- Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft
Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft, universally referred to as LFG, was a
World War I German aircraft manufacturer. They are best known for their various "Roland" designs, notably theRoland C.II andRoland D.VI , although they also produced a number ofairships and experimental designs.Airships
LFG formed on April 30, 1908, as a builder of airships. They formed from the assets of an experimental airship engine company located in
Bitterfeld , Motorluftschiff Studiengesellscaft (MStG). Additional funding for the new enterprise was provided primarily byKrupp ,AEG , and a local chemical company. The company's offices were located inBerlin along with the factory atAdlershof . Manufacture was transferred toCharlottenburg following a devastating fire on6 September 1916 , allegedly due to the action of the British Secret Service [German Aircraft of the First World War, Gray P. & Thetford O., 1970 Putnam] .Their first project was an airship design by
August von Parseval , a Major in the army. This entered service as the PL.II in 1910. During thefirst world war , four were delivered to the German Army and Navy. In total some 25 "PL" airships were built, flown and delivered to various customers, seeParseval airships for a complete list. The PL-26, one of the last, crashed on landing and burnt inside hangar "Luftschiffhalle 2" with no fatalities. For the rest of the war thehangar s were used mostly for repairs ofobservation balloon s.Aeroplanes
When
Édouard de Nié Port (Nieuport) died, one of his engineers, Franz Schneider, joined LFG and started producing new designs under the name Roland. Roland was atrade name adopted to avoid confusion with theLVG firm. In 1916 the company adapted anAlbatros design to produce theLFG W , afloatplane . Some parts were built in Bitterfeld, but final assembly and checkout was carried out in new factories inStralsund .Their first successful design was the Roland C.II, a two-seat
reconnaissance aircraft ; The design used a uniquesemi-monocoque fuselage made ofplywood that filled the entire area between the wings, leaving the pilot and observer/gunner high over the planform with an excellent view. Although it was said to have tricky handling, the C.II had excellent performance, and was also used on long-range missions as a bomber escort. A version with the 200 hpBenz Bz.IV engine and new wing struts was built as the D.III, but only one prototype was ever built, as was the case for the 160 hpMercedes D.III -powered C.V.The C.II was adapted to the pure fighter role as the
Roland D.I , but in this role the lack of a direct forward view proved to be a problem. A fire at the factory severely constrained production, and only 20 were built. A newer version with a more conventional layout, the Roland D.II, followed, "thinning" the fuselage vertically but keeping the overall design similar. Although generally a good design, it was inferior to theAlbatros D.I and built only to the extent of about 230 examples, mostly being used on the eastern front and in Macedonia. The fuselage was further thinned in the D.III, which looked almost conventional, but the 180 hpArgus As.III proved temperamental and only a handful were built.Although the monocoque fuselage was extremely strong, it was also very difficult and time consuming to build. A new method of construction was introduced that used spruce planking running the length of the plane in place of the formed plywood, and the D.III was adapted using this technique to produce D.IV
triplane and D.V biplane, both powered by the D.III's 160 hp Mercedes. A further adaptation of the D.IV with the 185 hp Benz Bz. III resulted in theRoland D.VI , which was entered in the First Fighter Competition trials atAdlershof in early 1918. Although theFokker D.VII won that contest, the D.VI was also ordered into production as it used a different engine, and by the end of the war about 350 had been delivered. A large number of different versions using various engines were built as prototypes without entering production, as well as atriplane adaptation as the D.VI (also known as the Dr. I).The next major design from Roland were parasol monoplane designs, the D.XVI with the
Siemens-Halske Sh.III or 170hpGoebel Goe.III arotary piston engine s, and the otherwise similar D.XVII with the inline 185hpBMW III a. Both were entered into the Second Fighter Competition at Adlershof, but lost to theFokker D.VIII .After the war all aircraft production in Germany was banned, and the company was forced to close the Bitterfeld plant and reopen in Seddin, producing airplanes, balloons and life boats. In 1933, aircraft production was shut down. Three additional airships of the Parseval pattern were also built during this period.
Aeroplane types
This is a list of aeroplane produced, taken from Nowarra, Heinz: Flugzeuge 1914-1918, München 1959 and Emmanuel Gustin's list of German military aircraft. [ [http://users.telenet.be/Emmanuel.Gustin/faq/ger_mil.txt ] , [http://users.skynet.be/Emmanuel.Gustin/ Emmanuel Gustin] ,
1997-07-04 ]* C.II und C.IIa "Walfisch" biplane
reconnaissance , two-seater
* C.III variant of C.II, one built - destroyed by fire when LFG plant burns, 6 September 1916Abbott, Dan S., and Grosz, Peter M. "The Benighted Rolands", Air Enthusiast Quarterly, Bromley, Kent., U.K., Volume 3, 1976, pages 39-40.]
* C.V - two-seat version of D.II, prototype only
* C.VIII - prototype only
* C.X - reconnaissance
* W -Seaplane
* W-1 - Seaplane, single seater fighter
* W-16 - Seaplane
* WD - Seaplane variant of D.I, one built, rejected due to poor visibility
* D.I "Haifisch" - fighter
* D.II - fighter, about 230 built
* D.III - fighter, few built
* D.IV -triplane , prototype only (also Dr. I)
* D.V - only three prototypes
* D.VI - fighter, 350 built, similar to D III, ordered as backup for D VII
* D.VII - one prototype built
* D.VIII - one prototype built
* D.IX - only three preproduction models
* D.X - projected only
* D.XI - projected only
* D.XII - projected only
* D.XIII - development abandoned when destroyed in a fire
* D.XIV - Biplane fighter, variant of D.XIII, very unreliable
* D.XV - Biplane fighter, three of a first design built, two of a second design also named D.XV
* D.XVI - fighter, prototypes only
* D.XVII - Parasol-wing monoplane fighter, one built
* G.I - Biplane bomber, only projected, no production
* Stralsund V.19 - Single-seat seaplane, to operate from submarines, prototype completed after 1918
* ME 8 - Seaplane fighter, only projected
* MD 14 - reconnaissance, only projected
* MD 15 - reconnaissance, only projectedReferences
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