Germany -1915 - Siemens-Schuckert Steffen R.I

Germany's Split Tail Giant.

When looking at the R Type giants the idea of form follows function goes out the window. Today's Giant is definitely unusual. Although it is a double boom aircraft it is unique is the use of vertically stacked booms instead of the more orthodox lateral arrangement used on other aircraft.

Siemens-Schuckert Steffen R.I -1915

A Short History of the Siemens-Schuckert Steffen R.I

The Siemens-Schuckert Steffen R.I was a bomber aircraft designed and built in Germany from 1914.

December 1914 saw Siemens-Schuckert start the construction of a series of seven R aircraft, (Riesenflugzeug - giant aircraft) for the Imperial Military Aviation Service. These aircraft were essentially similar differing only in detail, engine installations and wing design. All of the seven Steffen designed aircraft were powered by three engines mounted in the forward compartment of the fuselage driving two tractor propellers mounted between the mainplanes via clutches, shafts and gearboxes.

The large forward compartment also housed the crew of between four and six in an enclosed cabin and open gun positions. Attached to the forward compartment were triangular section diverging booms, top and bottom, which supported the tail section, allowing the rear gunners, in positions between the boom attachments, a wide field of fire.

The R.I was used in non-operational roles at the eastern front and retained for training. R.II and R.III were used for training only, but R.IV, R.V, R.VI and R.VII were all used on operational missions by Rfa 501 (Riesenflugzeug abteilung) at Vilna on the eastern front.

References

1. From Wikipedia Siemens-Schuckert Steffen R.I, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siemens-Schuckert_Steffen_R.I
2. Haddow, G.W. & Grosz, Peter M. The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914-1919 London. Putnam. 1963.
3. Gray, Peter & Thetford, Owen. German Aircraft of the First World War. London, Putnam. ISBN 0 370 00103 6

Germany - 1917 Zeppelin-Staaken R-type pt 2

In Search of Giants

Sometimes you can work as hard as you can, and on the surface you have nothing to show for your time and effort. This has been the case as of late. I have been doing a lot more research and preparing master files than finishing complete profiles. In some cases when I do finish a profile I am replacing an existing file with a new image. I have finished some new work, and will post them soon.

Recently I have been on a hunt for those giants of the air. It all started when looking for the largest of the float planes. That was where I found today's subject, the Zeppelin-Staaken Type L s/n 1432. After that I got stuck in looking for more types of Staaken R-Type aircraft. One additional benefit was discovering more information and fairly clear 3 views of other rare Giant class aircraft. Some days life is good.

Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI, s/n 37/16, 1917

This example of the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI sports a fairly simple paint scheme. The crosses indicate the period was before the end of spring of 1918.

Zeppelin-Staaken Type L s/n 1432 - 1917

This is the prototype for large Staaken float planes. Sources state the color is a light gray over all. This plane crashed during test flights. There was enough interest in a float version and three serial numbers were reserved 8301 through 8303. It appears 8301 and 8303 were the only examples of that type completed by the end of the war.

A Short Overview of the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI

The Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI was a four-engined German biplane strategic bomber of World War I, and the only so-called Riesenflugzeug ("giant aircraft") design built in any quantity. The R.VI was the most numerous of the R-bombers built by Germany, and also one of the first closed-cockpit military aircraft (but the first was Russian aircraft Sikorsky Ilya Muromets). The bomber was reputedly the largest wooden aircraft ever built until the advent of the Hughes H-4 Hercules built by Howard Hughes, its wingspan of 138 feet 5.5 inches (42.20 m) nearly equaling that of the World War II B-29 Superfortress.

In September 1914, at the start of World War I, Ferdinand von Zeppelin visualized the concept of a Riesenflugzeug (R) bomber, to be larger than the Gotha G. Using engineers from the Robert Bosch GmbH, he created the Versuchsbau Gotha-Ost (VGO) consortium in a rented hangar at the Gotha factory. Alexander Baumann became his chief engineer, although later the team included other noted engineers including Zeppelin's associate Claudius Dornier, Hugo Junkers and Baumann's protogé Adolph Rohrbach. All of these Zeppelin-Staaken Riesenflugzeug designs used some variation of push-pull configuration in the setup, orientation and placement of their power plants.

The first Riesenflugzeug built was the VGO.I flying in April 1915, using three Maybach Zeppelin engines; two pusher and one tractor. This was built for the German Navy and served on the Eastern Front Later modified with two extra engines, it crashed during tests at Staaken. A similar machine, the VGO.II was also used on the Eastern Front.

Baumann was an early expert in light-weight construction techniques and placed the four engines in nacelles mounted between the upper and lower wing decks to distribute the loads to save weight in the wing spars.

The next aircraft, the VGO.III was a six-engined design The 160 hp Maybach engines were paired to drive the three propellers. It served with Rfa 500.

