LVG C.VI

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LVG C.VI (Windsock Datafile 17)

By P. M. Gross

Publisher: Albatros Productions Limited 1989 32 Pages

ISBN: 0948414219

PDF 26 MB

The powerful Luft-Verkefirs-Gesellschaft mbH of Berlin-Johannisthal (LVG) delivered 5,640 aircraft to the German Fliegertruppe during World War I, second only to the Albatros-Gesellschaft fur Flugzeugunternehmungen mbH with a total of 6.242. LVG was founded in March 1910 by Alfred Muller, a cunning businessman who achieved early notoriety for his sharp practices and questionable financial manipulations among his various business enterprises. By 1913, Muller had achieved control over a number of aviation-related organizations consisting of an aeronautical trading firm, a hangar manufacturer, an aerodrome and sport-site development company, the Luftverkehrs AG (AG—joint stock company later changed to a GmbH— limited liability company), an industrial realty concern and ownership of virtually all of the property on which the Johannisthal-Adlershof aerodrome was located, some 756 acres in all. Disregarding the ethics of his shady dealings, Muller's financial cloul and concomitant political influence assured perfect positioning to participate in the incredible rise in military aircraft purchases as the war progressed. In 1913. with a complement of about 300 employees, LVG delivered a total of 60 aircraft".

In May 1918 alone, 174 aircraft were accepted from LVG Berlin which at the time engaged about 3,500 workers. This total does not include the Koslin subsidiary which manu­factured and repaired aeroplanes for the Army and Navy.

LVG's prospects were greatly enhanced when the company hired Franz Schneider as chief designer. Born in Switzerland on September 26 1871. Schneider, who had studied precision tool-making and electro-technology, had joined the Nieuport firm in Suresnes in 1906 to design magnetos, engines and spark plugs. When the company decided in 1909 to build aircraft, 'Nieuport's friend and assistant' Franz Schneider played an important part in the design of the sleek and fast Nieuport monoplanes with their typical tapered wings.