Aviatik C.VI

C.VI
	An oblique view of the prototype Aviatik C.VI, c. 1916
Role	Reconnaissance aircraft
Manufacturer	Aviatik
Number built	1

The Aviatik C.VI was a prototype German biplane observation aircraft built by Aviatik during World War I. Based on the earlier Aviatik C.V, the C.VI had a more powerful engine and other improvements. Only a single aircraft was built.

Design

The C.VI was a development of the C.V with a water-cooled, 200 hp (150 kW) inline 6-cylinder Benz Bz.IV piston engine. It replaced the earlier aircraft's upper gull wing with a conventional two-bay wing and added a vertical stabilizer. The propeller spinner of the earlier aircraft was eliminated, but the C.VI retained the two-seat configuration of the C.V with the pilot in the forward cockpit and the observer in the rear cockpit.^[1]

These changes made the C.VI easier to produce and improved its flying qualities over the Aviatik C.V, but only a single prototype was constructed because it did not exceed the performance of the DFW C.V already in production by Aviatik.^[1]

Confusion with the license-built DFW C.V

Aviation historians Peter Gray and Owen Thetford admit that there has been confusion about which aircraft has been designated as the Aviatik C.VI in the past, but state that that name was used for the license-built DFW C.V in their 1970 book.^[2] Aviation historian Jack Herris notes that when the German Army's (Deutsches Heer) Inspectorate of Flying Troops (Inspektion der Fliegertruppen (Idflieg)) initially awarded contracts for license building another company's design, the aircraft received a designation in the builder's sequence; for example Aviatik manufactured the Halberstadt D.II as the Aviatik D.I. Sometime in late 1916 Idflieg decided to reduce the confusion and added an abbreviation for the manufacturer after the designer's designation; thus the Aviatik D.I became the Halberstadt D.II(Av).^[3]

Idflieg awarded Aviatik and other companies a contract to build DFW C.Vs in October 1916 using the old naming system,^[4] but it was changed to the revised designation in subsequent batches as photographic evidence of aircraft with the stenciled D.F.W. CV(Av) name exists.^[5]

Specifications

Data from Aviatik Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 2
Powerplant: 1 × Benz Bz.IV 6-cylinder water-cooled in-line piston engine, 150 kW (200 hp)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Herris, p. 165
^ Gray & Thetford, p. 281
^ Herris 2023, p. 172
^ Grosz, p. 6, footnote 5
^ Grosz, p. 20

Bibliography

Gray, Peter & Thetford, Owen (1987) [1970]. German Aircraft of the First World War (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-809-7.
Grosz, P. M. (1995). DFW C.V. Windsock Datafile. Vol. 53. Berkhampstead, UK: Albatros Productions. ISBN 0-948414-70-7.
Herris, Jack (2023). Aviatik Aircraft of WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes. Great War Aviation Centennial Series. Vol. 10 (2nd ed.). n.p.: Aeronaut Books. ISBN 978-1-953201-59-1.

[Herris-1] Herris, p. 165

[2] Gray & Thetford, p. 281

[3] Herris 2023, p. 172

[4] Grosz, p. 6, footnote 5

[5] Grosz, p. 20

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v t e Aviatik aircraft
Aviatik aircraft	B.I B.II B.III C.I C.II C.III C.IV C.V C.VI C.VIII C.IX D.II D.III D.IV D.V D.VI D.VII F P13 P14 P18 P19 P20
Aviatik (Berg) aircraft	D.I D.II
Aviatik (Austro-Hungary) aircraft	C.I

v t e 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 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 Siemens-Schuckert L.I 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