Top speed 130 km/h Length 22 m Manufacturer Flugzeugwerft GmbH | Wingspan 42 m First flight 1917 Designer Ferdinand von Zeppelin | |
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.
Contents
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
Specifications (Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII)
Data from The German Giants
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
provision for up to six machine-guns