, and also with clear-doped wings and dark yellow or varnished wood,light brown tailbooms with white triangular fin/rudders. The production run seems to have been similar to that of the original G.I.

Later, after successful trials with a more powerful motorization, Mercedes D.IV or Benz Bz.IV, rated for combat at 235Hp and 230Hp respectively, the aircraft was able to carry bombs, and was able to retain the remarkable performance of the C.I. At that point, designation was changed to AGO C.II, and 15 units were built.

Altogether, it seems that there were a total of 64 units of the AGO C Series in service on the Western front from 1915 to 1917.

An important update: I finally found what I was looking for, for weeks now, as to the AGO C.II´s bomb capacity.
A Polish site states that it was 50 kg, which would mean 4 x 12.5 Kg bombs. (110 lb, 4 x 27.5 lb)

It seems they were hung on the outside, and dropped by hand. There is no reference to bombing altitude,
but I would guess that perhaps they did it from around 2000 ft, out of reach from rifle fire.
...Or maybe they risked it from 1000 ft, for greater accuracy?

This could be done on the CFS2 model simply by opening a new Top-Down view window, enlargening it with
the mouse to fit half the screen, and dropping the bombs by dead reckoning, eye-balling.
There was no bombsight fitted.

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Folks,

The C.II Recon/bomber livery is now the correct colour, a sky-like pale-blue, as per colour drawings
on Wings Pallette.com. Markings are also correct, as per a fewavailable b/w photos.

It is interesting to note that the AGO C. twin-boom biplane series were the only German WW1 pusher-biplanes.
Breathing all that clean air, apart from the speed, which was remarkable for its time, it is small wonder that
pilots favoured them so much.

Here are a few screenshots for some eye-candy, also showing two 12.5 Kg bombs on each side.
(Update: Substituted screenshots: Now the struts are blue too...)

The more powerful engine and the heavier weight can be felt in the sim, compared to the C.I.

Then, the suspension in the contact points needs a bit more adjusting, so as soon as I get that a bit better,
I´ll be uploading the machine.

Ravenna: When you say these aircraft were influential, I expect you refer to the influence this design had on
later twin-boom aircraft like the P.38 Lightning and the Northrop P.61 Black Widow, and even the Cessna 337.

Cheers,
Ateatorylamp

[The B24 Guy]

Looking forward to it.

Thanks,

B24Guy

[Rami]

A-lamp,

Very nice job on this! My apologies for not turning this into a sticky a little earlier.

[aleatorylamp]

Hi B24Guy, Hi Rami,
Thanks for your comments!

Not long to go now... I´m almost done with the tricky contact points.

Incidentally, I was amazed at how easy it was to give the originally darker texture, a more pronounced paler hue.
I´d never done it before, as the FS98, CFS1 and AF99 colour pallete won´t allow it.

It was actually very easy - I loaded 16bit bitmaps of the blue texture bitmaps into my primitive photo-retouching
program for dummies, MGI Photo Suite 8.05, which came free with a 1998 scanner... ...easy to use but powerful
enough for most things.

I then lightened up the RGB values (all controlled by just one slider) for each of the the 7 different blues on the
pallette, noting down the new values on paper to get all textures equal, and then converted the bitmaps to
extended bitmaps with another program.

Anyway, I thought it was interesting, because it was so much easier than I´d expected!
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[aleatorylamp]

Hello All,
I´d forgotten about the struts - they were painted as well!
Everything´s blue on this plane!
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[Ravenna]

Better and better. Thanks Stephan!

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Folks,

I have just uploaded the light-blue AGO C.II bomber-observer,
and it will be available as soon as it has been approved at the Warbirds library:

http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforum...d=124&id=25768

There is now a section of the tail-skids also in blue! I hope you like the plane!
Thanks to its more powerful motorization, this version plane retained the fast and nimble
characteristics of its predecessor, the lighter C.I., as well as the populatiry amongst pilots.
It also had its rudder separate from the fin, larger and this time more triangular in shape,
rather than round.

Should you see any flaws, do let me know and I´ll put them right, right away! ;-)
...and here´s some more eye-candy too!

Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[aleatorylamp]

A new entry has been added to Add-Ons Library, category CFS 2 Aircraft - World War I

Description: Structurally strengthened, more powerful bomber-observer version of the AGO C.I armed reconnaissance biplane, built by AGO Flugzeugwerke in 1915, powered by a 6-cylinder 230 hp Benz Bz.IV engine.

It could carry 50 kg of bombs, and had top speed was 90 mph (145 kph). 15 units were built. As its predecessor, this aircraft was very popular amongst pilots thanks to its speed, long range, and good handling qualities both in the air as on the ground.

The AGO C series were the only German twin-boom pusher biplanes built during the Great War. Textures by Udo Entenmann. Custom panel and Dp files included, as well as custom gauges mostly by Martin Klein. By Stephan Scholz.

To check it out, rate it or add comments, visit CFS2 AGO C.II twn-boom pusher recon/bomber 1915.zip
The comments you make there will appear in the posts below.

[Rami]

A-lamp,

Many thanks on these, it's interesting to plot development changes as the war progresses!

[Klein]

Thank you, Aleatorylamp for this beauty.

[stuart277]

Hi Aleatorylamp,

Thank you for this really interesting aircraft.

Great work.

Cheers,

Stuart

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Gentlemen!

Thank you for your encouraging words. I´m glad you like the pale blue AGO C.II!
I agree it is a very interesting aircraft, with a clean aerodynamic design for its time, and quite attractive too!

Thanks Rami, for linking the C.II to this thread too, and adapting the title! Where would we be without your initiative?

Interesting also, are the biplanes that preceded the AGO C series (Aviatiker Gustav Otto).
They were reliable pre-war Otto biplane pusher trainers with lattice-tails, built near Munich from 1911 to 1914,
the culmination of which seems to have been the Otto-BI two-seat pusher.
Lots of pilots learnt to fly in these, for example Ernst Udet.

Gustav Otto even built his own engines! His aircraft factory was the origin of the BMW company.

Perhaps it would be interesting for CFS2? ...even though armament was only a Parabellum pistol.

This is really an amazing contraption. Just look at the specs:
Power: 1x150 hp 6-cyl in-line watercooled Rapp pusher
Max. Speed: 135 km/h (73 kts)

The screenshot shows the CFS1 version of the Otto-BI - this perhaps even more interesting plane!
Quite outlandish.
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp

[aleatorylamp]

Hello Folks,
If there were to be any interest for the Otto-BI Doppeldecker Trainer, I could do a CFS2 upgrade and upload it.
Weaponry would only be 2 parabellum hand-pistols, so perhaps this old 1914 crate it won´t interest anyone...
Cheers,
Aleatorylamp