Zeppelin Staaken R.VI
Encyclopedia
The Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI was a four-engined German biplane
strategic bomber
of World War I
, and the only so-called 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 1918-1919 being larger, with the Staaken R.VI's wingspan of 138 feet 5.5 inches (42.20 m) nearly equaling that of the World War II Boeing B-29 Superfortress, and somewhat less than the 48 metre (157 ft 6 in) span of the Siemens-Schuckert R.VIII.
visualised the concept of a Riesenflugzeug
(R) bomber, to be larger than the Gotha G
. 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
, 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 Maybach
Zeppelin
engines; two pusher and one tractor. This 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. A similar machine, the 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, comprising a pair of Mercedes D.III
and four Benz Bz.IV engines that powered three propellers, a tractor configuration
system in the nose being powered with the pair of Mercedes straight-sixes, and two pusher-mount
nacelle mounts between the wings, each nacelle with a pair of Benz engines in them. By the autumn of 1916, Staaken was completing its R.V, R.VI, 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 R-plane 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 cost 557,000 marks
and required the support of a 50-man ground crew. The R.VI required a complex 18-wheel undercarriage
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.
R.VI serial number R.30/16 was the earliest known supercharged aircraft, with a fifth engine - a Mercedes D.II - installed in the central fuselage, driving a Brown-Boveri
supercharger. This enabled it 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 until later in World War II, when the Henschel Hs 130
E 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.
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 1,700 pound (770 kg) bomb loads, operating between 6500 and 7800 ft (1,981.2 and 2,377.4 m) altitude. Missions were of three to five hours' duration.
Rfa 501 was transferred to Ghent, Belgium, for operations against both France
and Great Britain
, arriving September 22, 1917, at St. Denis-Westrem (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 (29.97 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 miles (547.2 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.
, 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 ID after visiting one of the very few partial specimens (the distinctive engine nacelles) in a Krakow
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 British Royal Flying Corps
field 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.
Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI
Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII
Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV
Three R.XIVs were built, serialled R 43/16 to R 45/16, of which R 43/16 was shot down by Capt. Yaille of No. 151 Squadron RAF
.
Zeppelin-Staaken R.XV
Zeppelin-Staaken Type “L” Seaplane
Zeppelin-Staaken Type 8301 Seaplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
strategic bomber
Strategic bomber
A strategic bomber is a heavy bomber aircraft designed to drop large amounts of ordnance onto a distant target for the purposes of debilitating an enemy's capacity to wage war. Unlike tactical bombers, which are used in the battle zone to attack troops and military equipment, strategic bombers are...
of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and the only so-called Riesenflugzeug
R-planes
R-planes were large German Army bombers in World War I. The R classification was short for Riesenflugzeug . In designations, the manufacturer's name preceded the letter R followed by a Roman numeral, e.g. Dornier Rs.III or Staaken R.XIV.The R-planes were the largest aircraft of World War I...
("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
Sikorsky Ilya Muromets
The Ilya Muromets refers to a class of Russian pre-World War I large four-engine commercial airliners and heavy military bombing aircraft used during World War I by the Russian Empire. The aircraft series was named after Ilya Muromets, a hero from Russian mythology...
). 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 1918-1919 being larger, with the Staaken R.VI's wingspan of 138 feet 5.5 inches (42.20 m) nearly equaling that of the World War II Boeing B-29 Superfortress, and somewhat less than the 48 metre (157 ft 6 in) span of the Siemens-Schuckert R.VIII.
Design and development
In September 1914, at the start of World War I, Ferdinand von ZeppelinFerdinand von Zeppelin
Ferdinand Adolf Heinrich August Graf von Zeppelin was a German general and later aircraft manufacturer. He founded the Zeppelin Airship company...
visualised the concept of a Riesenflugzeug
Idflieg aircraft designation system
The Idflieg designation system was used to designate German heavier-than-air military aircraft from the early days of the Luftstreitkräfte to the end of World War I. The system necessarily evolved during this period, as new aircraft types were produced. It was never extended to aircraft operated...
(R) bomber, to be larger than the Gotha G
Gotha G
|-See also:-References:* The Complete Encyclopedia of Flight 1848-1939 by John Batchelor and Malcolm V. Lowe-External links:*...
. Using engineers from the Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH
Robert Bosch GmbH is a multinational engineering and electronics company headquartered in Gerlingen, near Stuttgart, Germany. It is the world's largest supplier of automotive components...
, he created the Versuchsbau Gotha-Ost (VGO) consortium in a rented hangar at the Gotha factory. Alexander Baumann
Alexander Baumann (aeronautical engineer)
Alexander Baumann was a German aeronautical engineer and aircraft designer. He is credited with being the first full professor of aeronautical engineering in aviation history as the Chair of Airship Aviation, Flight Technology, and Motor Vehicles at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stuttgart in...
became his chief engineer, although later the team included other noted engineers including Zeppelin's associate Claudius Dornier
Claudius Dornier
Claude Honoré Desiré Dornier born in Kempten im Allgäu was a German airplane builder and founder of Dornier GmbH...
