 | |
| Company type | Non-profit |
|---|---|
| Genre | Aviation research |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Headquarters | |
| Website | www |
Akaflieg is an abbreviation forAkademische Fliegergruppe, groups ofaeronautical engineering students from individualGermanuniversities of technology andTechnische Hochschulen, pre and postwar, who design aircraft, often gliders.
Otto Lilienthal published his bookDer Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst (Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation) in 1889. This described the basics of modern aerodynamics and aircraft construction. Lilienthal then made many successful flights starting in 1891. However attention then shifted to powered flight afterWorld War I.
Gliding re-emerged as a sport after the war because the building of powered aircraft was restricted in Germany by theTreaty of Versailles. The main originator of the gliding movement wasOskar Ursinus, who in 1920 organised the first contest, known as the Rhön-Contest, on theWasserkuppe. Thereafter the contest was held annually. Students ofTechnische Hochschulen brought gliders which they had developed and built themselves for testing to these contests. Anesprit de corps developed known asRhöngeist.
These informal beginnings caused the formation of groups of engineers atTechnische Hochschulen with the aim of scientific and practical education. The first groups were formed in 1920 in Aachen, Darmstadt and Berlin-Charlottenburg, but others soon followed.
Many of the first members had been pilots in the German Air Force. However it was the love of flying rather than militarism or nationalism that motivated them. As a result a fraternal spirit was created that has been maintained to this day.
During the Nazi period some Akafliegs escaped regulation for a while through the patronage of theDeutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt (DVL), a forerunner of the present-dayGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), however shortly beforeWorld War II the akafliegs were forced to integrate into theNS-Deutsche Studentenbund (Nazi-students-federation). The projects at this time mainly had a military application.
After the war, the Akafliegs re-formed in 1951, co-ordinated byInteressengemeinschaft Deutscher Akademischer Fliegergruppen e.V. (Idaflieg). As of 2009 there are ten groups.
The aim of the Akafliegs is the development, design and construction of aeroplanes, especially gliders and scientific research into flight. Much of the practical work is done at the summer meetings of theIdaflieg in co-operation with theGerman Aerospace Center (DLR), while the results of the research are presented at the winter meetings. TheIdaflieg also offers many events and courses to its members such as the specification, design and certification of aeroplanes.
The quality of additional education provided by the Akafliegs is widely respected and so German glider manufacturers recruit almost exclusively from the Akafliegs.
Members have to devote approximately 150 to 300 man-hours annually in order to be able to fly with the Akafliegs. The cost of flying for these members is usually much lower than at other gliding clubs.
American Universities have also implemented programs similar to the Akafliegs but based around the American style of teaching,Penn State's AERSP 404H is one example of this implementation.
There are also academical gliding clubs with other focus than building aircraft, like theAkaflieg Frankfurt which is devoted on research of thermals, mountain wave and flight safety.
