O.Thetford, P.Gray German Aircraft of the First World War (Putnam)

Schutte-Lanz C I
   Originally founded in 1909 for the manufacture of dirigible airships, Luftfahrzeugbau Schutte-Lanz also undertook the construction of aircraft during the war. Ago and L.V.G. two-seaters were built in some numbers under licence, as were a few Staaken Giants. None of the firm's own designs progressed beyond the prototype stage. First original design was this pusher, twin-boom (Gitterschwanz) two-seater C I of 1915. With the nacelle mounted direct to the upper wing, the gunner in the nose cockpit was afforded a good all-round field of fire. Only the single machine was built. Engine, 160 h.p. Mercedes D III. Armament, one Parabellum machine-gun.

J.Herris German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers in WW1. Vol II (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 50)

Schutte-Lanz

   Registered on 1 June 1909, in Mannheim to construct airships, Luftfahrzeugbau Schutte-Lanz constructed aircraft under license from Ago, LVG, and Staaken during the war. Aircraft production was estimated as a minimum total of 569 of the types shown in the table below.
   The IAACC reported the following aeronautical materials found in the factory: 304 aircraft (including 266 LVG biplanes without engines), and 17 engines.
   Wilhelm Hillman is usually credited as the designer of the Schutte-Lanz D.I, a copy of the Sopwith Tabloid that appeared in 1915. Research by the late P.M. Grosz indicates that Hillman was the chief engineer, while Stein was the designer. There is a distinction in German and often “der Konstrukteur” is not the chief engineer. (Letter: P.M.G. to J.M.B. 13.08.1989. RAF Museum JM Bruce Collection Box 44.)

Schutte-Lanz License Production
Type Motor hp No. Notes
B.II 100-120 200 School machines
LVG B.III 100-120 300 The LVG B.III was designed as a trainer.
AGO C.IV 200 Benz 66 Production stopped early due to problems with the design.
Staaken R.XIV 5 x 260 Maybach 3 Two (2) completed in 1919.
Source: Rapport Technique, Commission Interalliee de Controle Aeronautique en Allemagne.


Schutte-Lanz C.I

   The first original Schutte-Lanz airplane design was the C.I pusher built in 1915. Power was a 160 hp Mercedes D.III. The gunner in the front cockpit was provided with a flexible Parabellum machine gun.
   The only pusher two-seaters placed in production were the Otto C.I and Ago C.I and no production of the Schutte-Lanz C.I was undertaken.

M.Dusing German Aviation Industry in WWI. Volume 2 (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 85)

Luftfahrzeugbau Schutte-Lanz, Zeesen (SchuI)

  Johann Schutte (1873-1940). Mr. Geh. Kommerzienrat von Rochling and the well-known agricultural machinery builder Karl Lanz and his wife founded the company Schfitte-Lanz-Luftfahrzeugbau GmbH in Mannheim on June 1,1909 and built the Schutte-Lanz airship for World War I starting in 1911. As the second largest airship manufacturer, the company was Graf Zeppelin's main competitor. Schutte's rigid airship differed from the Zeppelin type in its wooden frame. On October 17, 1911 the first test flight of the airship SL I started in Rheinau.
  At the beginning of the last year of the war in 1918, the company was transformed into a general partnership under the name "Luftfahrzeugbau Schutte-Lanz oHG".
  During the war, it had a second factory built in Zeesen for fear of air raids. Construction of this factory began on October 1, 1915.


Luftfahrzeugbau Schutte-Lanz, Mannheim-Rheinau (Schul)

  Initially, the aircraft company did not have its own factory premises in Mannheim. It was affiliated with the parent company "Heinrich Lanz, Mannheim", which had a total site of around 842,000 m2 and an airfield of just under 650,000 m2.
  The airship company was located in the middle of the Rhine plain, in the southeast of the city of Mannheim, 9 km from Mannheim's main train station, near the Mannheim-Karlsruhe railroad line. A branch fine Rheinau-Ketsch branched off from the Rheinau station of this railroad fine, which could also be reached from Mannheim by electric streetcar in about 30 minutes, and its first station, "Luftschiffwerft", was located on the factory premises.
  The company was originally engaged in the construction of Schutte-Lanz type airships and later moved on to supplying aircraft spare parts specifically for DFW and AGO as well as repairing aircraft. New aircraft construction, especially in Zeesen, was not started until 1917. From the beginning of 1918, the Mannheim plant supplied apparatus for engine installations and bombing.


Aircraft development:

  The Mannheim plant did not carry out its own aeronautical development, as all development work was transferred to the Zeesen plant. As mentioned, in Mannheim-Rheinau, they were busy with the production of spare parts for airplanes and occasional repairs of airplanes. The Schutte-Lanz factory, manufactured:
   18 airships;
   1 experimental aircraft, C-Typ;
   2.300 valves for balloons;
   9,000 sets of radiator valves for aircraft.
  Luftfahrzeugbau Schutte-Lanz in Mannheim-Rheinau repaired: 5.271 aircraft and 113 engines.