Kondor D.VI

The Story of Condor D. VI

After the German Empire lost most of its battlefield superiority in 1918, the authorities searched for all possible war-winning designs before the end. Kondor Flugzeugwerke made several attempts to provide the Luftwaffe with a viable biplane/triplane during World War I, but failed in at least three notable attempts - the "Dreidecker", the D.1 and the related D. 2 (see another location on this page for all details). The next series of Kondor fighters was the "D.

6" prototype, designed by Walter Rethel and built for flight tests as early as the summer of 1918, the last year of the war.

The D.6 differs from previous Kondor products in that it aggressively attempts to improve the pilot's forward/upward vision in aerial combat. Biplanes inherently have poor forward/upward visibility due to the fact that the cockpit is located aft of the wing pair and below the upper wing panel.

In addition, the cockpit was also placed behind the engine unit, increasing the length in front of the pilot and forcing him to look over the nose of the aircraft. The pilot who finds the prey first definitely has an advantage in melee, so Kondor tried to fix that by completely overhauling the upper wing assembly.

The typical biplane design simply "cuts out" a small curved section of the upper wing, but the main aircraft is more or less intact as a single spanning unit. However, the D.6 was designed to provide pilots with greatly improved visibility outside the cockpit by completely removing the middle section of the upper wing, and the inboard end of this split plane now passes through a small strut on the upper surface of the fuselage. accumulation.

Overall, biplanes retained many of the common features of fighter jets of the time: unequal wingspan, parallel struts, fixed landing gear, and forward-facing engines. The empennage used the tried-and-true cruciform aircraft style, and the landing gear had a "smearing" arrangement typical of the time. The single-seat cockpit is located midship forward and aft of the engine unit. Power comes from a 145 hp Oberursel Ur III series rotary engine that drives the twin-blade propeller unit on the nose.

A tubular steel frame forms the skeleton of the aircraft, while metal, wood and fabric coverings are used where appropriate.

As with most post-war German fighters, the D.6's standard armament was a 2 x 7.92mm LMG 08/15 machine gun, firing synchronised by rotating propeller blades. They are mounted on fixed mounts facing the nose and provide an iron crosshair to help the pilot aim the weapon on the target.

Blockages are cleared manually, the gun is simply air-cooled, and ammunition supplies are limited.

The D.6 prototype was briefly flight tested in mid-1918, with unremarkable results. The drag of the detached upper wing panels has increased significantly, and there are concerns about the strength of the now weakened upper deck main aircraft, especially at the fuselage attachment points. The D.6 was gone as soon as it arrived, and there appeared to be little additional testing in the months leading up to the end of the war, which arrived at an armistice in November 1918.

Despite desperation, it is certainly not a serious candidate for mass production by the Luftwaffe.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes