fbpx
Wikipedia

Riesenflugzeug

A Riesenflugzeug (plural Riesenflugzeuge, German for "giant aircraft"), sometimes colloquially referred to in English as an R-plane, was any member of a class of large World War I German bombers, possessing at least three aircraft engines, although usually four or more engines. These large multi-engine aircraft could fly several hours with larger bomb loads than the smaller Grossflugzeug bombers such as the Gotha G.V.

Siemens-Schuckert R.VIII (1918)

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.

The Idflieg (Inspektion der Fliegertruppen (Inspection of the Air Force), the German Army department responsible for military aviation), assigned the letter R to this type of aircraft, which would then be followed by a period and a Roman numeral type number. Seaplanes were denoted by adding a lowercase "s" after the "R" in the designation.

The Riesenflugzeuge were the largest aircraft of World War I. In comparison, the largest equivalent Allied aircraft were the Sikorsky Ilya Muromets[note 1] with a span of 29.8 m (98 ft), the Caproni Ca.4 with a span of 29.9 m (98 ft), the one-off Felixstowe Fury with a span of 37.5 m (123 ft) and the Handley Page V/1500 with a span of 38.41 m (126.0 ft)). The Riesenflugzeuge that bombed London during the First World War were larger than any of the German bombers in use during the Second World War other than the 50.32 m (165.1 ft) span Junkers Ju 390, which was only used as a transport - while the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor had a span of 32.85 m (107.8 ft). The largest built, the Siemens-Schuckert R.VIII of 1918 had a wingspan of 48.0 m (157.5 ft). It was not until sixteen years later that an aircraft with a larger wingspan, the Soviet Tupolev Maksim Gorky eight-engined monoplane was built with a 63.0 m (206.7 ft) wingspan.

The Riesenflugzeuge were operational from 1915 to 1919 and most of them were built as "one-off" aircraft.

