Zeppelin-Staaken

From Wings of Linen

Zeppelin Werke Staaken GmbH (Zeppelin-Staaken) of Staaken developed a series of huge R-Class (Riesenflugzeug) bombers.

Six were adapted as giant seaplanes (#8301-8306). Five of six were completed when work was halted with the Armistice.[1]

Production or combat aircraft from the Great War or shortly thereafter include:

References

Notes
  1. The R.VII crashed in Halberstadt on 16 Aug 1917 while on route to delivery, after an engine failure.[2][3]
  2. Three R.VIIIs, R.201/16-R.203/16, were planned.[4]
  3. Two R.IXs, R.204/16 and R.206/16, were planned.[4]
  4. The Staaken L was a floatplane version of the R.VI constructed for the Navy. It crashed and was destroyed in June 1918 on trials. Six more were ordered but none saw service.[5]
  5. These planes used lessons from the Staaken L and R-series to build improved giant floatplanes. While testing began in summer 1918, none were accepted by the Navy.[6]
  6. The E.4/20 was a prototype all-metal four-engine monoplane transport which began in mid 1919 and finished on 30 Sep 1920. While it was advanced, it was scrapped in 1922 at the insistence of the Inter-Allied Control Commission.[7]
Citations
  1. Nowarra, p.81.
  2. Munson, p.159.
  3. Haddow'69, p.61.
  4. 4.0 4.1 Haddow'69, p.68.
  5. Haddow'69, pp.278-283.
  6. Haddow'69, pp.283-287.
  7. Haddow'69, pp.289-292.
Bibliography
  • Peter Gray and Owen Thetford. German Aircraft of the First World War. Great Britain, Putnam, 1962, 1987. ISBN 0-85177-809-7.
  • G.W. Haddow and Peter M. Grosz, The German Giants; The German R-Planes 1914-1918. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 2nd Ed., 1969. ISBN 9780370000374
  • Kenneth Munson, Bombers: Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft, 1914-1919. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1968, Blandford Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0753721711
  • Heinz J. Nowarra, Bruce Robertson, and Peter G. Cooksley. Marine Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Letchworth, Herts, England: Harleyford Publications Limited, 1966. ISBN 0900435070