In 1916 VGO moved to the Berlin suburb of Staaken, to take advantage of the vast Zeppelin sheds there. The successor to the VGO III became the Staaken R.IV, the only "one-off" Zeppelin-Staaken R-type to survive World War I, powered by six Mercedes D.III and Benz Bz.IV engines that powered three propellers, a tractor configuration system in the nose, and two pusher-mount on the wings. By the autumn of 1916, Staaken was completing its R.V, R.VI, and R.VII versions of the same design, and Idflieg selected the R.VI for series production over the 6-engined R.IV and other R-plane designs, primarily those of Siemens-Schuckertwerke AG.

With four engines in a tandem push-pull arrangement, it required none of the complex gearboxes of other R-types. Each bomber cost 557,000 marks and required the support of a 50-man ground crew. The R.VI required a complex 18-wheel undercarriage to support its weight, and carried two mechanics in flight, seated between the engines in open niches cut in the center of each nacelle. The bombs were carried in an internal bomb bay located under the central fuel tanks, with three racks each capable of holding seven bombs. The R.VI was capable of carrying the 1000 kg PuW bomb.

Although designed by Versuchsbau, because of the scope of the project, the production R.VI's were manufactured by other firms: seven by Schütte-Lanz using sheds at Flugzeugwerft GmbH Staaken, Berlin; six by Automobil und Aviatik A.G. (Aviatik) (the original order was for three); and three by Albatros Flugzeugwerke. 13 of the production models were commissioned into service before the armistice and saw action.

One R.VI was converted on September 5, 1917, into a float-equipped seaplane for the German Naval Air Service, with the designation Type L and s/n 1432, having Maybach engines. The Type L crashed during testing on June 3, 1918. The Type 8301, of which four were ordered and three delivered, was developed from the R.VI by elevating the fuselage above the lower wing for greater water clearance, eliminating the bomb bays, and enclosing the open gun position on the nose.

R.VI serial number R.30/16 was the first supercharged aircraft, with a fifth engine - a Mercedes D.II - installed in the central fuselage, driving a Brown-Boveri supercharger. This enabled it to climb to an altitude of 19,100 feet (5,800 m). This same aircraft was later fitted with four examples of one of the first forms of variable-pitch propellers, believed to have been ground-adjustable only.

The R.VI equipped two Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Army Air Service) units, Riesenflugzeug-Abteilung (Rfa) 500 and Rfa 501, with the first delivered June 28, 1917.

The units first served on the Eastern Front, based at Alt-Auz and Vilua in Kurland until August 1917. Almost all missions were flown at night with 1,700 pound (770 kg) bomb loads, operating between 6,500 and 7,800 feet (2,000 and 2,400 m) altitude. Missions were of three to five hours' duration.

Rfa 501 was transferred to Ghent, Belgium, for operations against both France and Great Britain, arriving September 22, 1917, at St. Denis-Westrem (Sint-Denijs-Westrem) airdrome. Rfa 501 later moved its base to Scheldewindeke airdrome south of group headquarters at Gontrode, while Rfa 500 was based at Castinne, France, with its primary targets French airfields and ports.

Rfa 501, with an average of five R.VI's available for missions, conducted 11 raids on Great Britain between September 28, 1917, and May 20, 1918, dropping 27,190 kg (29.97 short tons) of bombs in 30 sorties. Aircraft flew individually to their targets on moonlit nights, requesting directional bearings by radio after takeoff, then using the River Thames as a navigational landmark. Missions on the 340-mile (550 km) round trip lasted seven hours. None were lost in combat over Great Britain (compared to 28 Gotha G bombers shot down over England), but two crashed returning to base in the dark.

Four R.VI's were shot down in combat (one-third of the operational inventory), with six others destroyed in crashes, of the 13 commissioned during the war. Six of the 18 eventually built survived the war or were completed after the armistice.

References

1. Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI. (2012, May 12). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 01:11, May 17, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zeppelin-Staaken_R.VI&oldid=492276869
2. Mark's Lists German Giants Retrieved 01:01, May 17, 2012, from http://www.markslists.net/history/germangiants/index.html
3. The Aerodrome Forum Zeppelin Staaken R.vi/ Type L Seeflugzeug Bomber Camouflage Retrieved 01:01, May 17, 2012, from http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/camouflage-markings/33768-zeppelin-staaken-r-vi-type-l-seeflugzeug-bomber-camouflage.html
4. E. Offermann, W. G. Noack, and A. R. Weyl, "Riesenflugzeuge, in: Handbuch der Flugzeugkunde" (Richard Carl Schmidt & Co., 1927).
5. Haddow, G.W. & Grosz, Peter M. "The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914–1919". London. Putnam. (1962, 3rd ed. 1988).ISBN 0-85177-812-7
6. Gray, Peter & Thetford, Owen. "German Aircraft of the First World War". London, Putnam. (2nd Ed.) 1970. ISBN 0-370-00103-6
7. Wagner, Ray and Nowarra, Heinz, "German Combat Planes", Doubleday, 1971.

