Siemens-Schuckert D VI

Regulus · 2 October 2002, 12:56 PM

Hi,

A prototype was made of this plane and it seems it had an excellent speed, about 221 km/hr. Were the other performancaes also very good ?
Were there made any orders for this plane before the EOW ?

Thanks and best from Regulus

3 October 2002, 05:28 AM

Johan,

actually at least 2, but maybe even 3 prototypes of teh D VI were build, but they only flew after November 11, so no further orders followed.

One aircraft destroyed by an inflight fire (I´m quite sure about this, but can´t find the source at this moment), another one or two destroyed in the Siemens factory, either to follow the treaty rules, or to prevent capture by the allies.

The D VI was the last in the series of parasols that followed the Fokker E V/D VIII (others including the Pfaly parasol, the Kondor E 3/D I, the LFG D XVI and D XVII, the Daimler L 11, the planned Junkers J 6 and the various Fokker developments). I think one of the most neglected stories in WW I aircraft development is Idfliegs "guiding hand" in German aircraft design, which resulted in those sudden changes in design philosphies, like the "copy the Nieuport" time, the triplane craze, the "copy the SPAD" period, the Verspannungslos and finally the "parasol is the aircraft of the future" (quote) development.

The D VI definitely was promising, with a climb rate exceeding that of the benchmark SSW D III/DIV and Rumpelr D I aircraft. I would be careful about the speed claimed by various sources, as

- the aircraft was never subject to an official test
- in Germany speed measurements were never as advanced as for example climb measurements.

Nonetheless a potentially great aircraft - and a damn good looking one as well..

Volker

Regulus · 3 October 2002, 01:02 PM

Volker,

Thank you very much for your help ! She was a beauty indeed. I have one picture of it.
Also very special was the fact that she had a fuel reservoir which could be released at the underside of the fuselage.
I had never heard of these before on WW I planes. I think it was something quite unique !

Again my sincere thanks and best from Regulus