The Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI was a four-engined German biplane strategic bomber of World War I, and the only Riesenflugzeug ("giant aircraft") design built in any quantity.

The R.VI was the most numerous of the R-Bombers built by Germany, and also among the earliest closed-cockpit military aircraft (the first being the Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets). The bomber was reputedly the largest wooden aircraft to be produced in any quantity during World War I, with only the Siemens-Schuckert R.VIII prototype bomber of 1916–1919 being larger, and with the Staaken R.VI's wingspan of 42.2 m (138 ft) nearly equaling that of the World War II Boeing B-29 Superfortress, although significantly less than the 48 m (157 ft) span of the Siemens-Schuckert R.VIII.

Design and development

In September 1914, at the start of World War I, Ferdinand von Zeppelin visualised the concept of a Riesenflugzeug (R) bomber, to be larger than the then-nascent Friedel-Ursinus twin-engined military aircraft. Using engineers from the Robert Bosch GmbH, he created the Versuchsbau Gotha-Ost (VGO) consortium in a rented hangar at the Gotha factory. Alexander Baumann became his chief engineer, although later the team included other noted engineers including Zeppelin's associate Claudius Dornier, the 1915 pioneer of all-metal aircraft construction in Hugo Junkers and Baumann's protogé Adolph Rohrbach. Almost all of these Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeug designs used some variation of either pusher configuration and/or push-pull configuration in their engine layout, orientation and placement of their powerplants.

The first Riesenflugzeug built was the VGO.I flying in April 1915, using three engines; two pusher and one tractor, with a 42.2 metres (138 feet 5 inches) span, four-bay interplane strut layout for its slightly swept-back leading edge biplane configuration, maintained throughout the entire Zeppelin-Staaken R-series of aircraft during World War I. The VGO.I was built for the Marine-Fliegerabteilung (Imperial German naval Air service) and served on the Eastern Front Later modified with two extra engines, it crashed during tests at Staaken. The similar VGO.II was also used on the Eastern Front.

Baumann was an early expert in light-weight construction techniques and placed the four engines in nacelles mounted between the upper and lower wing decks to distribute the loads to save weight in the wing spars.

The next aircraft, the VGO.III was a six-engined design The 160 hp Maybach engines were paired to drive the three propellers. It served with Riesenflugzeug Abteilung (Rfa) 500.

In 1916 VGO moved to the Berlin suburb of Staaken, to take advantage of the vast Zeppelin sheds there. The successor to the VGO III became the Staaken R.IV (IdFlieg number R.12/15), the only "one-off" Zeppelin-Staaken R-type to survive World War I, powered by a total of six engines, driving three propellers: a tractor configuration system in the nose and two pusher-mount nacelle mounts between the wings. By the autumn of 1916, Staaken was completing its R.V, the R.VI prototype, and R.VII versions of the same design, and Idflieg selected the R.VI for series production over the 6-engined R.IV and other Riesenflugzeug designs, primarily those of Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG.

With four direct-drive engines in a tandem push-pull arrangement, and a fully enclosed cockpit, the R.VI design required none of the complex gearboxes of other R-types. Each R.VI bomber required the support of a 50-man ground crew. The R.VI required a complex 18-wheel undercarriage consisting of twin nosewheels and a quartet of four-wheeled groupings for its main gear to support its weight, and carried two mechanics in flight, seated between the engines in open niches cut in the center of each nacelle. The bombs were carried in an internal bomb bay located under the central fuel tanks, with three racks each capable of holding seven bombs. The R.VI was capable of carrying the 1000 kg PuW bomb.

Although designed by Versuchsbau, because of the scope of the project, the production R.VI's were manufactured by other firms: seven by Schütte-Lanz using sheds at Flugzeugwerft GmbH Staaken, Berlin; six by Automobil und Aviatik A.G. (Aviatik) (the original order was for three); and three by Albatros Flugzeugwerke. 13 of the production models were commissioned into service before the armistice and saw action.

One R.VI was as a float-equipped seaplane for the Marine-Fliegerabteilung (Imperial German Naval Air Service), with the designation Type L and s/n 1432, using Maybach engines. After the first flight on 5 September 1917 the Type "L" crashed during testing on June 3, 1918. The Type 8301, of which four were ordered and three delivered, was developed from the R.VI by elevating the fuselage above the lower wing for greater water clearance, eliminating the bomb bays, and enclosing the open gun position on the nose.