List of aircraft edit

Type Engines Span First
flight
Service Notes Number
built
AEG R.I 4 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IV 36 m
(118 ft 1 in)
1916 None broke up in flight in 1918 1 completed, 7 more partially built
DFW R.I 4 × 220 hp Mercedes D.IV 29.5 m
(96 ft 9 in)
1916 Eastern Front crashed on 2nd combat flight[1] 1
DFW R.II 4 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IVa 30.06 m
(98 ft 7 in)
1918 Trainer as unsuitable for combat 2 of 6 ordered
DFW R.III 8 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IV 53.5 m
(175 ft 6 in)
n/a None Incomplete at end of war, cancelled None
Junkers R.I 4 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IVa 35.0 m
(114 ft 10 in)
n/a None 1 incomplete
LFG Roland R.I 4 × 1000 hp Maybach Mb.IV n/a n/a None Not built
Linke-Hofmann R.I 4 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IVa 33.2 m
(108 ft 11 in)
1917 None First example had 32.02 m
(105 ft 1 in) span[1]
4
Linke-Hofmann R.II 4 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IVa 42.16 m
(138 ft 4 in)
1919 None Used largest single propeller ever built, some 6.9 meters in diameter 2
Mannesmann_Giant_Triplane[2] 10 × unk. engines 50.3 m
(165 ft 0 in)
n/a None Cancelled incomplete None
Schütte-Lanz R.I 6 × 300 hp Basse und Selve BuS.IVa 44.0 m
(144 ft 4 in)
n/a None design study only
Siemens-Schuckert Forssman R 2 × 110 hp Mercedes D.III
& 2 × 220 hp Mercedes D.IVa
24.0 m
(78 ft 9 in)
1915 Trainer 1
Siemens-Schuckert R.I 3 × 150 hp Benz Bz.III 28.0 m
(91 ft 10 in)
1915 Eastern Front
& training
[1] 1
Siemens-Schuckert R.II 3 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IVa 38.0 m
(124 ft 8 in)
1915 Training span increased[1] 1
Siemens-Schuckert R.III 3 × 220 hp Benz Bz.IV 34.33 m
(112 ft 8 in)
1915 Training [1] 1
Siemens-Schuckert R.IV 3 × 220 hp Benz Bz.IV 37.6 m
(123 ft 4 in)
1916 Training Span increased[1] 1
Siemens-Schuckert R.V 3 × 220 hp Benz Bz.IV 34.33 m
(112 ft 8 in)
1916 Eastern front Span increased[1] 1
Siemens-Schuckert R.VI 3 × 220 hp Benz Bz.IV 33.36 m
(109 ft 5 in)
1916 Eastern front Span increased[1] 1
Siemens-Schuckert R.VII 3 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IVa 38.44 m
(126 ft 1 in)
1917 Eastern front [1] 1
Siemens-Schuckert R.VIII 6 × 300 hp Basse und Selve BuS.IVa 48.0 m
(157 ft 6 in)
n/a None 2 (one unfinished)
Siemens-Schuckert R.IX 8 × 300 hp Basse und Selve BuS.IVa n/a n/a None design study only
Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.I 3 × 240 hp Maybach Mb.IV 43.5 m
(142 ft 9 in)
n/a None Wrecked unflown, 1915[note 2] 1
Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.II 3 × 240 hp Maybach Mb.IV 33.2 m
(108 ft 11 in)
1916 None [note 2] 1
Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.III 3 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa 37.0 m
(121 ft 5 in)
1917 Evaluation [note 2] 1
Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.IV 4 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa 37 m
(121 ft 5 in)
1918 None [note 2]
Zeppelin-Staaken VGO.I 3 × 240 hp Maybach HS
or 5 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa
42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
1915 Kaiserliche Marine [note 4]
Zeppelin-Staaken VGO.II 3 × 240 hp Maybach HS 42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
1916 Eastern front
& trainer
[note 4][1]
Zeppelin-Staaken VGO.III 6 × 160 hp Mercedes D.III 42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
1916 Eastern front [note 4][1]
Zeppelin-Staaken R.IV 2 × 160 hp Mercedes D.III
& 4 × 220 hp Benz Bz.IV
42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
1917? Eastern front
& Western front
One built
Zeppelin-Staaken R.V 5 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa 42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
1917? Western front One built
Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI 4 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IVa 42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
1917? Western front 18 built
Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII 2 × 160 hp Mercedes D.III
& 4 × 220 hp Benz Bz.IV
42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
1917 None Wrecked on delivery
Zeppelin-Staaken R.VIII 8 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IVa
or 8 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa
55 m
(180 ft 5 in)
1918 None unfinished[3][4]
Zeppelin-Staaken R.IX 8 × 260 hp Mercedes D.IVa
or 8 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa
55 m
(180 ft 5 in)
1918 None unfinished[5][6]
Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV 5 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa 42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
1918 Western front Three built
Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIVa 5 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa 42.2 m (138 ft 5.5in)[note 3] ? Post-war Seized while smuggling
Zeppelin-Staaken R.XV 5 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa 42.2 m (138 ft 5.5in)[note 3] 1918 Western Front
Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI 2 × 530 hp Benz Bz.VI
& 2 × 220 hp Benz Bz.IV
42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
1918 Airliner Two completed, 3rd unfinished[note 5]
Zeppelin-Staaken L 4 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa 42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
? None Floatplane variant. Wrecked in trials.[note 6] 1
Zeppelin-Staaken Type 8301 4 × 245 hp Maybach Mb.IVa 42.2 m
(138 ft 5 in)[note 3]
? floatplane airliner 3 built for Kaiserliche Marine 3

