LFG Roland D.VI

D.VI

D.VIb
Role	Fighter
Manufacturer	LFG Roland
First flight	1917
Introduction	1918
Primary user	Imperial Germany
Number built	350

The Roland D.VI was a German fighter aircraft built at the end of World War I. It lost a fly-off to the Fokker D.VII, but production went ahead anyway as insurance against problems with the Fokker.

Design and development

The Roland D.VI was designed by the Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft (L.F.G.), (whose aircraft were made under the trade name "Roland" after 1914 to avoid confusion with the Luftverkehrsgesellschaft m.b.H (L.V.G.)) late in 1917, with the prototype being the 1000th aircraft to be built by L.F.G., first flying in November 1917.^[1] The D.VI was a single bay biplane which discarded the L.F.G.-Roland patented Wickelrumpf (literally "wrapped body"), or semi-monocoque fuselage, constructed with two layers of thin plywood strips, diagonally wrapped around a male form to create a "half-shell", that used in previous L.F.G aircraft such as the Roland C.II, D.I and D.II in favour of the equally unusual (for aircraft use) Klinkerrumpf (or clinker-built) construction where the fuselage was built of overlapping thin strips of spruce over a light wooden framework.^[2] Visibility for the pilot was good, while the aircraft had above average manoeuvrability.^[3]

Operational history

Mercedes-powered Roland D.VIa.

In January 1918, two D.VIs were entered into the first fighter competition held by Idflieg at Adlershof, one powered by a 160 hp (119 kW) Mercedes D.III engine and the other by a Benz Bz.IIIa of similar power and, like the Mercedes, another upright, inline, six cylinder engine . Although the winner of the competition was the Fokker D.VII, orders were placed for the Roland as insurance against production problems with the Fokker.^[4]

A total of 350 were built, 150 D.VIas powered by the Mercedes, while the remaining 200 were powered by the Benz and were called D.VIb. Deliveries started in May 1918, with 70 D.VIs in frontline service on 31 August 1918.^[1]

The only surviving artifact of the LFG Roland D.VI still existing in the 21st century is the complete fuselage of a D.VIb, displaying IdFlieg military serial number 2225/18, on display at the Polish Aviation Museum in Kraków, Poland.^[5]

Operators

German Empire

Specifications (Roland D.VIb)

Roland D.VI

Data from The Complete Book of Fighters ^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 6.32 m (20 ft 8⅞ in)
Wingspan: 9.42 m (30 ft 10⅞ in)
Height: 2.80 m (9 ft 2¼ in)
Wing area: 22.1 m² (238 ft²)
Empty weight: 656 kg (1,446 lb)
Loaded weight: 846 kg (1,865 lb)
Powerplant: 1 × Benz Bz.IIIa, 149 kW (200 hp)

Performance

Maximum speed: 199 km/h (108 knots, 124 mph)
Service ceiling: 5,790 m ^[6] (19,000 ft)
Wing loading: 38.3 kg/m² (7.84 lb/ft²)
Power/mass: 0.18 kW/kg (0.11 hp/lb)
Endurance: 2 hr
Climb to 5,000 m (16,400 ft): 19 min

Armament

2 × 7.92 mm LMG08/15 machine guns

References

Notes

1 2 3 Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 338
↑ Gray and Thetford 1961, pp. 166–167.
↑ Gray and Thetford 1961, p. 167.
↑ Gray and Thetford 1961, p. 166.
↑ Polish Aviation Museum. "Aeroplane: LFG Roland D.VI". Polish Aviation Museum. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
↑ German Aviation 1918

Bibliography

Gray, Peter and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1962.
Gray, Peter Laurence. German Aircraft of the First World War. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Co., 1970.
Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. The Complete Book of Fighters. New York: Smithmark, 1994. ISBN 0-8317-3939-8.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to LFG Roland D.VI.

