Zeppelin-Staaken V.G.O. III
| Zeppelin-Staaken V.G.O. III | |
|---|---|
| |
| Role | Bomber |
| Manufacturer | Zeppelin-Staaken |
| Designer | Baumann, Klein, and Bosch [1] |
| First flight | ~spring 1916[2] |
| Introduction | Sept 1916[2] |
| Primary user |  Germany
|
| Number built | 1 |
| Wingspan | 42.0 m (137 ft 8 in)[3]-42.2 m (138 ft 5 in)[4] |
| Engine | 6×160hp Mercedes D.III inlines[4] |
| Armament | five MGs [5][3][note 1] 400–800 kg (880–1,800 lb)[2] or 910 kg (2,000 lb)[3] of bombs |
| Crew | 7 [1][2] |
| Max Speed | 120 km/h (75 mph)[5][4][2] |
| Climb | 1,000 m (3,280 ft) in 16:00[2] 2,000 m (6,560 ft) in 29:00[5][2] 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 56:00[3][4][2] |
| Ceiling | 3,000 m (10,000 ft) [3][4][2] |
| Endurance | 6:00[2] |
The third in the line of the Zeppelin Riesenflugzeug (Giant Aeroplanes) was the Zeppelin V.G.O. III, serial number R.10/15. The first two in the line had been underpowered, so the VGO.III mounted six 160hp Mercedes D.III engines: two in each engine nacelle to drive a pusher propeller and two in the nose to drive a tractor propeller. Five machine guns were carried. When the R (Riesenflugzeug) category was formally created, the plane was renamed the R.III. [6] Like the R.I and R.II, it served on the Eastern Front with R.Fl.A. (Rfa) 500.[1]
Construction of the third Staaken giant had begun at Gotha in October 1915, and the reliable Mercedes D.III engine replaced the Maybach HS of its predecessors. Since the D.III engine was comparatively underpowered, the were mounted in pairs: two to drive the nose propeller and two each in the engine nacelles. Like the V.G.O.II, the front of those nacelles doubled as gunners' positions, supplementing the ventral and dorsal positions in the fuselage. It arrived at Rfa 500 on 8 Sept 1916, and it conducted about seven missions before crashing on 24 January 1917.[2]
For more information, see Wikipedia:Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeuge.
Timeline
References
- Notes
- Citations
- 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
- W.M. Lamberton and E.F. Cheesman, Reconnaissance & Bomber Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War. Great Britain: Harleyford Publications Ltd., 1962. ISBN 9780900435027
- Kenneth Munson, Bombers: Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft, 1914-1919. New York: The MacMillan Company, 1968, Blandford Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0753721711