AGO

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In 1912 Flugzeugwerke Gustav Otto (Otto) of Munich founded a branch company AGO (Ago Flugzeugwerke GmbH) in Berlin-Johannisthal[1]. The name was derived from Aerowerke Gustav Otto[2] or Aktiengesellschaft Otto.[3] Early in the war AGO produced several distinctive twin-boom designs, but they also delivered tractors such as the C.IV.[1] In 1917 AGO went into liquidation.[2]

AGO license-built the L.V.G. C.II and also built a handful of floatplanes for the German Navy in ones and twos, including some designed from the C.I and C.II.[4] Overall, they produced 617 C-class and 25 naval aircraft during the war.[3]

Aircraft from the Great War or shortly thereafter include:

References

Notes
  1. AGO's first offering was just a rebuild of the parent firm's Otto Pusher Biplane, though in Prussian service it probably served only in a training role. A seaplane training version was also developed for the Navy.[5]
  2. AGO built six or less biplane seaplanes with the 150hp Argus As.III engine. It was a new pusher design rather than being based on the previous Pusher Biplane.[6]
  3. In 1913 AGO built a two-seat tractor biplane with the 120hp Argus As.II.[7]
  4. In 1913 Ago produced both land and seaplane versions of a tractor biplane trainer powered by a 100hp Gnome rotary engine. Up to ten were purchased by the Navy.[8]
  5. The DV 3 was a tractor biplane trainer with a 100hp Oberursel U.I rotary engine.[9]
  6. The E.I was a 1913 monoplane design with a 120hp Daimler engine. It was not selected for production.[10]
  7. The C.III was a refinement of the C.II, but pushers were well out of favor by the time of its review, and very few -- perhaps only the prototype -- were built.[11]
  8. The C.V was a compact, well-streamlined version of the C.IV meant to compete in the CL category. It was not adopted.[12]
  9. The prototype C.VI was a refinement of the C.IV, retaining the tapered wings and upgrading to a 200hpo Benz Bz.IV engine.[13]
  10. The prototype C.VII returned to conventional rectangular two-bay wings and a 200hp Benz Bz.IV, but it was not adopted.[14]
  11. Like the C.VII, the prototype C.VIII also used rectangular wings but an even larger 260hp Mercedes D.IVa engine.[15]
  12. The C.IX prototype seems to have been much like C.VIII with the radiator moved to the leading top wing edge rather than using an in-wing radiator.[16]
  13. The innovative and well-armored S.I prototype was meant for anti-tank warfare, with a 20mm Becker cannon firing down between the wheels, which had no central axle. Two prototypes were built in late 1918, too late for the plane to enter production.[17]
Citations
  1. 1.0 1.1 Gray, p.13.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Lamberton, p.160.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Herris'19, p.82.
  4. Nowarra, p.80.
  5. Herris'19, pp.84-89.
  6. Herris'19, p.93.
  7. Herris'19, pp.94-95.
  8. Herris'19, pp.96-99.
  9. Herris'19, pp.100-101.
  10. Herris'19, p.103.
  11. Herris'19, pp.160-161.
  12. Herris'19, pp.196-197.
  13. Herris'19, p.198.
  14. Herris'19, p.199.
  15. Herris'19, p.201.
  16. Herris'19, p.203.
  17. Herris'19, p.205.
Bibliography
  • Peter Gray and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. Great Britain, Putnam, 1962, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-809-7.
  • Jack Herris, Otto, AGO, and BFW Aircraft of WWI. USA: Aeronaut Books, 2019. ISBN 978-1-935881-78-0.
  • W.M. Lamberton and E.F. Cheesman, Reconnaissance & Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Great Britain: Harleyford Publications Ltd., 1962. ISBN 9780900435027
  • Heinz J. Nowarra, Bruce Robertson, and Peter G. Cooksley. Marine Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Letchworth, Herts, England: Harleyford Publications Limited, 1966. ISBN 0900435070