, Hugo Junkers
Hugo Junkers
Hugo Junkers was an innovative German engineer, as his many patents in varied areas show...
and Baumann's protogé Adolph Rohrbach. Almost all of these Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeug designs used some variation of either pusher configuration
Pusher configuration
In a craft with a pusher configuration the propeller are mounted behind their respective engine. According to Bill Gunston, a "pusher propeller" is one mounted behind engine so that drive shaft is in compression...
and/or push-pull configuration
Push-pull configuration
An aircraft constructed with a push-pull configuration has a mixture of forward-mounted propellers and backward-mounted propellers.-Historical:...
in their engine layout, orientation and placement of their powerplants.
The first Riesenflugzeug built was the VGO.I flying in April 1915, using three Maybach
Maybach
Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH is a German luxury car manufacturer. It was founded in 1909 by Wilhelm Maybach and his son. The company was originally a subsidiary of Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH and was itself known as Luftfahrzeug-Motorenbau GmbH until 1912.Today, the ultra-luxury car brand is owned by...
Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
engines; two pusher and one tractor. This 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. A similar machine, the 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
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
suburb of Staaken
Staaken
Staaken is a locality at the western rim of Berlin within the borough of Spandau. In the west it shares border with the Brandenburg municipalities of Falkensee and Dallgow-Döberitz in the Havelland district. Buildings range from small detached houses in the west to larger 1960s and 1970s housing...
, to take advantage of the vast Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
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, comprising a pair of Mercedes D.III
Mercedes D.III
The Mercedes D.III, or F1466 as it was known internally, was a six-cylinder, liquid cooled inline aircraft engine built by Daimler and used on a wide variety of German aircraft during World War I. The initial versions were introduced in 1914 at 160 hp, but a series of changes improved this to...
and four Benz Bz.IV engines that powered three propellers, a tractor configuration
Tractor configuration
thumb|right|[[Evektor-Aerotechnik|Aerotechnik EV97A Eurostar]], a tractor configuration aircraft, being pulled into position by its pilot for refuelling....
system in the nose being powered with the pair of Mercedes straight-sixes, and two pusher-mount
Pusher configuration
In a craft with a pusher configuration the propeller are mounted behind their respective engine. According to Bill Gunston, a "pusher propeller" is one mounted behind engine so that drive shaft is in compression...
nacelle mounts between the wings, each nacelle with a pair of Benz engines in them. By the autumn of 1916, Staaken was completing its R.V, R.VI, and R.VII versions of the same design, and Idflieg
Idflieg
The Idflieg was the bureau of the German War Office that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I....
selected the R.VI for series production over the 6-engined R.IV and other R-plane designs, primarily those of Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG
Siemens-Schuckert
Siemens-Schuckert was a German electrical engineering company headquartered in Berlin, Erlangen and Nuremberg that was incorporated into the Siemens AG in 1966....
.
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 cost 557,000 marks
German papiermark
The name Papiermark is applied to the German currency from the 4th August 1914 when the link between the Mark and gold was abandoned, due to the outbreak of World War I...
and required the support of a 50-man ground crew. The R.VI required a complex 18-wheel undercarriage
Undercarriage
The undercarriage or landing gear in aviation, is the structure that supports an aircraft on the ground and allows it to taxi, takeoff and land...
to support its weight, and carried two mechanics in flight, seated between the engines in open niches cut in the center of each nacelle
Nacelle
The nacelle is a cover housing that holds engines, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. In some cases—for instance in the typical "Farman" type "pusher" aircraft, or the World War II-era P-38 Lightning—an aircraft's cockpit may also be housed in a nacelle, which essentially fills the...
. 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
Schütte-Lanz
Schütte-Lanz is the name of a series of rigid airships designed and built by the Luftschiffbau Schütte-Lanz company from 1909 until the last LS22 was delivered in 1917. One research and four passenger airships were planned for post-war use, but were never built...
using sheds at Flugzeugwerft GmbH Staaken, Berlin; six by Automobil und Aviatik A.G.
Aviatik
Automobil und Aviatik AG was a German aircraft manufacturer during World War I. The company was established at Mülhausen in 1910 and soon became one of the country's leading producers of aircraft, relocating to Freiburg in 1914 and establishing a subsidiary in Vienna as Österreichisch-Ungarische...
(Aviatik) (the original order was for three); and three by Albatros Flugzeugwerke
Albatros Flugzeugwerke
Albatros-Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer best known for supplying the German airforces during World War I.The company was based in Johannisthal, Berlin, where it was founded by Walter Huth and Otto Wiener on December 20, 1909. It produced some of the most capable fighter aircraft...
. 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.