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ The first successful large aircraft, and the inspiration for the German Grossflugzeug and Riesenflugzeuge bombers
  2. ^ a b c d Flying-boat developed by Claudius Dornier while working for Zeppelin.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m The essentially same wing structure was used for nearly all 42.2 meter wingspan Zeppelin R-series aircraft.
  4. ^ a b c Built at Versuchsbau Gotha Ost to Zeppelin design
  5. ^ One built during war which did not see any service. One was never completed. One was built as a civilian airliner
  6. ^ Built for Kaiserliche Marine

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Haddow, 1962, p.67
  2. ^ G. Sollinger, "The Forssman Tri-plane, The Largest Aeroplane Of World War I" The Forssmann-Triplane
  3. ^ Haddow, G.W.; Grosz, Peter M. (1962). The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914–1919. London: Putman.
  4. ^ Gunston, Bill, 1991. Giants of the Sky: The Largest Aeroplanes of All Time. Sparkford, UK: Patrick Stephens Limited.
  5. ^ Haddow, G.W.; Grosz, Peter M. (1962). The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914–1919. London: Putman.
  6. ^ Gunston, Bill, 1991. Giants of the Sky: The Largest Aeroplanes of All Time. Sparkford, UK: Patrick Stephens Limited.

Bibliography edit

  • Gray, Peter; Thetford, Owen (1962). German Aircraft of the First World War. London: Putman.
  • Haddow, G.W.; Grosz, Peter M. (1962). The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914–1919. London: Putman.
  • Sollinger, G. (2009). Villehad Forssman: Constructing German Bombers 1914-1918. Moscow: Rusavia Publishing House.

External links edit

  • "The (German) Dornier "Giant Flying-Boat"" (PDF). Flight. XI (38): 1258. September 18, 1919. No. 560. Retrieved January 12, 2011. Brief contemporary technical description of the Dornier Rs.III or Rs.IV, with rough diagrams.
  • "The Four-engine Giant" Notes on German Bombers in 1918 issue of Flight
  • "The Linke-Hofmann Giant Machines", p.2, p.3 & p.4 in 1919 issue of Flight
  • "The German D.F.W. Commercial Four-Engined Biplane", p.2, p.3, p.4 & p.5 in 1919 issue of Flight
  • Flyingmachines.ru's photo page of many WW I German R-class bombers

