LVG C.VI

LVG C.VI was a German two-seat reconnaissance aircraft used during World War I.

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 (10 in) 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 (9.45 ft) 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.

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 eight) were used by Lithuania, two last ones survived until 1940. Three were used in Czechoslovakia, two in Switzerland (1920-1929), several in the USSR.

Today, there are three surviving C.VIs. Two are on display at the RAF Museum in Hendon and the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace in Paris.

Operators

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• Suomen ilmailuliikenne Oy

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• Luftstreitkräfte

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• Polish Air Force

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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 ()
• Empty weight: 945 kg ()
• Max takeoff weight: 1,390 kg (3,060 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Benz Bz.IV 6-cylinder, water-cooled, straight engine, 147 kW (200 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 170 km/h (92 kn, 103 mph)
• Range: 400 km (216 nmi, 242 mi)
• Service ceiling: 6,500 m (21300 ft)
• Rate of climb: 2.78 m/s (550 ft/min)

Armament

• 1 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) LMG 08/15 fixed with an interruptor gear
• 1 × 7.92 mm (.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine gun on a ring mounting
• 90 kg (200 lb) of bombs

See also

Related development

• LVG C.V

Comparable aircraft

• DFW C.V - Albatros C.XII

Related lists

• List of military aircraft of Germany
• List of aircraft of the Finnish Air Force

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)

Aviation in World War I

Aces · Aircraft of the Entente Powers · Aircraft of the Central Powers · Zeppelins · Category: World War I Aircraft

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "LVG C.VI".