Austria - 1917 Hansa-Brandenburg G.1

The Hansa-Brandenburg G.1 Bomber

Austria depended on German for many of their designs. That does not mean many attempts were not made to produce their own designs.Unfortunately most of their efforts did not pan out. The Hansa-Brandenburg G.1 Bomber is one of those attempts which did not exceed the performance of their German counterparts.

Hansa-Brandenburg G.1 s/n 62.01 - 1918

As with most of the examples of this type I have seen, the fuselage is varnished wood. The wings, tail plane and rudders are all varnished fabric. The aircraft is depicted as it was in early 1918, before the switch to the Baltic cross.

A Short History of the Hansa-Brandenburg G.1 Bomber

The Hansa-Brandenburg G.I was a bomber aircraft used to equip the Austro-Hungarian aviation corps in World War I. It was a mostly conventional large, three-bay biplane with staggered wings of slightly unequal span. The pilot and bombardier sat in a large open cockpit at the nose of the aircraft, with a second open cockpit for a gunner in a dorsal position behind the wings. An unusual feature was the placement of the twin tractor engines. While the normal practice of the day was to mount these to the wings, either directly or on struts, the G.I had the engines mounted to the sides of the fuselage on lattices of steel struts. This arrangement added considerable weight to the aircraft and transmitted a lot of vibration to the airframe.

A small initial production batch of six aircraft was delivered by March 1917, but were all grounded soon thereafter and put into storage due to a contractual dispute between the manufacturer and Flars (the Imperial and Royal Aviation Arsenal). When this was resolved, deliveries recommenced, although the size of the order was reduced, and the bombers were modified by Flars before being sent to the Divacca, on the Italian Front. Twelve aircraft were built by UFAG and differed slightly from the German-built machines.

The G.I eventually equipped three squadrons plus a replacement unit, but reports from pilots were unfavorable, especially in comparison to the Gotha G.IV that was becoming available. The Hansa-Brandenburg machine was therefore quickly relegated to training duties. In the three months that these aircraft had been at the front, they had only carried out a single successful sortie. As a footnote to the G.I's military service, the type also served as a test bed in experiments in mounting large-caliber cannon on aircraft; flying with nose-mounted 2 in (50 mm) and (separately) 2.75 in (70 mm) Skoda weapons, and a 1.46 in (37 mm) Skoda cannon mounted in the dorsal gunner's position.

References

1. Hansa-Brandenburg G.I. (2010, December 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:03, March 12, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hansa-Brandenburg_G.I&oldid=403231491
2. Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions. pp. 472.
3. Hansa-Brandenburg Aircraft, 2010 Books LLC ISBN: 1155357191 ISBN-13: 9781155357195

Britain - 1917 Bristol Braemar

Triplane madness extended beyond fighter development. Several experimental bombers were built during the Great War attempting to create a heavy bomber as effective as the Caproni Ca.42. The Austrians did not have a monopoly on insane contraptions. To make matters worse for the British there were proposals for building a steam powered version of the Braemar called the Tramp. When looking at some of the strange designs which were built during the war it seems the race for air superiority was won by the nation which made the next to the last mistake. To quote a famous line from Fawlty Towers “However did they win the war?”

An Experimental Triplane Heavy Bomber

The Bristol Braemar was a British heavy bomber aircraft developed at the end of the First World War for the Royal Air Force. Only two prototypes were constructed.

The prototype Braemar was developed in response to the establishment of the Independent Air Force in October 1917, as a bomber capable of the long-range bombing of Berlin if necessary. A large triplane, it had internal stowage for up to six 250 lb (110 kg) bombs.

The initial design featured a unique engine installation with a central engine room housing all four engines. The engines were to be geared in pairs and power taken from the engines to the four propellers by power shafts. This design was abandoned early in development, and both the completed Braemars had a conventional engine installation, with the engines in inline tandem pairs, driving pusher and tractor propellers. However, the engine-room design was resurrected later in the Braemar's development life, for the proposed steam-powered Tramp.

The first prototype Braemar flew on August 13th 1917, with four Siddeley Puma engines of 230 hp (170 kW) each. The prototype showed generally good performance with a top speed of 106 mph (171 km/h), but there were complaints from the test pilots about the view from the cockpit and the controls, and so the next aircraft produced was an improved version designated Braemar Mk.II. The Mk.II had considerably more power, in its four Liberty L-12 engines of 400 hp (300 kW), which gave it an improved speed of 125 mph (201 km/h).

