Akaflieg Darmstadt D-6 Geheimrat

Akaflieg Darmstadt · Germany · first flew 1922 · glider

The Akaflieg Darmstadt D-6 Geheimrat was an early single-seat competition glider with a high cantilever wing, designed and built by German university students in 1922.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	High-mounted, tapered
E — Engines	1 × none, embedded-mounted
F — Fuselage	Single-seat glider with a high cantilever wing mounted on two extensions above the fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.

Spot it by:

Single-seat glider with a high cantilever wing mounted on two extensions above the fuselage
Open, unscreened cockpit below the wing leading edge
Wedge-shaped plywood fuselage with a tailplane that has no elevators, landing on skids

Look for the thick, slightly tapered high wing with a straight-edged centre section, the strongly wedge-shaped fuselage behind the wing and the almost square fin and rudder with an elevator-less tailplane at the extreme tail.

Specifications

The Akaflieg Darmstadt D-6 Geheimrat has a length of 5.5 m (18 ft).
It has a wingspan of 12.1 m (40 ft).
Typical crew: 1.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

The Akademische Fliegergruppe of the Technical University of Darmstadt built it as the group's sixth design, naming it in honour of a student who was the son of a Privy Councillor (Geheimrat). It first flew in 1922.

Variants

Only one was built. The pilot controlled pitch by varying the wing's angle of incidence in flight rather than using elevators, so the tailplane carried none.

Where you'll see it

It competed in the Rhön (Wasserkuppe) glider meeting in August 1922 and gained second place in the sink rate section. The earlier D-4 Edith was judged more successful overall by a contemporary observer.

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