Junkers CL.I

The Junkers CL.I, built by Junkers as the J 8, was a German ground-attack aircraft of the First World War, designed to show Hugo Junkers' belief in the monoplane after the Idflieg had required the firm to enter a biplane, the J 4, in the ground-attack competition. The J 8 took the J 7 fighter as its starting point but had a longer fuselage with room for a tail gunner, and larger wings. The prototype flew in late 1917 and three more development aircraft followed over the next few months. Because the Idflieg doubted that Junkers could build it in quantity, the firm made a slightly modified version, the J 10, in a joint venture with Fokker. Like other Junkers designs of the period it had a metal framework skinned in corrugated duralumin. Forty-seven were delivered before the Armistice, including three floatplanes designated CLS.I, and the Latvian air force flew the type after the war.