riesenflugzeug, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, this, article, needs, more, complete, citations, verification, please, help, missing, citation, informat. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs more complete citations for verification Please help add missing citation information so that sources are clearly identifiable October 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article may be in need of reorganization to comply with Wikipedia s layout guidelines Please help by editing the article to make improvements to the overall structure October 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message A Riesenflugzeug plural Riesenflugzeuge German for giant aircraft sometimes colloquially referred to in English as an R plane was any member of a class of large World War I German bombers possessing at least three aircraft engines although usually four or more engines These large multi engine aircraft could fly several hours with larger bomb loads than the smaller Grossflugzeug bombers such as the Gotha G V Siemens Schuckert R VIII 1918 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 The Idflieg Inspektion der Fliegertruppen Inspection of the Air Force the German Army department responsible for military aviation assigned the letter R to this type of aircraft which would then be followed by a period and a Roman numeral type number Seaplanes were denoted by adding a lowercase s after the R in the designation The Riesenflugzeuge were the largest aircraft of World War I In comparison the largest equivalent Allied aircraft were the Sikorsky Ilya Muromets note 1 with a span of 29 8 m 98 ft the Caproni Ca 4 with a span of 29 9 m 98 ft the one off Felixstowe Fury with a span of 37 5 m 123 ft and the Handley Page V 1500 with a span of 38 41 m 126 0 ft The Riesenflugzeuge that bombed London during the First World War were larger than any of the German bombers in use during the Second World War other than the 50 32 m 165 1 ft span Junkers Ju 390 which was only used as a transport while the Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condor had a span of 32 85 m 107 8 ft The largest built the Siemens Schuckert R VIII of 1918 had a wingspan of 48 0 m 157 5 ft It was not until sixteen years later that an aircraft with a larger wingspan the Soviet Tupolev Maksim Gorky eight engined monoplane was built with a 63 0 m 206 7 ft wingspan The Riesenflugzeuge were operational from 1915 to 1919 and most of them were built as one off aircraft Contents 1 List of aircraft 2 References 2 1 Notes 2 2 Citations 2 3 Bibliography 3 External linksList of aircraft editType Engines Span Firstflight Service Notes Number builtAEG R I 4 260 hp Mercedes D IV 36 m 118 ft 1 in 1916 None broke up in flight in 1918 1 completed 7 more partially builtDFW R I 4 220 hp Mercedes D IV 29 5 m 96 ft 9 in 1916 Eastern Front crashed on 2nd combat flight 1 1DFW R II 4 260 hp Mercedes D IVa 30 06 m 98 ft 7 in 1918 Trainer as unsuitable for combat 2 of 6 orderedDFW R III 8 260 hp Mercedes D IV 53 5 m 175 ft 6 in n a None Incomplete at end of war cancelled NoneJunkers R I 4 260 hp Mercedes D IVa 35 0 m 114 ft 10 in n a None 1 incompleteLFG Roland R I 4 1000 hp Maybach Mb IV n a n a None Not builtLinke Hofmann R I 4 260 hp Mercedes D IVa 33 2 m 108 ft 11 in 1917 None First example had 32 02 m 105 ft 1 in span 1 4Linke Hofmann R II 4 260 hp Mercedes D IVa 42 16 m 138 ft 4 in 1919 None Used largest single propeller ever built some 6 9 meters in diameter 2Mannesmann Giant Triplane 2 10 unk engines 50 3 m 165 ft 0 in n a None Cancelled incomplete NoneSchutte Lanz R I 6 300 hp Basse und Selve BuS IVa 44 0 m 144 ft 4 in n a None design study onlySiemens Schuckert Forssman R 2 110 hp Mercedes D III amp 2 220 hp Mercedes D IVa 24 0 m 78 ft 9 in 1915 Trainer 1Siemens Schuckert R I 3 150 hp Benz Bz III 28 0 m 91 ft 10 in 1915 Eastern Front amp training 1 1Siemens Schuckert R II 3 260 hp Mercedes D IVa 38 0 m 124 ft 8 in 1915 Training span increased 1 1Siemens Schuckert R III 3 220 hp Benz Bz IV 34 33 m 112 ft 8 in 1915 Training 1 1Siemens Schuckert R IV 3 220 hp Benz Bz IV 37 6 m 123 ft 4 in 1916 Training Span increased 1 1Siemens Schuckert R V 3 220 hp Benz Bz IV 34 33 m 112 ft 8 in 1916 Eastern front Span increased 1 1Siemens Schuckert R VI 3 220 hp Benz Bz IV 33 36 m 109 ft 5 in 1916 Eastern front Span increased 1 1Siemens Schuckert R VII 3 260 hp Mercedes D IVa 38 44 m 126 ft 1 in 1917 Eastern front 1 1Siemens Schuckert R VIII 6 300 hp Basse und Selve BuS IVa 48 0 m 157 ft 6 in n a None 2 one unfinished Siemens Schuckert R IX 