C.Owers Fokker Aircraft of WWI. Vol.7: Postwar (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 67)

The Huffer H 9

  Julius Huffer was born in 1903 and never completed any technical training. Around 1920, he acquired the Gustav Schulze aircraft factory using his father’s inheritance. As he was not of age, his cousin Georg Huffer allowed his name to be used as the owner of the business until Julius came of age. Julius was constantly in financial trouble. In 1926 he brought his cousin, Georg into the business after he had been declared bankrupt.
  Deutsche Lloyd Flugzeug-Werke (DLFW) had tried to market their conversion of the Fokker D.VII as a two-seater but the effort was unsuccessful. Dr Georg Huffer’s Flugzeugbau Huffer of Munster, produced a two-seat version of the Fokker D.VII for the civilian market as a training/sporting biplane. It is assumed he had a license from DLFW as this meant that he did not have to undergo further testing as the modifications were already approved and only a simple test would lead to a certificate of airworthiness. Huffer did build and sell the type in a convoluted manner that has made it difficult for historians to determine exactly what went on in the 1920s, especially due to the incomplete German records of civil aviation. Huffer had his own system of designations but also used that of DLFW. The type was known as the Huffer Type H.9 but registered as the DLFW D VIII.
  It appears that the H9 was designated D VIII when equipped with a Type III engine and D VIIIa with a Type IIIa engine. Nine were built between 1928 to 1929.
  The first D VIII (w/n 1) was tested by the DVL with Georg as applicant. The fuselage was stated to be of Fokker Johannisthal construction with new wings by Huffer. Rudolf Ruding made the first flight of D VIII (w/n 1) at Munster in May 1927, but this resulted in the aircraft being completely written off.
  The Huffer H.S.D. II was a two-seat communal cockpit version of the Fokker D.VII. This appeared around late 1924, and was one of those fighters hidden at the end of the war, this one in a straw shed on Luneburg Heath. The fuselage had survived well, but the wings had to be replaced. It was rebuilt as w/n 101 with extended wings. A 160-hp Mercedes D.III was installed. Harry Fink made the first flight of the machine and became ‘lost’ and landed at Paderborn. Huffer had moved to Paderborn and in this way he transported the aircraft to the new field without having to pay land transportation as the machine had not received permission to make the flight as the new wings had not been approved.
  The H.S.D. II was sold to the Technical University of Hannover and registered as D-428. However, the machine was lost in an emergency landing when flying to Hanover by Gustav Koch, a WWI bomber pilot. He flew into thick fog and hit trees while trying to land. The report of the incident refers to the machine as a DLFW VIIIa. Whether the registration D-428 was ever officially allotted to this aircraft is not clear, D-428 was allocated to an Aero Sport S1.
  Likewise, D-407 (w/n 508), the Werke Nummer indicating it was built by DLFW. Purchased by Westfalenwerk GmbH in June 1923, it went through the Huffer works in the winter of 1924/1925 for overhaul and emerged with extended wings. It was bought by the owners of Trumpf chocolate as a Huffer machine. The German records underwent clean-up programs between 1936 and 1938, and dates are likely to be months or even years out as to when an aircraft was no longer flyable and when it was officially deleted from the records.
  When the Huffer works closed in January 1926, four Fokker D.VII fuselages were taken as bankrupt assets. They were sold and one was to come on the civil register as D-891, and strangely, it used a DLFW construction number when registered. See the table on the following page for details.


DLFW D VIII on the German Civil register
Registration Type Work# Engine Registered Notes
D-407 D VIIIa 508 Daimler III February 1928 Built by DLFW and purchased by Westfalenwerk GmbH in June 1923. It went through the Huffer works in the winter of 1924/1925 for overhaul and emerged with extended wings. It was bought by the owners of Trumpf chocolate. Cancelled December 1928.
D-446 D VIIIa 505 Daimler D.III - Feb 1928 Luftfahrtverein, Essen. Withdrawn April 1932.
D-700 D VIIIa 601 Daimler D.III February 1928 Cancelled April 1932.
D-891 D VIIIa 510 Daimler D.IIIa February 1928 Fuselage acquired from Huffer bankrupt stock. Destroyed February 1932.
D-1239 D VIII 2 Daimler D.IIIa May 1928 Succession civil owners, last in August 1931. November 1936, listed as destroyed in aircraft roll.
D-1440 DVIII 3 Daimler D.III July 1928 Last registered D-1440 August 1929. D-IHOT about January 1935.June 1937, written off aircraft roll.
D-1454 D VIIIa 13 Daimler D.IIIa July 1928 Crashed at Mariensiel on 6 April 1928, killing the pilot, Robert Muller. Registration cancelled December 1936
D-1527 DVIII 4 Daimler D.IIIa November 1928 Registered to Flugzeugbau Huffer. Destroyed by fire February 1933.
D-1586 DVIII D VIIIa 5 Daimler D.III BMW IIIA April 1929 Bavarian Aviation Association, Wurzburg. July 1931, D VIIIa when re-engined. December 1933, registration withdrawn.
D-2253 DVIII 6 or 7 April 1932 4 October 1932, recorded as destroyed at airport.
Note: Werke Nummers 1, 6 or 7 did not have a registration number.


Specifications DLFW D VIII
Span 8.90 m
Length 7.10 m
Area 20.9 m2
Weight empty 760 kg
Weight loaded 1,120 kg
Speed 170-180 km/h
Landing speed 85-90 km/h
Time to 1,000 m 4.5 min
Ceiling 5,500 m
Range 595 km
Duration 3.5 h
Motor 160-Mercedes D.III.
Source: http://docplayer.org/26869421-Der-hueffer-flugzeugbau-in-muenster-paderborn-und-krefeld.html