The Essen NVfL “Essener Flugmaschine” Gleiter of 1909 was owned by the Flugtechnische Kommission of Sektion Essen of the flying club NVfL (Niederrheinischer Verein für Luftfahrt). It was designed by a member of the club, Ing. Düll, and built under the direction of Otto Hilsmann at the carpenter’s workshop “Schmetz & Diepenbrock” during 1908/1909. Tests were made by Heinrich Schmetz, flown from a ramp [Flugplatz Holten] that could be turned into the wind.
During one of the flight tests in the first half of 1910, the NVfL’s machine crashed when the left wing got ground contact.
The self-built flying machine was pushed back into the workshop and rebuilt. Flights were then made to Holten Airport (Oberhausen), which had already been built in 1909, as the terrain in the Ruhr meadows was no longer suitable for flight operations.
