AEG (Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft, General Electricity Company) was a
German producer of
electronics and electrical equipment. AEG was founded in
1883 by
Emil Rathenau who had bought some patents from
Thomas Edison. AEG bought
Kühlstein in 1902, founding the division
Neue Automobil Gesellschaft (New Automobile Company), to make
cars. AEG withdrew from car production in 1908.Additionally, AEG manufactured a range of aircraft from 1910 to 1918. One of the planes designed and built was the R-plane (the R was an abbreviation of "Riesenflugzeug" (giant aircraft)) AEG R.1. This aircraft was powered by four 260 h.p. Mercedes D.IVa engines linked to a combination leather cone and dog clutch. The first flight test were very satisfactory, but on September 3, 1918 the R.1 broke up in the air killing its seven crewmen.
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