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.

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.

Operators

• German Empire

Specifications (Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII)

Data from The German Giants

General characteristics

• Crew: 7+
• Length: 22.1 m (72 ft 6 in)
• Wingspan: 42.2 m (138 ft 5 in)
• Height: 6.8 m (22 ft 4 in)
• Wing area: 332 m² (3,570 sq ft)
• Empty weight: 8,923 kg (19,672 lb)
• Gross weight: 12,953 kg (28,556 lb)
• Fuel capacity: 2,140 kg (4,720 lb)consisting of:
  • Twelve 245 L (53.89 imp gal; 64.72 US gal) tanks holding 3,140 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)
• Disposable load: 1,890 kg (4,170 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Mercedes D.III 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engines, 120 kW (160 hp) each Driving a single tractor propeller through clutches, gearbox and transmission shafts
• Powerplant: 4 × Benz Bz.IV 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engines, 160 kW (220 hp) each In tandem pairs driving single pusher propellers through clutches, gearbox and transmission shafts
• Propellers: 4-bladed tractor propeller, 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in) diameter

Performance

• Maximum speed: 130 km/h (81 mph; 70 kn)
• Service ceiling: 3,850 m (12,631 ft)
• Time to altitude:
  • 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in 12 minutess.
  • 2,000 m (6,600 ft) in 25.5 minutes.
  • 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in 50 minutes.
• Wing loading: 39 kg/m² (8.0 lb/sq ft)

Armament

provision for up to six machine-guns

References

• 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)