Aircraft produced by Luft-Fahrzeug-Gesellschaft

LFG-Roland	LFG Roland Arrow C.I C.II C.III C.V C.VIII D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI D.VII D.VIII D.IX D.XIII D.XIV D.XV D.XVI D.XVII Dr.I E.I G.I

LFG	W WD

LFG post WWI	V 1 V 2 V 3 V 8 V 13 V 19 V 20 Arkona V 26 V 36 V 39 V 40 V 42 V 44 V 52 V 58 V 59 V 60 V 61 V 101 Jasmund V 130 Strela

Idflieg D, DD- and DJ-class aircraft designations

D- and DD- class

AEG	D.I D.II D.III

Albatros	D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI D.VII D.VIII D.IX D.X D.XI D.XII

Aviatik	(D.I not assigned) D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI D.VII

Daimler	D.I D.II

DFW	D.I D.II

Euler	D.I D.II

Fokker	D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI D.VII D.VIII

Friedrichshafen	D.I DD.II

Halberstadt	D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V

Junkers	D.I

Kondor	D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI

LFG/Roland	D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI D.VII D.VIII D.IX D.X D.XI D.XII D.XIII D.XIV D.XV D.XVI D.XVII

LVG	D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI

MFW	D.I

Naglo	D.I D.II

Pfalz	D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI D.VII D.VIII D.IX D.X D.XI D.XII D.XIII D.XIV D.XV

Rumpler	D.I

Schütte-Lanz	D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI D.VII

Siemens-Schuckert	D.I D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI

Zeppelin-Lindau	D.I

DJ- class

AEG	DJ.I

World War I aircraft of the Central Powers

Fighters	AEG D.I AEG Dr.I Albatros D.I Albatros D.II Albatros D.III Albatros D.V Aviatik D.I Aviatik C.VI Daimler L.6 Euler D.I Euler D.II Fokker D.I Fokker D.II Fokker D.III Fokker D.IV Fokker D.V Fokker D.VI Fokker D.VII Fokker D.VIII Fokker Dr.I Fokker E.I Fokker E.II Fokker E.III Fokker E.IV Fokker E.V Halberstadt D.II Hannover CL.II Hannover CL.III Hannover CL.IV Hannover CL.V Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 Junkers D.I Kondor D.6 Kondor E.III Naglo D.II Pfalz D.III Pfalz D.XII Pfalz Dr.I Pfalz E.I Pfalz E.II Phönix D.I LFG Roland D.II LFG Roland D.VI Siemens-Schuckert D.I Siemens-Schuckert D.II Siemens-Schuckert D.III Siemens-Schuckert D.IV Siemens-Schuckert L.I Zeppelin-Lindau D.I

Bombers and ground attack	AEG DJ.I AEG G.I AEG G.II AEG G.III AEG G.IV AEG G.V AEG J.I AEG J.II AEG R.I Friedrichshafen G.II Friedrichshafen G.III Gotha G.I Gotha G.II Gotha G.III Gotha G.IV Gotha G.V Gotha GL.VII Gotha G.IX Hannover CL.II Junkers CL.I Junkers J.I Rumpler G.I Rumpler G.II Rumpler G.III Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.II Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.III Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.IV Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI

Reconnaissance	AEG B.I AEG B.II AEG B.III AEG C.I AEG C.II AEG C.III AEG C.IV AEG C.V AEG C.VI AEG C.VII AEG C.VIII AGO C.I AGO C.II AGO C.III AGO C.IV AGO C.VII AGO C.VIII Albatros B.I Albatros B.II Albatros C.I Albatros C.III Albatros C.V Albatros C.VII Albatros C.IX Albatros C.X Albatros C.XII Aviatik B.I Aviatik B.II Aviatik C.I Aviatik C.VI DFW C.V LFG Roland C.II LVG B.I LVG C.II Rumpler C.I Rumpler C.IV Rumpler Taube

Trainers	Euler D.I

Prototypes	Albatros C.II Fokker V.1 Fokker V.2 Junkers J 1 Junkers J 2 Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.I

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