Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII

Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII
Role Bomber
National origin Germany
Manufacturer Flugzeugwerft GmbH, Staaken, Berlin
Designer Graf von Zeppelin
First flight 1917
Primary user Luftstreitkräfte
Number built 1


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 in-flight maintenance by flight mechanics housed in cockpits forward of the nacelle engines, driving the large pusher propellers throuch clutches, gearboxes and shafts. A further two engines were mounted in the nose of the fuselage driving a single tractor propeller in similar fashion.[1]

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.[1]

Operators

Specifications (Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII)

Data from The German Giants[1]

General characteristics

Twelve 245 l (53.89 imp gal; 64.72 US gal) tanks holding3,140 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)

Performance

Armament

provision for up to six machine-guns


Notes

  1. 1 2 3 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.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zeppelin-Staaken.
  • 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)
  • Haddow, G.W.; Grosz, Peter M., The German Giants: The Story of the R-planes 1914–1919, London: Putnam, ISBN 0-85177-812-7 
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