what is it?
The Hansa-Brandenburg B.I was an unarmed military trainer and reconnaissance biplane of World War I, flown by the Austro-Hungarian Air Service. Early models were known internally to the Hansa-Brandenburg firm as the type D, while later models with a more powerful engine were designated FD. This aircraft was one of the earliest designs of Ernst Heinkel, who was working for Hansa-Brandenburg at the time. It was an entirely conventional two-bay biplane with staggered wings of unequal span.
How to recognise it: piston engines · 13.1 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 112 years ago, in 1914.
- Wingspan of 13.1 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
- 1914
- number built
- 27
- role
- reconnaissance aircraft
- origin
- German Empire
- makers
- Hansa-Brandenburg
- engines
- Benz Bz.III / Bz.II / Bz.III
- crew
- 2
- length
- 8.5 m
- wingspan
- 13.1 m
- height
- 2.9 m
- max take-off weight
- 1,060 kg
- top speed
- 125 km/h
- range
- 300 km
- ceiling
- 3,200 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q672187, Wikipedia: Hansa-Brandenburg B.I (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.