Zeppelin-Staaken R.V

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Zeppelin-Staaken R.V
Ray Wagner Collection Image (21413403806).jpg
R.V 13/15, shown with two-bladed propeller on the nose engine.
Role Bomber
National origin Germany
Manufacturer Schütte-Lanz
Designer Graf von Zeppelin
First flight 1917
Primary user Luftstreitkräfte
Number built1
Variants Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII, Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV, Zeppelin-Staaken R.XV, Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI,

The Zeppelin-Staaken R.V was one of a series of large bombers called Riesenflugzeugen, intended to be less vulnerable than the rigid airships in use at the time.

Bomber Military aircraft for attack of ground targets with bombs or other heavy ordnance

A bomber is a combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry, firing torpedoes and bullets, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles.

Riesenflugzeug

A Riesenflugzeug, sometimes colloquially referred to in English as an R-plane, was a large World War I German bomber, possessing at least three aircraft engines, more usually being powered by four or more engines, sometimes of more than one make, model or power level. These were large multi-engine aircraft capable of flying several hours with larger bomb loads than the smaller Grossflugzeug bombers such as the Gotha G.V. Some of the earliest Riesenflugzeuge were given G-type designations before being redesignated, but a major distinction was that the requirements for the R-type specified that the engines had to be serviceable in flight. As a result, designs fell into two groups - those with the engines mounted centrally inside the fuselage using gearboxes and driveshafts to transfer the power to propellers mounted between the wings, and those with conventional powerplant installations mounted in large nacelles or the nose of the aircraft where engineers would be stationed for each group of engines. The transmission of power from the centrally mounted engines to the remote, most often wing-mounted propellers proved troublesome in practice and most operational examples of Riesenflugzeug-class aircraft were of the second type, as with the all-direct-drive Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI.

Contents

Development

In 1916, Zeppelin moved development of large bombers to Staaken, Germany. The R.V was co-developed alongside the R.VI and R.VII. The R.V had two engine pods, each with two engines paired in tandem, driving single propellers through clutches, gearboxes and shafts. An additional tractor engine was also fitted in the nose of the fuselage. The pods were large enough for some inflight maintenance. The Model R.IV was selected for production, rather than the R.V, because the geared and clutched engines posed a higher developmental risk. Each R-series aircraft required a ground-crew of 50.

Staaken Quarter of Berlin in Germany

Staaken (help·info) is a locality at the western rim of Berlin within the borough of Spandau.

Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI

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

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.

An early photograph of R.V 13/15, showing the original four-bladed propellers Ray Wagner Collection Image (21428696322).jpg
An early photograph of R.V 13/15, showing the original four-bladed propellers

Operational history

The sole R.V (R.V 13/15) was accepted into service with Rfa 501 (Riesenflugzeug Abteilung 501) on 23 December 1917, after a protracted development period, due to teething troubles with the engine transmission systems. After an initial operational mission on 25 January 1918, fifteen further operational missions were flown in eight months of service, before an emergency landing in fog ended its career on 18 October 1918.

Operators

Specifications (Zeppelin-Staaken R.V)

Data from [1]

General characteristics

Maybach Mb.IVa I-6 piston aircraft engine

The Maybach Mb.IVa was a water-cooled aircraft and airship straight-six engine developed in Germany during World War I by Maybach-Motorenbau GmbH, a subsidiary of Zeppelin. It was one of the world's first series-produced engines designed specifically for high-altitude use. It was quite different engine design than the previous Maybach Mb.IV, not just a simple modification.

Performance

Armament

Notes

  1. ↑ Haddow, G.W.; PeterM Grosz (1988). The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914-1919 (3rd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN   0-85177-812-7.

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References

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