The Halberstadt CL.IV was developed from the company's earlier CL.II design. The CL designation was for a class of two-seater that was to be lighter and more manueverable, to act as escorts to regular C-type two-seaters. It was found that the CL machines made effective ground-attack machines, and a new category of squadron, the Schlastaffel or "Schlasta", was formed especially for close-support work. The CL.IV was the result of battle experience to produce a specialized close-support, ground-attack two-seater.
The CL.IV entered service during the summer of 1918 and was used for the rest of the war. Post-war, ex-German aircraft continued to be operated by several of the emerging post-war nations in Eastern Europe. The usual powerplant was a 160-horse Mercedes D.III. Standard armament was a single Spandau machine gun fixed forward for the pilot, and a flexible Parabellum on a ring mount for the observer. A small bomb load could also be carried.
Paper Model Details: 62 parts on two pages (per model), with three construction diagrams. Duo-fold struts, boxed wheels, fuselage formers, one-piece wing spars. Full cockpits. Markings for German, Estonian, Lithuianian, Soviet, and Polish aircraft included.
Text written by Bart Wheeler, copyright 2011, Bart Wheeler and Ecardmodels.com. Used by permission.
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Scale 1/48