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

Flugmaschine REX GmbH, Koln

Foundation:

  On 1 December 1914, the Cologne businessman Walter Gutbier founded the company "Flugmaschine REX GmbH" in Cologne-Ossendorf at Antwerpener Str.18 - 22. The purpose of the company was to build single- and biplane aircraft and to maintain a flying school.
  Co-owner was the Swiss Dr.-Ing. Friedrich Hansen from Aachen. He had already designed aircraft and rotary engines in Zurich in 1909, including the engine for the Rex D.17 aircraft.


Aircraft Development:

  The following types of aircraft were built in Ossendorf:
  The 1915 experimental aircraft was a single-seater with a five-cylinder radial engine from the Rheinische Aerowerke. The special feature was the lower wing that ran freely under the fuselage.
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Журнал Flight

Flight, July 2, 1915.

EDDIES.

   There has been quite a lot of talk lately in certain quarters about a German firm building a copy of the Bristol scout, the machine in question being the Rex biplane. From the accompanying illustration it will be seen that there is very little resemblance between the Rex and the Bristol. About the only similarity is the staggering of the planes and the fact that only one pair of struts on each side of the fuselage separates the main planes. The fuselage is entirely different, being if anything more reminiscent of the Morane than of the Bristol scout. The inner pairs of inter-plane struts are placed outside the body, and the elevator is of the balanced type, whilst no tail plane is fitted. If the Rex firm have been building this machine under the impression that they were making a copy of the Bristol scout, they are likely to meet with a few disagreeable surprises as regards performances, for the five-cylinder R.A.W. engine with which it is fitted looks capable of about 40 h.p. at the most.