The Hungarian Lloyd Aircraft and Motor Factory Corporation ( Hungarian: Magyar Lloyd Repülőgép- és Motorgyár Rt., German: Ungarische Lloyd Flugzeug und Motorenfabrik AG) was established in Aszód in 1913. The company started its operation in the factory building for the chassis and carpentry of the former Hungarian Royal Institute of Repair Workshop.
History
The factory was established on the initiative of Hungarian and foreign interest groups under the name Magyar Lloyd Autómobil- és Motorgyár Rt.
Aircraft production started in 1914, with the Deutsche Flugzeug-Werke (D.F.W.) company entering the business with ten DFW B.I type semi-finished aircraft, in order to speed up assembly and production in the newly established factory. D.F.W. also sent pilot Henrik Bier to the new factory manager.
Hungarian engineers were entrusted with the management of the new plant.
When assembling the first DFW aircraft, the factory's engineers noticed that the machines had a very complicated structure, so they reworked the wing shape - also called "Flying Banana" because of the curved wings - to a straight-line, backward-arrowing structure.
The first Lloyd aircraft
The factory in Aszód was given the monarchy's Aircraft Factory 4 mark, so the first prototype aircraft built here was given the mark 40.01. The first public appearance of the aircraft took place immediately after its completion. In June 1914, the aircraft was sent to Aspern for a demonstration, where it was entered in a flying competition on 27 July 1914 with a number 20. At the Aspern demonstration, the experimental aircraft, equipped with a 107 KW (145 HP) Hiero engine and piloted by director Heinrich Bier, climbed to a surprising , reaching a record altitude of with a passenger, thus opening the way for the factory's aircraft and the production of the Lloyd 41 series.
In 1914, the Aspern race was the first to be reported in foreign-language journals, such as Zeitschrift Für Flugtechnik Und Motorluftschiffahrt, in July 1914, and an article in the Hungarian-language aviation magazine "Aero" appeared in 1916:
The first Lloyd aircraft, which later became legendary, was taken over by the Imperial and Royal Command and put into service in the southern front immediately after the outbreak of the First World War. The aircraft operated for 2 years as a war machine, equipped with bombs and radio equipment, in addition to reconnaissance missions. The brave war pilots who flew the aircraft made numerous visits to the positions of Lovcen, Cetinje, Durazzo, Valona and Nis.
Most often, the pilots Captain Dworzák, Lieutenant Pieler and Sergeant Dobos flew this first Lloyd aircraft, many times at the greatest risk to their lives, as can be seen from the marks of hits from the shots on the fuselage and wings.
After two years of loyal service, the aircraft was returned to the factory, whose management donated this veteran aircraft, which is of great industrial, sporting and military importance, to the Royal Hungarian Transport Museum.
In 1917 the empty kite of the aircraft was exhibited at the Military Aircraft Exhibition and later at the Royal Transport Museum.
According to the Object Guide of the 1917 Military Aircraft Exhibition in the Industrial Exhibition Hall:
Wingspan: 14.4 m
Length: 8,9 m
Height: 3,15 m
Take-off weight: 1060 kg
Maximum speed: 140 km/h
Engine: Hiero, 6-cylinder, 106 kW
Aircraft variants produced by Lloyd
Between 1914 and 1916, the aircraft factory, which employed 400 people, largely produced versions of the successful first aircraft with various engines, serial numbers 41, 42 and 43.
These first aircraft were made of wood and covered with canvas, with the exception of the 40.01, which had a steel tube fuselage imported from Leipzig.
The design engineers at the Lloyd factory used the experience of the first war years to produce two versions of the 44 series, the second of which differed from the first in that instead of the previous canvas wing covering, the entire surface of the wings was covered with a thin layer of wooden sheeting, which greatly increased the stiffness of the wing, while at the same time increasing the surface smoothness, resulting in higher speed.