8 300 hp Basse und Selve BuS IVa n a n a None design study onlyZeppelin Lindau Rs I 3 240 hp Maybach Mb IV 43 5 m 142 ft 9 in n a None Wrecked unflown 1915 note 2 1Zeppelin Lindau Rs II 3 240 hp Maybach Mb IV 33 2 m 108 ft 11 in 1916 None note 2 1Zeppelin Lindau Rs III 3 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 37 0 m 121 ft 5 in 1917 Evaluation note 2 1Zeppelin Lindau Rs IV 4 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 37 m 121 ft 5 in 1918 None note 2 Zeppelin Staaken VGO I 3 240 hp Maybach HSor 5 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 1915 Kaiserliche Marine note 4 Zeppelin Staaken VGO II 3 240 hp Maybach HS 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 1916 Eastern front amp trainer note 4 1 Zeppelin Staaken VGO III 6 160 hp Mercedes D III 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 1916 Eastern front note 4 1 Zeppelin Staaken R IV 2 160 hp Mercedes D III amp 4 220 hp Benz Bz IV 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 1917 Eastern front amp Western front One builtZeppelin Staaken R V 5 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 1917 Western front One builtZeppelin Staaken R VI 4 260 hp Mercedes D IVa 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 1917 Western front 18 builtZeppelin Staaken R VII 2 160 hp Mercedes D III amp 4 220 hp Benz Bz IV 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 1917 None Wrecked on deliveryZeppelin Staaken R VIII 8 260 hp Mercedes D IVaor 8 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 55 m 180 ft 5 in 1918 None unfinished 3 4 Zeppelin Staaken R IX 8 260 hp Mercedes D IVaor 8 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 55 m 180 ft 5 in 1918 None unfinished 5 6 Zeppelin Staaken R XIV 5 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 1918 Western front Three builtZeppelin Staaken R XIVa 5 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 42 2 m 138 ft 5 5in note 3 Post war Seized while smugglingZeppelin Staaken R XV 5 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 42 2 m 138 ft 5 5in note 3 1918 Western FrontZeppelin Staaken R XVI 2 530 hp Benz Bz VI amp 2 220 hp Benz Bz IV 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 1918 Airliner Two completed 3rd unfinished note 5 Zeppelin Staaken L 4 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 None Floatplane variant Wrecked in trials note 6 1Zeppelin Staaken Type 8301 4 245 hp Maybach Mb IVa 42 2 m 138 ft 5 in note 3 floatplane airliner 3 built for Kaiserliche Marine 3References editNotes edit The first successful large aircraft and the inspiration for the German Grossflugzeug and Riesenflugzeuge bombers a b c d Flying boat developed by Claudius Dornier while working for Zeppelin a b c d e f g h i j k l m The essentially same wing structure was used for nearly all 42 2 meter wingspan Zeppelin R series aircraft a b c Built at Versuchsbau Gotha Ost to Zeppelin design One built during war which did not see any service One was never completed One was built as a civilian airliner Built for Kaiserliche Marine Citations edit a b c d e f g h i j k Haddow 1962 p 67 G Sollinger The Forssman Tri plane The Largest Aeroplane Of World War I The Forssmann Triplane Haddow G W Grosz Peter M 1962 The German Giants The Story of the R planes 1914 1919 London Putman Gunston Bill 1991 Giants of the Sky The Largest Aeroplanes of All Time Sparkford UK Patrick Stephens Limited Haddow G W Grosz Peter M 1962 The German Giants The Story of the R planes 1914 1919 London Putman Gunston Bill 1991 Giants of the Sky The Largest Aeroplanes of All Time Sparkford UK Patrick Stephens Limited Bibliography edit Gray Peter Thetford Owen 1962 German Aircraft of the First World War London Putman Haddow G W Grosz Peter M 1962 The German Giants The Story of the R planes 1914 1919 London Putman Sollinger G 2009 Villehad Forssman Constructing German Bombers 1914 1918 Moscow Rusavia Publishing House External links edit The German Dornier Giant Flying Boat PDF Flight XI 38 1258 September 18 1919 No 560 Retrieved January 12 2011 Brief contemporary technical description of the Dornier Rs III or Rs IV with rough diagrams The Four engine Giant Notes on German Bombers in 1918 issue of Flight The Linke Hofmann Giant Machines p 2 p 3 amp p 4 in 1919 issue of Flight The German D F W Commercial Four Engined Biplane p 2 p 3 p 4 amp p 5 in 1919 issue of Flight Flyingmachines ru s photo page of many WW I German R class bombers Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Riesenflugzeug amp oldid 1181029927, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.