AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.
AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H. was a German aircraft manufacturing company from 1911 until 1945. The initials AGO had a variety of meanings (such as Aktiengesellschaft Otto) during the company's lifetime, but in its final version stood for Apparatebau GmbH Oschersleben. At its peak, the company employed around 4,500 people.[1]
We have this firm listed in databases as "Ágó Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H."[2] and as "Ago Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.", but in fact the firm name has to do the above-described phenomenon of abbreviation, rather than with any place or person name. (This applies to other corporations as well, in which "Ago" begins the corporate name.)
AGO was founded in 1911 in Munich as Flugmaschinenwerke Gustav Otto by Gustav Otto and a Dr Alberti. Gustav, the son of Nicolaus Otto – inventor of the four-stroke engine, was a pioneer aviator (pilot's licence No. 34) and engine-builder. As was usual in those days, a flying school was attached to the business – one of its later students was Ernst Udet.[3]
The company's first successful aircraft under head designer, Gabriel Letsch, was an observation biplane with a pusher propeller that soon became the standard equipment of the Bayerischen Fliegertruppe. The machine was powered by a 75 kW (100 hp) engine of the firm's own design, branded Aviatiker Gustav Otto.[4] Hungarian patent data gives the location Berlin-Johannisthal along with the organization name and has Letsch as a Chief Engineer (Főmérnők).[5] British patent data gives "Ago Flugzeugwerke G.m.b.H., a company organized and existing under the laws of Germany, and Gabriel Letsch, a Bavarian subject, all of Waldstrasse 11, 12, 14, 15, Johannisthal, Berlin, Germany".[6]
In 1912, a separate division was set up in Johannisthal under the name Ago Flugzeugwerke, with Elisabeth Woerner and Hermann Fremery as directors. After the outbreak of World War I, AGO built a series of military reconnaissance aircraft, beginning with the AGO C.I – a pusher-powered biplane designed by August Haefeli. The most successful of AGO's wartime aircraft was the C.IV of 1916, of which 70 examples were built, but which proved unpopular with its pilots.[7]
In 1916, Gustav Otto opened a new plant in Munich under the name Bayerische Flugzeugwerke, and another in Oschersleben (with Josef Schnittisser) again named AGO, this time for Aktiengesellschaft Gustav Otto. The Oschersleben plant was used to manufacture components for other manufacturers' aircraft until the end of the war.[8]
Sources
- AGO Flugzeugwerke on English Wikipedia
- AGO Flugzeugwerke on German Wikipedia
- AGO Flugzeugwerke on French Wikipedia
Patent data
Patents associated with organization named AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.
- Patent HU-1916-79362 (Inventors: Gabriel Letsch, English title: Tri-lobed aircraft, Filing date: 1916-02-28, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-299150, Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent AT-1912-65907 (English title: Chassis for seaplanes, Filing date: 1912-08-27, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1912-08-27 AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H., Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent AT-1912-65902 (English title: Chassis for seaplanes, Filing date: 1912-09-12, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1912-08-27 AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H. • Patent DE-1912-09-06 AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H., Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent FR-1912-448400 (English title: Chassis for aircraft, allowing for take-off and landing on land or water, Filing date: 1912-09-17, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1912-08-27 • Patent DE-1912-09-06, Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent DE-1915-299150 (Inventors: Gabriel Letsch, English title: Triplane, Filing date: 1915-03-12, Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent HU-1916-78282 (English title: Ball bearings for the steering of air vehicles, Filing date: 1916-02-21, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-06-08 AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H., Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent HU-1916-72425 (English title: Combat aircraft, Filing date: 1916-10-30, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-11-08 AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H., Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent HU-1916-75582 (English title: "With a propeller in front of a fuselage aircraft and a machine gun that can be waving behind the driver", Filing date: 1916-10-30, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-10-06 AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H., Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent HU-1917-79861 (English title: Multiple aircraft with front drive screw and machine gun embedded behind the driver, Filing date: 1917-11-13, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1916-05-27 AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H., Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent DE-1918-329223 (English title: Airplane, Filing date: 1918-07-10, Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent GB-1920-148377 (Inventors: Gabriel Letsch, English title: Triplane, Filing date: 1920-07-09, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-299150, Applicant firm: AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
- Patent GB-1920-148521 (English title: Airplane, Filing date: 1920-07-10, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1915-10-06 AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H., Applicant firm: Ago Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H.)
Standard format organizational data
| Names | AGO Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H., Ago Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H., Ágó Flugzeugwerke G. m. b. H. |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Locations | Berlin-Johannisthal |
| Affiliations | Flugmaschinen-Werke Gustav Otto, Flugmaschinen-Werke Gustav Otto |
| Keywords | airplane, biplane, hydroaeroplane, triplane |
| Started aero | 1912 |
| Ended aero | |
| Key people | Gustav Otto, Nicolaus Otto, Dr. Alberti, Elisabeth Woerner, Hermann Fremery, Gabriel Letsch |
| Wikidata id |
