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Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI

The Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI(Av) was a very large bomber (Riesenflugzeug), designed and built in Germany during 1918.

Development

The R.XVI, an incremental improvement to the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI, was one of a series of large bombers called Riesenflugzeuge, intended to be less vulnerable than dirigibles in use at the time. The R.XVI had four engines in a push-pull configuration, mounted in nacelles large enough for some inflight maintenance by flight mechanics, housed in nacelles between the engines.

Three aircraft were ordered to be completed by Automobil & Aviatik A.G., at Leipzig-Heiterblick. Only two R.XVIs were completed and only one of these, (R.49), flew before the Armistice on 11 November 1918. The third R.XVI (R.51) was 3/4 complete at the Armistice but was never completed.

Operational history

Flight testing was carried out by R.49 during the war from September 1918, until a landing accident in October caused significant damage which was unlikely to have been repaired. The second aircraft, (R.50), was completed in 1919 as a civilian airliner, continuing the flight test programme until being flown to Döberitz for storage in November 1919.

Specifications (Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI(Av))

Data from

General characteristics

Crew: seven
Length: 22.5 m (73 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 42.2 m (138 ft 5 in)
Height: 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 340 m² (3,700 sq ft)
Empty weight: 10,400 kg (22,928 lb)
Gross weight: 14,650 kg (32,298 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Benz Bz.VI (pusher) V-12 water-cooled piston engines, 400 kW (530 hp) each
Powerplant: 2 × Benz Bz.IV (tractor) 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engines, 160 kW (220 hp) each
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch wooden tractor and pusher propellers