LVG C.VI

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LVG C.VI
Type Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft G.m.b.H.
Maiden flight 1917
Introduced 1918
Primary user Luftstreitkräfte
Produced 1918
Number built 1,100
Developed from LVG C.V

LVG C.VI was a German twin-seat reconnaissance aircraft used during the First World War.

[edit] Development

The aircraft was designed by Willy Sabersky-Müssigbrodt and developed by Luft-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (LVG) in 1917. The C.VI was a further development of the C.V, which Sabersky-Müssigbrodt had made for his former employer DFW. It was lighter, smaller and aerodynamically refined, although its fuselage seemed more bulky. It was a biplane of mixed, mostly wooden construction. It featured a semi-monocoque fuselage, plywood covered. Rectangular wings of wooden and metal construction, canvas covered. Upper wing of slightly greater span, shifted some 25 cm towards front. Vertical fin plywood covered, rudder and elevators of metal frame canvas covered, stabilizers of wooden frame canvas covered. Straight uncovered engine in a fuselage nose, with a chimney-like exhaust pipe. Two-blade Benz wooden propeller, 2.88 m diameter. Flat water radiator in central section of upper wing. Fixed conventional landing gear, with a straight common axle and a rear skid. A total of 1,100 aircraft of the type were manufactured.

[edit] Operational service

Most LVG C.VIs were used by the German military aviation in last operations of World War I, mostly on Western Front, for close reconnaissance and observation.

After the war, Deutsche Luft-Reederei (DLR) used several C.VIs to provide mail and passenger transport service. The Polish Air Force used several aircraft during Polish-Soviet war (the first was left by the Germans, another completed from parts in 1920 and several bought abroad). Suomen ilmailuliikenne Oy purchased two C.VIs from a Swedish airline in 1923. The company filed bankruptcy in 1922, but would be a predecessor to Aero O/Y, i.e. Finnair. The Finnish Air Force purchased two aircraft. One was destroyed in a spin in Santahamina in 1923. The other was used until the end of 1924. Several (at least 8) were used by Lithuania, two last ones survived until 1940. Three were used in Czechoslovakia, two in Switzerland (1920-1929), several in the USSR.

[edit] Operators

Flag of Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia
Flag of Finland Finland
  • Suomen ilmailuliikenne Oy
Flag of German Empire German Empire
Flag of Lithuania Lithuania
Flag of Poland Poland
Flag of the Soviet Union Soviet Union
Flag of Switzerland Switzerland

[edit] Specifications (C.VI)

Data from Thulinista Hornettiin

General characteristics

  • Crew: 2: pilot, observer
  • Length: 7.45 m (24 ft 5 in)
  • Wingspan: 13.00 m (42 ft 8 in)
  • Height: 2.85 m (9 ft 4 in)
  • Wing area: 37 m² (ft²)
  • Empty weight: 945 kg (lb)
  • Max takeoff weight: 1,390 kg (3060 lb)
  • Powerplant:Benz Bz.IV 6-cylinder, water-cooled, straight engine, 147 kW (200 hp)

Performance

Armament

  • 1 × 7.92 mm LMG 08/15 fixed with an interruptor gear
  • 1 x 7.92 mm Parabellum MG14 machine gun on a ring mounting
  • 90 kg (200 lb) of bombs

[edit] References


[edit] Sources

  • Heinonen, Timo: Thulinista Hornetiin - Keski-Suomen ilmailumuseon julkaisuja 3, Keski-Suomen ilmailumuseo, 1992, ISBN 951-95688-2-4
  • Krzysztof Chołoniewski, Wiesław Bączkowski: Samoloty wojskowe obcych konstrukcji 1918-1939. Tomik 2 (Barwa w lotnictwie polskim no.7), WKiŁ, Warsaw 1987, ISBN 83-206-0728-0 (Polish language)

[edit] See also

Related development

  • LVG C.V

Comparable aircraft

Related lists

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