R.VI serial number R.30/16 was the earliest known supercharged aircraft, with a fifth engine - a Mercedes D.II - installed in the central fuselage, driving a Brown-Boveri
Brown, Boveri & Cie
Brown, Boveri & Cie was a Swiss group of electrical engineering companies.It was founded in Baden, Switzerland, in 1891 by Charles Eugene Lancelot Brown and Walter Boveri who worked at the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon. In 1970 BBC took over the Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon...
supercharger. This enabled it 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 until later in World War II, when the Henschel Hs 130
Henschel Hs 130
- See also :- References :NotesBibliography* Donald, David.. Warplanes of the Luftwaffe. London:Aerospace, 1999. ISBN 1 874023 56 5.* Dressel, Joachim and Griel, Manfred. Bombers of the Luftwaffe. London:Arms and Armour Press, 1994. ISBN 1-85409-140-9.* Green, William. War Planes of the Second...
E 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
Luftstreitkräfte
The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte , known before October 1916 as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches , or simply Die Fliegertruppen, was the air arm of the Imperial German Army during World War I...
(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
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
, based at Alt-Auz and Vilua in Kurland until August 1917. Almost all missions were flown at night with 1,700 pound (770 kg) bomb loads, operating between 6500 and 7800 ft (1,981.2 and 2,377.4 m) altitude. Missions were of three to five hours' duration.
Rfa 501 was transferred to Ghent, Belgium, for operations against both France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, arriving September 22, 1917, at St. Denis-Westrem (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 (29.97 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
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
as a navigational landmark. Missions on the 340 miles (547.2 km) round trip lasted seven hours. None were lost in combat over Great Britain (compared to 28 Gotha G
Gotha G
|-See also:-References:* The Complete Encyclopedia of Flight 1848-1939 by John Batchelor and Malcolm V. Lowe-External links:*...
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 YpresYpres
Ypres is a Belgian municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres and the villages of Boezinge, Brielen, Dikkebus, Elverdinge, Hollebeke, Sint-Jan, Vlamertinge, Voormezele, Zillebeke, and Zuidschote...
, 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
Georges Guynemer
Georges Guynemer was a top fighter ace for France during World War I, and a French national hero at the time of his death.-Early life and military career:...
's SPAD S.XIII
SPAD S.XIII
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Bruce, J.M. The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps . London: Putnam, 1982. ISBN 0-370-30084-X.* Sharpe, Michael. Biplanes, Triplanes, and Seaplanes. London: Friedman/Fairfax Books, 2000. ISBN 1-58663-300-7....
; however that was discounted when repair tools were found at the site, and further research pointed that the engine was a Mercedes D.IVa
Mercedes D.IVa
|-See also:-Bibliography:*Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9*Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1993. ISBN 1-85170-347-0...
, possibly of a Gotha G
Gotha G
|-See also:-References:* The Complete Encyclopedia of Flight 1848-1939 by John Batchelor and Malcolm V. Lowe-External links:*...
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 ID after visiting one of the very few partial specimens (the distinctive engine nacelles) in a Krakow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
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 British Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
field at Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer , a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais. The town is named after Saint Audomar, who brought Christianity to the area....
, 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
- The first true production Zeppelin-Staaken R-plane was the R.VI. This giant aircraft was powered either by four 245hp (183KW) Maybach MbIV engines or four 260hp(194KW) Mercedes D.IVaMercedes D.IVa|-See also:-Bibliography:*Gunston, Bill. World Encyclopedia of Aero Engines. Cambridge, England. Patrick Stephens Limited, 1989. ISBN 1-85260-163-9*Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I. London. Studio Editions Ltd, 1993. ISBN 1-85170-347-0...
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 GhentGhentGhent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
area. Air raids on EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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 ChelseaRoyal Hospital ChelseaThe Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for British soldiers who are unfit for further duty due to injury or old age, located in the Chelsea region of central London, now the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is a true hospital in the original sense of the word,...
with the first 1,000kg bomb dropped on England, on 16/17th 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 27,190kg (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 R-planes 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. Yaille of No. 151 Squadron RAF
No. 151 Squadron RAF
-World War I:No. 151 squadron was founded at Hainault Farm in Essex on 12 June 1918, and was equipped with Sopwith Camel aircraft.During the five months in which 151 Squadron had taken part in hostilities overseas, the total number of hours flown by night was 1443 hrs 26 mins.Sixteen enemy aircraft...
.
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 Type “L” Seaplane
- This aircraft was essentially an R.VI fitted with large 13m (42ft 8in) long duralumin floats. Allocated the serial no. 1432 by the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) the aircraft was wrecked during trials. One built.
Zeppelin-Staaken Type 8301 Seaplane
- In a further attempt to develop a useful large seaplane for the Kriegsmarine 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
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- Luftstreitkräfte – Imperial German Air Service
- Riesenflugzeugabteilung 500 (Rfa500)
- Riesenflugzeugabteilung 501 (Rfa501)
- Marine-Fliegerabteilung – Imperial German Naval Air Service
- Luftstreitkräfte – Imperial German Air Service
Specifications Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI
See also
External links
- Line drawing of R.VI design
- Available for Thirdwire's First Eagles PC Flight Simulator
- http://www.wwi-models.org/Photos/Ger/ZStaakenRVI/index.html Photos of remaining pieces of an R.VI.
- http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/great-war-at-sea-in-air/aircraft-types/953-zeppelin-staaken-rvi-bomber-great-war.html excellent R.VI article
