Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI

National origin: Germany
Manufacturer: Schutte-Lanz
Designer: Graf von Zeppelin
First flight: 1918
Primary user: Luftstreitkrx¤fte
Unit cost: 557,000 marks
Variants: Zeppelin-Staaken R.V, Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI, Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII, Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV, Zeppelin-Staaken R.XV, Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeuge

The Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI is an incremental improvement to the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI. This was one of a series of large bombers called Riesenflugzeugen intended to be less vulnerable than dirigibles in use at the time.

Development

The Staaken Bomber had two engine pods with 4 engines in a push-pull configuration. The pods were large enough for some in-flight maintenance. The engines were effectively a V-12, with two V-6 engines mated in a pusher-tractor configuration with a common crankshaft to produce over 550 HP for the pair.

Operational history

3 Staaken R.XIVa (Schx¼l), were scheduled to be built under license by the Schutte-Lanz company. One was only partially completed by January 1919. Each were destroyed to prevent falling into enemy hands. A Staaken R.XIVa built by Staaken was completed on 19 October 1918 and was chartered by the post-War Ukrainian government to fly money into the Ukraine, but was seized by the Inter-Allied Control Commission at Aspern, near Vienna, after it returned from Ukraine. It was subsequently turned over to the Italians.

Operators

German Empire

Specifications (Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI)

General characteristics

Crew: 7
Length: 22.1 m (72 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 42.2 m (138 ft 5 in)
Height: 6.3 m (20 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 332 m (3,570 sq ft)
Empty weight: 7,921 kg (17,463 lb)
Gross weight: 11,848 kg (26,120 lb)
Powerplant: 2 x— Benz Bz.VI pusher engine , 400 kW (530 hp) each
Powerplant: 2 x— Benz Bz.IV tractor engines , 160 kW (220 hp) each

Performance

Cruising speed: 135 km/h (84 mph; 73 kn)
Range: 800 km (497 mi; 432 nmi)

Armament

A. K. Rohrbach, “Das 1000-PS Verkehrsflugzeug der Zeppelin-Werke, Staaken,â€� Zeitschrift fx¼r 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).
The German Giants by G.W. Haddow and Peter M. Grosz.

http://aeiou.iicm.tugraz.at/aeiou.film.f/f041a A Zeppelin-Staaken R XIVa airplane lands in Aspern, 1919

Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI Pictures

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Source: WikiPedia