Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.IV

The Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.IV (known incorrectly postwar as the Dornier Rs.IV) was a Riesenflugzeug (Giant aircraft) monoplane all metal flying boat with a stressed skin hull developed for the German Navy to perform long range patrols over the North Sea. It had been developed by Claudius Dornier while in the employ of Zeppelin in the town of Lindau.

Development[]

Two aircraft were ordered by the German Kaiserliche Marine (Kaiser's Navy) in January 1918.^[1] The first flight was made on 12 October 1918 and was converted shortly thereafter into a passenger seaplane sometime between October 1918, following damage sustained during its first flight, and June 1919.^[1] When it was modified the pilot's position was moved to the hull instead of in the overhead fuselage in 1919. The sole completed example was scrapped on 17 April 1920 on orders from the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission, after a detailed examination of its structural details had been made, while the second example was never completed.^[1]

Design[]

Its design was based on the previous Rs.III, differing primarily in having a narrower hull fitted with sponsons and stressed skin structure, with some minor tidying of the design. It was a braced parasol monoplane with the fuselage mounted on the wing above both engine nacelles and hull. The four engines were mounted in push-pull pairs in nacelles large enough to allow in flight access, between the hull and the wing and staggered to allow propeller disks to overlap slightly so as to reduce adverse yaw when an engine was not running. It had the distinction of being first seaplane to have an all-metal stressed skin hull, and the first seaplane to be fitted with Dornier's patented sponsons.

Operators[]

German Empire: Kaiserliche Marine - evaluation only

Specifications[]

Data from The German Giants^[1]

General characteristics

Crew: 5
Capacity: (20 passengers in the commercial version)
Length: 22.7 m (74 ft 6 in) overall
Hull length: 14.2 m (47 ft)
Hull beam: 3.65 m (12.0 ft)
Sponson width: 8 m (26 ft)
Height: 8.37 m (27 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 226 m² (2,430 sq ft)
Empty weight: 7,237 kg (15,955 lb)
Gross weight: 10,600 kg (23,369 lb)
Fuel capacity: 3,000 l (790 US gal; 660 imp gal)
Powerplant: 4 × Maybach Mb.IVa 6 cylinder liquid cooled inline mounted as tandem pairs, 183 kW (245 hp) each
Propellers: 4-bladed wooden fixed pitch propellers, 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in) diameter

Performance

Maximum speed: 138 km/h (86 mph; 75 kn)
Minimum control speed: 90 km/h (56 mph; 49 kn)
Endurance: 10 hours
Time to altitude:

400 m (1,300 ft) - 14 minutes
400 m (1,300 ft) - 22 minutes
400 m (1,300 ft) - 36.4 minutes
400 m (1,300 ft) - 53.5 minutes

Wing loading: 46.5 kg/m² (9.5 lb/sq ft)

References[]

Citations[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Haddow, G.W.; PeterM Grosz (1988). The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914-1919 (3rd ed.). London: Putnam. pp. 124–129. ISBN 0-85177-812-7.

Bibliography[]

Gray, Peter; Thetford, Owen (1970). German Aircraft of the First World War (second ed.). London: Putnam. pp. 580.
Haddow, G W.; Peter M. Grosz (1988). The German Giants - The German R-Planes 1914-1918 (3rd ed.). London: Putnam & Company Ltd.. pp. 124–130 & 290. ISBN 0-85177-812-7.
Kössler, Karl (1985). Dornier - Die Chronik des ältesten deutschen Flugzeugwerks. Friedrichshafen, Germany: Walter Biering GmbH. p. 79. ISBN 3-925505-01-6.
Ogden, Bob (1983). Dornier - Flypast Reference Library. Lincs, England: Key Publishing. p. 16. ISBN 0 946219 05 2. LCCN 0263-5887.
unknown author (23 December 1920). "Some "Dornier" Milestones". Flight Magazine. pp. pp.1269–1273 and pp.1289–1292.
Rimell, Ray (2009). Dornier Flying boats - Windsock Datafile 136. Hertfordshire, UK: Albatros Productions. ISBN 978-1-906798-03-1.

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[Haddow-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 Haddow, G.W.; PeterM Grosz (1988). The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914-1919 (3rd ed.). London: Putnam. pp. 124–129. ISBN 0-85177-812-7.

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