W.Green, G.Swanborough The Complete Book of Fighters

GEEST Germany

   In 1916, Dr Waldemar Geest designed a single-seat fighter which, built by Automobil und Aviatik AG of Leipzig-Heiterblick, utilised his patented Mowe (Seagull) type wing. The Mowe wing featured varying incidence angle and dihedral over its planform to compensate for forward and lateral gusts, and the excellent stability that it offered had been demonstrated by six Mowe monoplanes built prior to World War I. The Mowe wing concept was adapted by Dr Geest for a fighter of staggered single-bay biplane configuration powered by a 160 hp Mercedes D III six-cylinder water-cooled engine. During military trials, performed in 1917, the Geest fighter attained an altitude of 11,485 ft (3 500 m) in 17.5 min and a maximum speed of 99 mph (160 km/h), but development was discontinued and no further aircraft employed the Mowe wing.

J.Herris German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers in WW1. Vol I (A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes 49)

Geest

   Dr. Waldmer Geest began experimenting with stable, tailless, wings in 1896. He based his work on his observations of hawks and seagulls and developed his Mowe (seagull) wing. Unlike a normal straight wing his patented wing was designed to compensate for forward or lateral gusts by a varying angle of incidence and dihedral throughout the wing planform. Six Geest Mowe monoplanes were constructed before the war and demonstrated excellent stability characteristics. Due to his wartime activities he was not able to continue his investigations until 1916-1917 when Aviatik built a single-seat fighter with a Mowe wing. This biplane was powered by a 160-hp Mercedes D.III engine. During military trials the fighter reached a top speed of 160 km per hour (99 mph); that was considered a good performance for its time. Due to more pressing wartime considerations the work on the Mowe wing was discontinued.