The special "R.30/16" test aircraft

R.VI serial number R.30/16 was the earliest known supercharged aircraft to fly, with a fifth engine - a Mercedes D.II - installed in the central fuselage, driving a Brown-Boveri four-stage supercharger at some 6,000 rpm. This enabled the R.30/16 to climb to an altitude of 19,100 feet (5,800 m). The idea of supercharging an aircraft's propeller-driving piston engines with an extra powerplant used solely to power a supercharger was not attempted again by Germany until later in World War II, when both the Dornier Do 217P and Henschel Hs 130E experimental bomber designs each revived the idea as the Höhen-Zentrale-Anlage system. The R.30/16 aircraft was later fitted with four examples of one of the first forms of variable-pitch propellers, believed to have been ground-adjustable only.

Operational service

The R.VI equipped two Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Army Air Service) units, Riesenflugzeug-Abteilung (Rfa) 500 and Rfa 501, with the first delivered June 28, 1917.

The units first served on the Eastern Front, based at Alt-Auz and Vilua in Kurland until August 1917. Almost all missions were flown at night with 770 kg (1,698 lb) bomb loads, operating between 6,500 and 7,800 feet (2,000 and 2,400 m) altitude. Missions were of three to five hours' duration.

Rfa 501 transferred to Ghent, Belgium, to attack France and Great Britain, arriving September 22, 1917, at Sint-Denijs-Westrem airdrome. Rfa 501 later moved its base to Scheldewindeke airdrome south of group headquarters at Gontrode, while Rfa 500 was based at Castinne, France, with its primary targets French airfields and ports.

Rfa 501, with an average of five R.VI's available for missions, conducted 11 raids on Great Britain between September 28, 1917, and May 20, 1918, dropping 27,190 kg (27 long tons; 30 short tons) of bombs in 30 sorties. Aircraft flew individually to their targets on moonlit nights, requesting directional bearings by radio after takeoff, then using the River Thames as a navigational landmark. Missions on the 340-mile (550 km) round trip lasted seven hours. None were lost in combat over Great Britain (compared to 28 Gotha G bombers shot down over England), but two crashed returning to base in the dark.

Four R.VI's were shot down in combat (one-third of the operational inventory), with six others destroyed in crashes, of the 13 commissioned during the war. Six of the 18 eventually built survived the war or were completed after the armistice.

Discovered crash site

Very little remains of these giant bombers, although nearly a century after the end of World War I amateur historians of the "Poelcapelle 1917 Association vzw" working in Poelkapelle, northeast of Ypres, identified a wreck that was found in 1981 by Daniel Parrein, a local farmer who was plowing his land. For a while it was thought that the wreck was that of French ace Georges Guynemer's SPAD S.XIII; however that was discounted when repair tools were found at the site, and further research pointed that the engine was a Mercedes D.IVa, possibly of a Gotha G bomber. A comparison of recovered parts was inconclusive, since the parts were common to a number of aircraft other than the Gotha G.

In 2007 the researchers, Piet Steen with some help of Johan Vanbeselaere, finally made a conclusive identification after visiting one of the few partial specimens (the distinctive engine nacelles) in a Kraków air museum. With the help of the Polish aviation historians, parts were identified as those of Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI R.34/16, which crashed on 21 April 1918 after a mission against the Royal Air Force airfield at Saint-Omer, France. The R.VI was shot down, apparently by anti-aircraft fire of the British 2nd Army, while trying to cross the front line, killing all seven crew members.

Variants

Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI

The first true production Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeug was the R.VI. This giant aircraft was powered either by four 245 hp (183KW) Maybach MbIV engines or four 260 hp(194KW) Mercedes D.IVa engines. The fuselage was similar to the previous aircraft but the cockpit was extended forwards, enclosed and glazed with a gunners cockpit in the extreme nose. Other improvements included aluminium alloy structure in the triple finned biplane tail unit, which was built with inverse camber to improve the stabilising downforce. Eighteen R.VIs were built serialled 'R25' to 'R39' and 'R52' to 'R54' all except 'R30', which was used exclusively as a supercharged engine test-bed, saw service in the Luftstreitkräfte with Rfa500 and Rfa 501 on the western front stationed in the Ghent area. Air raids on England by R.VIs began on 17 September 1917. Many air raids attributed to Gotha bombers were, in fact, carried out by Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI or R.XIV bombers, with direct hits on the Royal Hospital Chelsea with the first 1,000 kg bomb dropped on England, on 16/17 February 1918. St Pancras Station was attacked the next night. During the campaign from 18 December 1917 to 20 May 1918 the R.VIs of Rfa501 made eleven raids dropping 27,190 kg (28tons) of bombs. Eighteen built.

Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII

Differing little from the R.IV, the R.VII had a revised arrangement of struts in the tail unit. The sole R.VII, serialled R 14/15, crashed during its delivery flight to the front line. One built.

Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV

The R.XIV closely resembled previous Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeug differing only in engine installation and details. The five Maybach MbIV engines were arranged as push-pull pairs in the nacelles, with the engineer accommodated between the engines, and a single tractor engine in the nose. Three R.XIVs were built, serialled R 43/16 to R 45/16, of which R 43/16 was shot down by Capt. Archibald Buchanan Yuille of No. 151 Squadron RAF.

Zeppelin-Staaken R.XV

The R.XV also carried on the five engine layout of the R.XIV but introduced a large central fin in the tail unit. Three R.XVs were built, serialled R 46/16 to R 48/16 but there is no evidence that they carried out operational flights.

Zeppelin-Staaken L

This aircraft was essentially an R.VI fitted with large 13 m (42 ft 8 in) long duralumin floats. Allocated the serial no. 1432 by the Kaiserliche Marine the aircraft was wrecked during trials. One built.

Zeppelin-Staaken 8301

In a further attempt to develop a useful large seaplane for the Kaiserliche Marine, Zeppelin-Staaken used R.VI wings mated to an all new fuselage, which incorporated the large central fin of the R.XV, suspended midway between the mainplanes, all supported by floats similar to the 'Type "L"'. Three were built, serialled 8301, 8303 and 8304, of which 8301 was also tested with a land undercarriage. The existence of 8302 has not been confirmed.

Operators

•  German Empire
  • Luftstreitkräfte – Imperial German Air Service
    • Riesenflugzeugabteilung 500 (Rfa500)
    • Riesenflugzeugabteilung 501 (Rfa501)
  • Marine-Fliegerabteilung – Imperial German Naval Air Service
•  Ukrainian People's Republic
  • One (R-39/16) - Ukrainian Air force. Crashed on August 4, 1919.

Specifications (Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI, )

Data from The German Giants

General characteristics

• Crew: 10 (commander, two pilots, two copilots, two radio operators, and fuel attendant in the cockpit, one mechanic in each engine nacelle)
• Length: 22.1 m (72 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 42.2 m (138 ft 5 in)
• Height: 6.3 m (20 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 332 m² (3,570 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 7,921 kg (17,463 lb)
• Gross weight: 11,848 kg (26,120 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 3,000 L (793 US gal)
• Powerplant: 4 × Mercedes D.IVa 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engine, 190 kW (260 hp) each
• Powerplant: 4 × Maybach Mb.IVa high compression 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engine, 183 kW (245 hp) each
• Propellers: 2-bladed tractor propeller, 4.26 m (14 ft 0 in) diameter

Performance

• Maximum speed: 135 km/h (84 mph, 73 kn)
• Range: 800 km (500 mi, 430 nmi)
• Endurance: 7-10 hours
• Service ceiling: 4,320 m (14,170 ft)
• Rate of climb: 1.67 m/s (329 ft/min)
• Time to altitude: :*10 min to 1,000 m (3,281 ft)

• 23 min to 2,000 m (6,562 ft)
• 43 min to 3,000 m (9,843 ft)
• 2 hr 26 min to 4,320 m (14,173 ft)

Armament

• Guns: Provision for 4 x 7.92 mm (0.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine guns in nose, dorsal, ventral and upper-wing positions firing the 8×57mm IS round.
• Bombs: up to 4,409 lb (2,000 kg) of bombs

Notes

Notable appearances in media

See also

Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeuge Related development

• Zeppelin-Staaken Type 8301
• Zeppelin-Staaken R.IV
• Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII
• Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Sikorsky Ilya Muromets
• Sikorsky Alexander Nevsky
• Sikorsky Russky Vityaz
• Tarrant Tabor
• Barling XNBL-1 Bomber
• Handley Page V/1500

Notes

References

• Gray, P., and Thetford, O. German Aircraft of the First World War 1970 Putnam London 0 85177 809 7
• Haddow, George W., and Grosz, Peter M., The German Giants: The Story of the R-Planes 1914-1919, (1962, 3rd ed. 1988), ISBN 0-85177-812-7
• Wagner, Ray, and Nowarra, Heinz, German Combat Planes, Doubleday, 1971.
• A. K. Rohrbach, "Das 1000-PS Verkehrsflugzeug der Zeppelin-Werke, Staaken", Zeitschrift für Flugtechnik und Motorluftschiffahrt, vol. 12, no. 1 (15 January 1921);
• E. Offermann, W. G. Noack, and A. R. Weyl, Riesenflugzeuge, in: Handbuch der Flugzeugkunde (Richard Carl Schmidt & Co., 1927).

