FVA 6

Towards the end of 1924, the FVA turned away completely from gliding for a few years. The main reasons for this were as follows:

On the one hand, powered flight was allowed again in 1924, and on the other hand, it seemed at that time that gliding had already reached the limits of its possibilities.

Until about 1929, gliding was almost identical with slope flying. However, the achievable low mountain ranges had already been flown in length and height. Continuous flight was only dependent on the steadiness of the wind and the pilots’ sitting ability, but not a technical problem. Another reason for the temporary turning away from gliding may have been a certain resignation caused by the slightly disappointing results of the past three Rhön competitions. The slope in Aachen (near Orsbach), which had been flown until then, no longer offered any special attraction with its 70m altitude difference, so that the supposed possibilities of the re-licensed motorized flight were more enticing.Thus Ilse Kober and Theodor Bienen designed the FVA-6 in 1926. Ilse Kober was at that time an assistant to Prof. von Kármán and already had some experience in the construction of airplanes, which she had already begun during her school years. It is difficult to imagine today what an achievement it was, especially at that time, to successfully design aircraft as a Dr.-Ing. Ilse Kober then went to the DVL in 1925 and could therefore no longer follow the construction of the FVA-6.The FVA-6 was a strutted biplane with an I-stem, had two seats in a row and was equipped with an English ABC engine with 30hp. The FVA-6 was built in the workshop of the former “Aachener Segelflugzeugbau GmbH”, which had been taken over by Junkers.

The two-seater biplane was completed in 1926 and was taken to Düsseldorf-Lohausen for test flights because Aachen was still occupied by the Belgians.

Ludwig Pfitzner, one of the few of the new FVA generation who had already flown and had just obtained his pilot’s license, was chosen to fly the FVA-6. This circumstance brought him into the unfortunate situation of having totally destroyed the FVA-6 during its maiden flight. However, the blame for this lay less with him than with the fact that apparently the center of gravity of the FVA-6 was not right.

The explanation for this failure is that the FVA had in the meantime acquired a different face. The old “war generation” had graduated and left the university. The succeeding generation was much younger and lacked, above all, something that the older ones had brought with them from the war: they could not fly.

It was natural, therefore, that their primary interest was directed solely toward learning to fly and to engage in aeronautical activities. These FVAers had little idea of aircraft construction and design. The designers of the FVA-6 were no longer in Aachen when the aircraft was completed. The new students, who could hardly fly, knew nothing about an untested new design whose flight characteristics and pitfalls were unknown.