Zeppelin Staaken R.VI

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The Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI was a four-engined German biplane strategic bomber of World War I.

The R.VI was the most-produced model of the R (Riesenflugzeug) bombers built by Germany (18 built), and also one of the first closed-cockpit military aircraft. The bomber was reputedly the largest wooden aircraft ever built until the advent of the Spruce Goose built by Howard Hughes, its wingspan of 138 feet 5.5 inches nearly equaling that of the World War II B-29 Superfortress. The R.VI was one of a series of 'R' bombers and was selected by the Idflieg for production over the 6-engined R.IV and other R bombers for its relative mechanical simplicity. It required a complex 18-wheel undercarriage to carry its weight, and its four engines were in a tandem push-pull arrangement in a pair of nacelles. The aircraft carried two mechanics in flight seated open spaces between the engines in the center of each nacelle.

R.VI bombers were designed by Zeppelin, but because of the size of the project, were manufactured by Schütte-Lanz (9) using sheds at Flugzeugwerft GmbH Staaken, Berlin; Automobil und Aviatik A.G. (Aviatik) (6 total after an original order of 3); and Albatros (3).

The R.VI equipped two 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 in Kurland until July 1917. In August 1917 Rfa 501 transferred to Ghent, Belgium, for operations against both France and Great Britain. Rfa 501, with an average of five R.VI's available for missions, conducted 11 raids on Great Britain between August 1917 and November 1918, using 30 bombers and dropping 27,190 kg (60 tons) of bombs. None were lost in combat over Great Britain but two crashed returning to base. A total of four were shot down in combat, and six of the 18 built survived the war or were completed afterward.

R.VI serial number R.30/16 was the first supercharged aircraft, modified with a fifth engine installed to power a Brown-Boveri supercharger, enabling it to climb to 19,100 feet (5,800 meters) in altitude.

[edit] Specifications Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI

General characteristics

• Crew: Seven (commander, pilot, copilot, radio operator, and fuel attendant in the cockpit, two mechanics in the engine nacelles)
• Length: 76 ft 1 in (22.1 m)
• Wingspan: 138 ft 5.5 in (42.2 m)
• Height: 20 ft 8 in (6.3 m)
• Wing area: 3573.6 ft² (332 m²)
• Empty weight: 17,463 lb (7921 kg)
• Loaded weight: 26,120 lb (11,848 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 pusher and 2 tractor× four Mercedes D.IVa or four Maybach MbIVa , 260 hp (190 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 83.9 mph (135 km/h)
• Range: 500 mi (800 km)
• Service ceiling: 14,173 ft (4,320 m)

Armament

• 3,969 lbs (1800 kg) of bombs
• Up to 5 machineguns of varying types

[edit] References

• 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