Rumpler C.IX

The Rumpler C.IX was a German single-engine, two-seat reconnaissance biplane of World War I.

C.IX
Role	Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Rumpler Flugzeugwerke
Designer	Dr. Edmund Rumpler
First flight	1917
Introduction	1917
Primary user	Luftstreitkräfte

Development

At the end of 1916, the Rumpler design bureau, led by Edmund Rumpler, conceived the two-seat reconnaissance 7C 1 alongside the single seat 7D 1 fighter (which became the Rumpler D.I) Rumpler's 7C 1 design was given the designation C.IX by the Idflieg. The Rumpler C.IX had single I-type interplane struts and a smooth oval multi-stringered fuselage.

The first C.IX began testing in the spring of 1917. As a result of flight tests, a constructive flaw in the vertical rudder was revealed. After completion, the second version of the aircraft was successfully tested and a contract was signed for the production of a small series of 20 aircraft (with numbers 1501/17 -1520/17).^[1]

Operators

German Empire

• Luftstreitkrafte

Specifications (C.IX)

Data from ^[1]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)
• Wingspan: 8.2 m (26 ft 11 in)
• Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.III 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine, 120 kW (160 hp)
• Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller

Performance Armament

• Guns:
  

• 1 × fixed, forward-firing 7.92 mm (.312 in) LMG 08/15 with an interruptor gear
• 1 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine gun on a ring mounting