Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI

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 Riesenflugzeuge intended to be less vulnerable than dirigibles in use at the time.

Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI
Role	Bomber Type of aircraft
National origin	Germany
Manufacturer	Schütte-Lanz
Designer	Graf von Zeppelin
First flight	1918
Primary user	Luftstreitkräfte
Variants	Zeppelin-Staaken R.V, Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI, Zeppelin-Staaken R.VII, Zeppelin-Staaken R.XIV, Zeppelin-Staaken R.XV, Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeuge

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. ^[1] 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.^[2]

Operational history

3 Staaken R.XIVa (Schül), were scheduled to be built under license by the Schütte-Lanz company. One was only partially completed by January 1919. All were destroyed to prevent falling into enemy hands. A Staaken R.XIVa built by Staaken was completed on 19 October 1918^[3] 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(Av))

General characteristics

Crew: 7
Length: 22.5 m (73 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 42.2 m (138 ft 5 in)
Height: 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in)
Wing area: 340 m² (3,700 sq ft)
Empty weight: 10,400 kg (22,928 lb)
Gross weight: 14,650 kg (32,298 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Benz Bz.VI (pusher) V-12 water-cooled piston engines, 400 kW (530 hp) each
Powerplant: 2 × Benz Bz.IV (tractor) 6-cyl. water-cooled in-line piston engines, 160 kW (220 hp) each
Propellers: 2-bladed Fixed pitch wooden tractor and pusher propellers

Performance

Maximum speed: 130 km/h (81 mph, 70 kn)
Cruise speed: 135 km/h (84 mph, 73 kn)
Range: 800 km (500 mi, 430 nmi)
Service ceiling: 3,710 m (12,170 ft)

Armament
Provision for nose, dorsal, ventral and two upper-wing machine-gun positions

Notes

^ "Zeppelin-Stakken". Retrieved 7 October 2010.
^ Bill Gunston. World encyclopaedia of aero engines: all major aircraft power plants, from the Wright brothers to the present day.
^ William Melville Lamberton. Reconnaissance & bomber aircraft of the 1914-1918 war.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zeppelin-Staaken.

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).
The German Giants by G.W. Haddow and Peter M. Grosz.

External links

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

Zeppelin aircraft

Lighter-than-air
(airships)

Manufacturer
hull
numbers

A Class	LZ 1
B Class	LZ 2 LZ 3
C Class	LZ 4 LZ 5
D Class	LZ 6
E Class	LZ 7 LZ 8
F Class	LZ 9 LZ 10 LZ 12
G Class	LZ 11 LZ 13
H Class	LZ 14 LZ 15 LZ 16 LZ 17 LZ 19 LZ 20
I Class	LZ 18
J Class	skipped
K Class	LZ 21
L Class	LZ 22 LZ 23
M Class	LZ 24 LZ 25 LZ 27 LZ 28 LZ 29 LZ 30 LZ 31 LZ 32 LZ 33 LZ 34 LZ 35 LZ 37
N Class	LZ 26
O Class	LZ 36 LZ 39
P Class	LZ 38 LZ 40 LZ 41 LZ 42 LZ 43 LZ 44 LZ 45 LZ 46 LZ 47 LZ 48 LZ 49 LZ 50 LZ 51 LZ 52 LZ 53 LZ 54 LZ 55 LZ 56 LZ 57 LZ 58 LZ 60 LZ 63
Q Class	LZ 59 LZ 61 LZ 64 LZ 65 LZ 66 LZ 67 LZ 68 LZ 69 LZ 71 LZ 73 LZ 77 LZ 81
R Class	LZ 62 LZ 72 LZ 74 LZ 75 LZ 76 LZ 78 LZ 79 LZ 80 LZ 82 LZ 83 LZ 84 LZ 85 LZ 86 LZ 87 LZ 88 LZ 89 LZ 90
S Class	LZ 91 LZ 92
T Class	LZ 93 LZ 94
U Class	LZ 95 LZ 96 LZ 97 LZ 98 LZ 99
V Class	LZ 100 LZ 101 LZ 103 LZ 105 LZ 106 LZ 107 LZ 108 LZ 109 LZ 110 LZ 111
W Class	LZ 102 LZ 104
X Class	LZ 112 LZ 113 LZ 114
Post-war	LZ 120 LZ 121 LZ 126 LZ 127 LZ 129 LZ 130
Unbuilt	LZ 70 LZ 115–LZ 119 LZ 122–LZ 125 LZ 128 LZ 131–LZ 132

Operator's
identification

Names	Bodensee Deutschland Deutschland II Dixmude Esperia Graf Zeppelin Graf Zeppelin II Hindenburg Hansa USS Los Angeles Méditerranée Nordstern Sachsen Schwaben Viktoria Luise
Army Z designations¹	Z I Ersatz Z I Ersatz Z I (2) Z II Ersatz Z II Z III Z IV Z V Z VI Z VII Z VIII Z IX Z X Z XI Z XII
Army LZ designations²	LZ 34 LZ 35 LZ 37 LZ 38 LZ 39 LZ 72 LZ 74 LZ 77 LZ 79 LZ 81 LZ 85 LZ 86 LZ 87 LZ 88 LZ 90 LZ 93 LZ 95 LZ 97 LZ 98 LZ 101 LZ 103 LZ 107 LZ 111 LZ 113 LZ 120
Navy L designations	L 1 L 2 L 3 L 4 L 5 L 6 L 7 L 8 L 9 L 10 L 11 L 12 L 13 L 14 L 15 L 16 L 17 L 18 L 19 L 20 L 21 L 22 L 23 L 24 L 30 L 31 L 32 L 33 L 34 L 35 L 36 L 37 L 38 L 39 L 40 L 41 L 42 L 43 L 44 L 45 L 46 L 47 L 48 L 49 L 50 L 51 L 52 L 53 L 54 L 55 L 56 L 57 L 58 L 59 L 60 L 61 L 62 L 63 L 64 L 65 L 70 L 71 L 72

Heavier-than-air
(aeroplanes)

Zeppelin-Staaken	L 8301 VGO.I VGO.II VGO.III R.IV R.V R.VI R.VII R.XIV R.XV R.XVI E.4/20
Zeppelin-Lindau	CL.I CL.II CS.I D.I Rs.I Rs.II Rs.III Rs.IV V1
Zeppelin Flugzeugebau	C.I C.II C.IV
Other	L 1 Rammer Fliegende Panzerfaust ZMe 323 ZMe 423 ZSO 523

¹Early Army designations, used pre-war. ²Wartime Army LZ designations were not always matched to Zeppelin's LZ hull number.

v t e Idflieg R-class aircraft designations
AEG	R.I R.II
Daimler	R.I R.II
DFW	R.I R.II R.III
Junkers	R.I
LFG Roland	R.I
Linke-Hofmann	R.I R.II
Schütte-Lanz	R.I
Siemens-Schuckert	R.I R.II R.III R.IV R.V R.VI R.VII R.VIII R.IX
Zeppelin-Staaken	R.III R.IV R.V R.VI R.VII R.VIII R.IX R.XIV R.XV R.XVI
Zeppelin-Lindau¹	Rs.I Rs.II Rs.III Rs.IV
^1. Rs was not an official Idflieg designation as aircraft were intended for the Navy.

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