Lohner BVII

The unarmed Lohner B.VII and its armed derivative the C.I were military reconnaissance aircraft produced in Austria-Hungary during World War I.They were the ultimate developments in a family of aircraft that had begun with the B.I prior to the outbreak of war, and were the first members of that family that proved suitable for front-line service during the conflict. Julius Arigi, the Austro-Hungarian aviation ace, recalled that the Lohner BVII was the first production plane that performed well in the Alps. Like their predecessors, the B.VII and C.I were conventional biplanes with characteristic swept-back wings.
The B.VII appeared in August 1915 and finally provided a machine suitable for service use. These were used to conduct long-range reconnaissance missions over the Italian Front, as well as occasional bombing raids, carrying 80 kg (180 lb) of bombs internally. Many B.VIIs in operational service were equipped with machine guns on flexible mounts for the observer, and this led to the armed C.I version being produced at both the Lohner and Ufag factories