what is it?
The Aviatik C.I was an observation aircraft designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Aviatik. It was the first aircraft produced by the company to be mass-produced as well as one of the first German military aircraft of the First World War to become fairly well known amongst the general public of the era. It was a development of the Aviatik B.I and B.II models, being one of first aircraft of the new German C class of armed biplanes.
How to recognise it: 1 piston engine with propeller · biplane · 12.5 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 111 years ago, in 1915.
- Wingspan of 12.5 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1915
- introduced
- 1915
- retired
- 1917
- status
- retired
- number built
- —
- role
- reconnaissance aircraft
- origin
- German Empire
- makers
- Aviatik
- engines
- 1× Mercedes D.III / Bz.III
- length
- 7.9 m
- wingspan
- 12.5 m
- height
- 3 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,340 kg
- top speed
- 142 km/h
- range
- 450 km
- ceiling
- 3,500 m
- wings
- biplane
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q570550, Wikipedia: Aviatik C.I (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.