AEG G.V

Template:Infobox aircraft

The AEG G.V was a biplane bomber aircraft of World War I built by the Template:Lang (AEG) during the First World War for the Imperial German Army's (Template:Lang) Imperial German Air Service (Template:Lang). It made its first flight in 1918 and was an enlarged and improved version of the G.IV. The type saw limited production before the Armistice in November, and never entered operational service. Six G.Vs were sold to the Swedish Air Force after the war. At least one aircraft was converted into a six-passenger airliner for Deutsche Luft-Reederei after the war as the G5.

Development

AEG began work on a aircraft that was capable of carrying a Template:Convert bomb in November 1917. It was based on the G.IVb-lang model with extended wings and a large increase in wing area. It retained the lengthened fuselage and the biplane tail structure of that model, but reverted to the water-cooled Template:Convert Mercedes D.IVa straight-six piston engines of the original G.IV. It is not known when the G.V began flight testing or when it made its first flight, but surviving documents state that it attained a height of Template:Cvt in 70 minutes carrying a useful load of Template:Cvt in May 1918. The Inspectorate of Flying Troops (Template:Lang (Template:Lang) placed an order for 50 aircraft the previous month and the first nine G.Vs were delivered in August. A total of 37 were delivered between August and October.<ref>Herris, pp. 138–139</ref>

The G5 was a version of the G.V modified for airline use. Initially, passengers sat in an open cockpit behind the pilots, but AEG soon modified the aircraft with an enclosed cabin, a toilet and fitted the nose with a hinged door for baggage. At least one aircraft served with Deutsche Luft-Reederei beginning in 1919.<ref>Andersson & Sanger, pp. 85–86</ref>

The Swedish Air Force purchased six G.Vs shortly after the Armistice. Two were destroyed during the delivery flights in 1919, but AEG delivered replacements later that year.<ref>Herris, p. 139</ref>