External links

• Perspective line drawing of R.VI design
• Three-view drawing of Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI
• Photos of engine nacelle of an R.VI. in Kraków Aviation museum
• R.VI article Archived 2015-10-29 at the Wayback Machine at westernfrontassociation.com

The Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV was a development of the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI. This was one of a series of large bombers called Riesenflugzeuge, intended to be less vulnerable than the dirigibles in use at the time.

Development

The original version of the Staaken R.XIV had two engine nacelles, each housing a pair of 350hp Austro-Daimler V-12 engines in a push-pull configuration. The nacelles were large enough for some inflight maintenance. The Austro-Daimler engines were installed without reduction gears and were the most powerful available at the time, but soon proved to be unreliable. On 12 April 1918, during its second flight of the acceptance program, a connecting rod broke in one of the rear engines. The Austro-Daimlers were replaced by four 300 hp Basse und Selve BuS.IVa engines and it was ready for further flight testing by 10 May 1918. The unproven Basse und Selves were also problematic and had a tendency to seize pistons, so they were in turn removed in favor of the less powerful but reliable 245 hp high-compression Maybach Mb.IVa. In an attempt to maintain the performance of the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI, a fifth Maybach engine was installed in the nose.

Four of the improved model R.XIVa were ordered by Idflieg late in the war. The XIVa had some weight reduction improvements and geared engines to increase the rate of climb, service ceiling and bombload. These were built between 1918 and 1919. The R.XIVa machines were built by the Flugzeugwerft G.m.b.H. at Staaken west of Berlin.

Operational history

Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV 43/17 of Rfa 501 was brought down at 23:50 on August 10, 1918 by Capt A B Yuille of No 151 Sqn RAF, flying a Sopwith Camel D6573. It crashed one mile west of Lighthouse Talmas, near Doullens, and all crew members (Ltn Braun, Ofstv Buth, Ltn Corty, Vfw Donath, Flg Donnemaier, Flg Fonrobert, Uffz Kopp, Gefr Reuther and Flg Schneidersmann) were killed.

"A five engined Gotha (Actually a Staaken R.XIV) came over about midnight and dropped a few bombs. The searchlights got him and this time Jerry had a surprise as our flying scouts were up, spotted Fritz at once and went for him. In a few minutes a fight as on and we soon saw the big Gotha (Staaken R.XIV) in flames. He came down and a number of soldiers ran to the burning wreck, when one of the bombs exploded in the heat. Several of those who were near were killed and more injured. This machine carried eight men, three had been shot, four burned and one staff officer had jumped with a parachute, but this failed to open so he too was killed" - Diary of Thomas Spencer

Operators

 German Empire

• Luftstreitkräfte

 Ukrainian People's Republic

• Ukrainian People's Republic Air Fleet operated six planes (Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIVa)

 Italy

• Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIVa R.69/18 which had been used by Ukraine, was confiscated by a commission of Entente representatives after landing at Aspern. It was later transferred to the Italian Air Force.

 Romania

• Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIVa R.70/18 was seized by Romanian authorities on 19 September 1919, after an emergency landing near Cristinești. It was repaired and then flown to Bucharest on 27 October 1919, where it was used as a training airplane for bomber pilots.

Specifications (Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIVa)

Data from

General characteristics

• Crew: seven
• Length: 22.5 m (73 ft 10 in)
• Wingspan: 42.2 m (138 ft 5 in)
• Height: 6.3 m (20 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 334 m² (3,600 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 10,000 kg (22,046 lb)
• Gross weight: 14,250 kg (31,416 lb)
• Powerplant: 5 × Maybach Mb.IVa in-line 6 cylinder, 183 kW (245 hp) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 135 km/h (84 mph, 73 kn)
• Cruise speed: 120 km/h (75 mph, 65 kn)
• Range: 1,300 km (810 mi, 700 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 4,500 m (14,800 ft)
• Rate of climb: 2.38 m/s (469 ft/min)

Armament

• Guns: 6 x lMG 08 7.92-mm machine guns
• Bombs: 2,000kg max

Notes

References

External links

• A Zeppelin-Staaken R XIVa airplane lands in Aspern, 1919

The Zeppelin-Staaken R.XV was an Imperial German bomber of World War I. An incremental improvement to the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI, this was one of a series of large strategic bombers called Riesenflugzeuge, intended to be less vulnerable than dirigibles in use at the time.

