WOW320 AEG Bomber

Description

The first prototype AEG G.IV rolled out in September 1916 followed by the first production machines in January 1917, but it wasn’t until after the middle of 1917 that they were available to front line units in significant numbers. Initially employed for daylight tactical and strategic bombing, this was changed to night operations following substantial losses due to enemy action. Similar to its AEG predecessors the G.IV featured a sturdy welded steel tube frame fuselage, tailplane and certain parts of the wings, it also proved popular with the crews who flew them. All struts and wing spars were also made from steel tubing. The nose was covered by moulded plywood with the rest of the fuselage, tailplane and wings covered with fabric.

The crew of 3 consisted of a rear gunner, pilot and commander. A fold away seat was positioned to the right of the pilot for the commander to sit in during take off and landing to prevent him being crushed in any nose over accident. Up to 3 Parabellum machine guns could be carried with 1 positioned in the commander’s ‘Kanzel’ (pulpit) and 2 for the rear gunner, one of which was fitted to the floor and fired through a trapdoor in the bottom of the fuselage.
On night operations the crew was frequently reduced to 2, with the rear gunner’s position only fitted with a single gun firing through the bottom of the fuselage.

Two 260hp Daimler-Mercedes D.IVa engines were positioned in nacelles between each wing which enabled the AEG G.IV to lift upwards of 800kg of bombs which were carried both internally and externally. By comparison the similarly powered long range Gotha G.IV had a maximum bomb load of only 600kg. An early variation of the AEG G.IV was the G.IVb which had extended 3 bay wings with additional ailerons on the bottom wings which was intended to carry a 1000kg bomb.

Our 1/30 scale AEG comes in the markings of a late 1917 machine operating over the western front. We have 9 of these beautiful machines available. The figures in the photographs are shown for scale purposes only and are not included, the lorry is by John Jenkins Designs and makes a great accompaniment to our model.