The history of Aviation Research in Germany
I | 1900-1914The first pioneers |
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1891 | Otto Lilienthal achieves the first human flight with his single-wing glider. He completes 2,000 successful flights before dying in an accident. |
1897-1914 | First intensive research and development work on dirigible airships; Count Zeppelin shows immense entrepreneurial courage and advances to the forefront of the airship movement. |
1903 | First motorised flight by the Wright brothers in the USA. At the same time, the German Karl Jatho from Hannover also performs the first successful aerial hops with a motorised apparatus. But he does not manage to control his machine in flight. Gustav Weißkopf from Leutershausen in Franconia, who had emigrated to the USA and was known there as Gustav Whitehead, is alleged to have completed several flights with a motorised flying machine in 1901, narrowly beating the Wright brothers at the post. But as there is no photographic or film evidence, the honour of completing the first documented motorised flight still goes to the Wright brothers. |
1904 | Prof. Ludwig Prandtl drafts his pioneering theory of extremely low-friction flows, which becomes known as the 'boundary layer theory'. |
1907 | Foundation of the Modellversuchsanstalt der Motorluftschiff-Studiengesellschaft (MVA, Institute of Model Testing of the Motorised Airship Study Society) in Göttingen. First closed loop wind tunnel, also known as the ‘Göttingen-type’ wind tunnel. This wind tunnel design inspires thousands more throughout the world. |
1908 | Foundation of the Drahtlostelegraphische und Luftelektrische Versuchsstation Gräfelfing (DVG, (Wireless Telegraphic and Air Electricity Test Station Gräfelfing) near Munich by the high-frequency engineer Max Dieckmann. |
1909 |
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1911 | Theodore von Kármán (a student of Prandtl) publishes his theory of the vortex street. |
1912 |
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II | 1914-1918First World War |
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1914-1915 | Beginning of metal aircraft construction. |
1915 |
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1917 | Commissioning of Wind Tunnel I at today's DLR site on Bunsenstraße Göttingen by the MVA. Dismantling of the first Göttingen-type wind tunnel at MVA and reconstruction on the new grounds, then named Wind Tunnel II. |
1918 |
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III | 1919-1933Reconstruction and realignment |
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1919 |
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From 1921 | Work on aerodynamics and optimisation of vehicles (e.g. the Rumpler 'drop car', Daimler-Benz racing car) and locomotives (Betz guide plates) unrelated to the aviation sector is carried out during the period of hyperinflation. |
1924 |
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1925 |
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1927 | Foundation of the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (DFS, German Institute for Glider Research). |
1928 | Foundation of the Deutsche Forschungsrat für Luftfahrt (German Aeronautics Research Council) as a scientific advisory body. |
1932 | Maiden flight of the Heinkel He 70, the first ‘fast aircraft’ with aerodynamically optimised configuration and retractable landing gear. |
IV | 1933-1939Subsidisation and rearmament in the Third Reich |
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1933 |
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1935 |
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1936 |
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1937 |
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1938 |
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1939 | A milestone in the history of aviation: maiden flight of the Heinkel He 178, featuring the first use of a turbojet engine with radial compressor and annular combustion chamber. |
V | 1939 -1945Second World War |
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From 1939 | Aviation research is largely subjugated to the needs of its military clientèle. |
1940 |
- aerodynamics - high-performance piston engines - jet and rocket engines - weapon technology - wireless navigation and measuring technology - materials
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1941 |
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1942 | DVG becomes a branch office of FFO, and Max Dieckmann is appointed FFO director. |
From 1944 | Series production begins of the Jumo 003 and 004 jet engines with annular combustion chamber. |
Until 1945 | Numerous swept-wing designs for high-speed aircraft; the most striking examples include the Ju 287 with forward swept wings and Me 1101 with ground-adjustable swept wings. The designs are used later on as the basis for the US experimental aircraft, the Bell X5. |
1945 | Takeover of the German aviation research institutions by the victorious powers. End of all aviation research activities. Successive dismantling of the test facilities and closure of the institutions. Documentation of German aviation research activities, for instance in the Göttingen and Braunschweig monographs as well as in BIOS, CIOS and FIAT reports. Emigration of numerous German aeronautical scientists, predominantly to the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The following years see intense and extensive use of German aeronautical expertise in these countries and in:
One example is the redesign of the wings of the planned US bomber Boeing B 47 – which was initially given a conventional trapezoidal shape – based on Busemann’s swept wing theories (LFA). |
VI | 1951-1969New beginnings and reconstruction |
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1951 |
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From 1952 |