Development

Almost identical to the R.XIV, the R.XV had a lighter airframe and more refined aerodynamics, in an effort to improve performance. Three aircraft were ordered, (R.46 to R.48), all three being completed by 1 September 1918.

As with most Zeppelin Riesenflugzeuge, the R.XV had two engine pods with four engines in a push-pull configuration, large enough for some inflight maintenance. Additional power was provided by a fifth engine mounted in the nose of the aircraft.

Operational history

At least two of the R.XVs built saw action on the Western Front, late in 1918.

Operators

•  German Empire

Specifications (Zeppelin-Staaken R.XV)

Data from The German Giants

General characteristics

• Crew: seven
• Length: 22.5 m (73 ft 10 in)
• Wingspan: 42.2 m (138 ft 5 in)
• Height: 6.3 m (20 ft 8 in)
• Wing area: 334 m² (3,600 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 7,921 kg (17,463 lb)
• Gross weight: 14,450 kg (31,857 lb)
• Powerplant: 5 × Maybach Mb.IVa 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engines, 183 kW (245 hp) each

Performance

• Cruise speed: 130 km/h (81 mph, 70 kn)
• Range: 800 km (500 mi, 430 nmi)

Armament

Notes

References

• A. K. Rohrbach, “Das 1000-PS Verkehrsflugzeug der Zeppelin-Werke, Staaken,” Zeitschrift für Flugtechnik und Motorluftschiffahrt, vol. 12, no. 1 (15 January 1921);
• E. Offermann, W. G. Noack, and A. R. Weyl, Riesenflugzeuge, in: Handbuch der Flugzeugkunde (Richard Carl Schmidt & Co., 1927).
• The German Giants by G.W. Haddow and Peter M. Grosz.

The Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII was six-engined large bomber - a Riesenflugzeug - of Imperial Germany, intended to be less vulnerable than the airships in use at the time.

Development

The R.VII, an incremental improvement on the almost identical Zeppelin-Staaken R.IV, had two engine pods, each with tandem pusher engines, large enough for some inflight maintenance by flight mechanics housed in cockpits forward of the nacelle engines, driving the large pusher propellers through clutches, gearboxes, and shafts. A further two engines were mounted in the nose of the fuselage, driving a single tractor propeller in a similar fashion.

Operational history

First flown early in 1917, the sole R.VII (R.14/15) was accepted by the Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) on 3 July 1917 and assigned to Rfa 501 on 29 July 1917. Used in operations on the Western Front, the R.VII had a short operational life, crashing due to a clutch failure and the incorrect actions of a flight mechanic, with the loss of six crew members.

Operators

•  German Empire

Specifications (Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII)

Data from The German Giants,

General characteristics

• Crew: seven+
• Length: 22.1 m (72 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 42.2 m (138 ft 5 in)
• Height: 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
• Wing area: 332 m² (3,570 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 8,923 kg (19,672 lb)
• Gross weight: 12,953 kg (28,556 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 2,140 kg (4,720 lb) consisting of:
  • Twelve 245 L (53.89 imp gal; 64.72 US gal) tanks holding 3,140 L (690.70 imp gal; 829.50 US gal)
  • Gravity tank of 155 L (34.10 imp gal; 40.95 US gal)
  • Oil tank holding 171 L (37.61 imp gal; 45.17 US gal)
• Disposable load: 1,890 kg (4,170 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Mercedes D.III 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engines, 120 kW (160 hp) each driving a single tractor propeller through clutches, gearbox and transmission shafts
• Powerplant: 4 × Benz Bz.IV 6-cyl. water-cooled inline piston engines, 160 kW (220 hp) each in tandem pairs driving single pusher propellers through clutches, gearbox and transmission shafts
• Propellers: 4-bladed tractor propeller, 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) diameter 4-bladed pusher propellers 4.1 m (13 ft 5 in) diameter

Performance

• Maximum speed: 130 km/h (81 mph, 70 kn)
• Service ceiling: 3,850 m (12,630 ft)
• Time to altitude:
• Wing loading: 39 kg/m² (8.0 lb/sq ft)

Armament

• Guns: provision for up to six machine-guns

Notes

References