Akaflieg Darmstadt
| Type | Non-profit |
| Founded | |
| Headquarters | Darmstadt, Germany |
| Membership | Students and University faculty |
| Field | Aviation research |
| Number of Members | 53 (in 2010) |
| Key personnel | Karl-Heinz "McHinz" Hinz – senior mastercraft |
| Website | www.akaflieg.tu-darmstadt.de |
Akaflieg Darmstadt is one of approximately twenty flying groups attached to German universities. Akaflieg is an abbreviation for Akademische Fliegergruppe, an academic group of students and faculty from a German University.
Otto Lilienthal published his book Der Vogelflug als Grundlage der Fliegekunst (Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation) in 1889, describing the basis of modern aerodynamics and aircraft construction. Lilienthal made many successful gliding flights from 1891 onwards. But the focus of attention shifted to powered flight after the Wright Brothers had demonstrated their Wright Flyer.
Gliding re-emerged as a sport after the war because the building of powered aircraft was restricted in Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. The main originator of the gliding movement was Oskar Ursinus, who in 1920 organised the first contest, known as the Rhön-Contest, on the Wasserkuppe. Held annually, students of technical universities brought gliders which they had developed and built themselves for testing at these contests, developing an esprit de corps known as Rhöngeist.
These informal beginnings stimulated the formation of groups of engineers at universities with the aim of scientific and practical education, with the first groups being formed, in 1920, at Aachen (Flugwissenschaftliche Vereinigung Aachen), Darmstadt (Akaflieg Darmstadt) and Berlin-Charlottenburg (Akaflieg Berlin), but others soon followed. Many of the first members had been pilots in the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service), but it was the love of flying rather than militarism or nationalism that motivated them, resulting in a fraternal spirit that has been maintained to this day.
...
Wikipedia