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From 1953 |
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From 1954 |
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1955 |
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1956 | Inauguration of a grid testing track for transonic flow at AVA in Göttingen. |
1957 |
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1958 |
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1959 | Foundation of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Flugwissenschaften (DGF, German Society for Flight Sciences) under its director Prof. Hermann Blenk. |
1960 |
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1962 | Commissioning of the 1-metre wind tunnel at AV |
1963 |
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1964 | Merger between DSH and DFL. |
From 1965 |
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1969 | Merger of AVA, DVL and DFL to create the Deutsche Forschungs- und Versuchsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DFVLR, German Test and Research Institute for Aviation and Spaceflight). |
VII | 1969 – 1989Consolidation and concentration within the DFVLR from 1969 |
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1969 |
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1970 | First investigations into the electronic control of aircraft (Institute of Flight Guidance, Braunschweig). |
1971 |
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1972 | New Canberra twin-engine research aircraft for high-altitude research, atmospheric research, antennas, remote sensing in Oberpfaffenhofen. |
1973 | Construction of a flight simulator in Braunschweig (based on Hunting Percival Pembroke), Institute of Flight Guidance. |
1976 |
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1977 | In-flight simulation of the planned Airbus A 310 using the HFB 320 as part of the civilian component programme. |
1978 | First measurement flights with the new Bo 105 S-123 research helicopter (Institute of Flight Mechanics, Braunschweig). |
Since around 1980 | Development of large computer-based numerical methods for calculating the aerodynamic pressure distribution on oscillating airfoils (CFD, computational fluid dynamics). |
1980 | Commissioning of a test model for the planned European Transonic Wind Tunnel in Cologne-Porz. |
1981 |
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1982 | Rotor jettison rescue system for helicopter pilots (Institute of Flight Mechanics, Braunschweig). |
1984 |
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1985 |
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1986 | First in-flight simulation with the new ATTAS research aircraft VFW 614 (Institute of Flight Mechanics). |
1987 |
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1988 | Wind tunnel tests in Göttingen, contra-rotating integrated shrouded propfan (CRISP). |
1989 | DFVLR is renamed as the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR, German Research Institute for Aviation and Space Flight). |
VIII | 1989 – todayNew name and increased international collaboration |
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1989 | Development of a rudder made of CFRP (carbon fibre reinforced plastic), Institute for Structural Mechanics, Braunschweig. |
1990 | Test of the COMPAS flight guidance system in Frankfurt (Institute of Flight Guidance, Braunschweig). |
1991 | ATTAS in-flight simulation for the planned HERMES spaceplane. |
1992 to 1995 | Strato 2C high-altitude research aircraft; project discontinued following a political decision by the Federal Ministry of Research. |
1992 |
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1994 |
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1995 |
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1996 | Testing of a de-icing system for laminar wings in Braunschweig. Cooperation with Deutsche Aerospace AG (DASA). |
1997 |
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1998 |
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2000 | Commissioning of a helicopter ground simulator for the planned new research helicopter FHS (EC 135). |
2001 | Vortex and acoustic measurements on helicopter rotors in DNW as part of HART II, Institute of Flight Systems in Braunschweig (formerly Institute of Flight Mechanics). |
2002 |
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2003 | Maiden flight of the ARTIS uncrewed helicopter, a technology demonstrator for autonomous VTOL flights (Institute of Flight Systems, Braunschweig). |
2004 |
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2005 |
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2006 | DLR receives HALO as a new research aircraft for atmospheric research; start of deployment in 2008, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Oberpfaffenhofen. |
2007 |
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2008 | Ground-breaking ceremony for a field test platform investigating the future of ground traffic control, a joint project by DLR, Flughafen Hamburg GmbH and Deutsche Flugsicherung. |
2010 |
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2011 | DLR investigates wake vortices in cruise flight. |
2013 | Europe's fastest computer for aeronautical research is put into operation at DLR with a capacity of 262,000,000,000,000 computing operations per second. |
2014 | Ground vibration testing on the Solar Impulse solar-powered aircraft, carried out by the Institute of Aeroelasticity in Göttingen. |
2015 | Commissioning of the Next Generation Turbine Test Facility for research into aircraft and power plant turbines at the Institute of Propulsion Technology in Göttingen. |
2016 | DLR builds a replica of Otto Lilienthal's normal gliding apparatus, the world's first series-produced aircraft. |
2020 | The new ISTAR Dassault Falcon 2000LX research aircraft is added to the DLR research fleet. |
2021 |
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