Aviatik D.VI

The Aviatik D.VI was a prototype single-seat, biplane fighter built by Automobil und Aviatik AG for the Imperial German Army's (Deutsches Heer) Imperial German Air Service (Luftstreitkräfte) during the First World War. The sole prototype made its first flight in mid-1918, but it was not placed into production because the Aviatik D.VII had better performance.

The D.VI was a single-seat, two-bay biplane of wooden construction with a plywood-covered fuselage and fabric-covered wings and tail surfaces. The water-cooled, 195-metric-horsepower (143 kW) Benz Bz.IIIbm V-eight piston engine was equipped with a gearbox and drove a wooden, fixed-pitch, four-bladed propeller that was fitted with a spinner. The engine was covered by a metal cowling. The radiator was located in front of the engine. Its armament comprised two fixed, forward-firing 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15 Spandau machine guns.

The D.VI was intended to participate in the Second Fighter Competition held at Adlershof in June 1918, but, owing to problems with the reduction gear of the Bz.IIIbm, it did not made its first fight until August. Nonetheless, it was there by July and was available to be inspected by pilots flying at the competition. By the time flight testing had revealed its excellent aerial characteristics, the D.VI had already been overtaken by the more maneuverable D.VII, which was a modified version of the D.VI.

Data from Aviatik Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplane; The Complete Book of Fighters: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Every Fighter Built and Flown

General characteristics

Performance

Armament