The Braemar never entered service with the RAF, and the two prototypes were the only Braemars built. The Braemar design was subsequently developed as the Pullman passenger aircraft.

References

1. Bristol Braemar. (2010, November 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 06:38, March 8, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bristol_Braemar&oldid=395872431
2. Barnes C.H. (1964). Bristol Aircraft Since 1910. Putnam & Company Ltd. ISBN 0-370-00015-3

Austria - 1917 Lloyd 40.08 Luftkreuzer

Those Crazy Austrian Odd Birds and Why We Love Them

Sometimes you see something which tickles your humor gland. For me it usually is one of the bizarre designs by an Austrian madcap designer.

It makes me think of a bad joke. "An Austrian aircraft designer walks into the Luftfahrtruppen office with a brick which has 8 wings pasted on it. The clerk asks 'What it is?'; The designer says 'It is a revolutionary new fighter aircraft design.' The clerk looks at it again and says 'Wunderbar! We need 200 of them! How quickly can you get it into production'?"

Forget about functionality, forget about aerodynamics and some cases forget about it actually flying at all. These planes are more sculpture than aircraft. Rube Goldberg must be smiling somewhere.

I had been hunting down information on this bird and luck was with me. I want to thank Lord K. from Dieselpunk for the missing pieces to the puzzle. I was able to find a rough line drawing photos, and a dodgy color drawing to guide me in making this profile.

Lloyd 40.08 Luftkreuzer - 1917

The Lloyd Luftkreuzer was a very bizzare and unsuccessful triplane bomber which was first proposed in 1916. It was plagued with design flaws which were never solved to the degree that never let it leave the ground. It never made it past the prototype stage of development.

The prototype Lloyd Luftkreuzer was based on the requirement of LFT (Luftfahrtruppen) to develop a modern and powerful bomber powered by three engines. In August of 1915 LFT approached two companies, Lloyd and Oeffag Phönix who were awarded funding to construct two prototype triplane heavy bombers. The machine should be driven by one powerful engine in the main hull and two engines in smaller side mounted boom style fuselage. The next requirement was the ability to carry a 200 kg bomb load and endurance of at least 6 hours. Defensive armament would provided by four machine guns, two of the guns should be mounted on the main fuselage and the other two guns would be mounted in the side hulls.

In January of 1916, Ungarische Lloyd Flugzeug und Motorenfabrik AG was supplied with the first drawings and specifications for two triplane bombers called Luftkreuzer I (type I, LK), designation was changed to the Lloyd 40.08 and the Luftkreuzer II (type II, LV) was renamed the 40.10 Lloyd. The name "Luftkreuzer" means Sky Cruiser.

Lloyd 40.08 Luftkreuzer

The aircraft was a triplane with unequal span wings. The upper wing had a span of 23.26 meters and a width of 2.40 m. The middle wing was 22.38 m long and 2.20 meters wide. The lower wing span was 16.84 meters and 2.00 meters wide. The middle wing was mounted to the bottom of the booms and center fuselage. The upper and lower wings were connected by struts and bracing. The gap between the two upper wings was 2.10 meters and the two bottom gap was 1.75 meters. The total wing area was 110 square meters. Below the main body between the upper and lower wings was an enclosed gondola, apparently the bombardier rode in this position

The forward section of the central fuselage had a large enclosed cabin for two gunners. The design provided an excellent field of vision in all directions. In the rear section of the main hull there was a engine compartment for the 12 cylinder 300 hp Daimler water cooled engine, driving a wooden two-blade pusher propeller.

The gun stations were also equipped with a spotlight. The side hulls were built from modified Lloyd C. II fuselage. Both were fitted with a six-cylinder water cooled inline Daimler engine producing160 hp each. Both ot the two blade wooden propellers revolved in the same direction.

The machine was completed on June 8, 1916 and was ready for engine testing at the airport in Aszód. The aircraft was found to be very nose-heavy and the center of gravity was too high. During ground tests prototype suffered some minor damage when it nosed over and flipped. This prompted a redesign of the chassis and the addition of a third wheel under the nose to keep it from toppling nose first into the ground. After the redesign the prototype was ready for its test flight in October of 1916,. Oberleutnant Antal Lany-Lanczendorfer was the test pilot for the flight. The flight seems to be unsuccessful because there is no evidence that the aircraft actually got airborne. In early November Flars (Fliegerarsenal) considered reducing the bomb load in order to reduce the total take-off weight. Development continued at a snail''s pace. In December Flars recommended the installation of additional chassis rails. These were added to the main undercarriage.

In March 1917 Lloyd applied for a revision of the airplane, but the application was rejected and the work came to a halt. The Lloyd 40.08 airframe placed in storage until January of 1918 when it was ordered to be transported to aircraft cemetery in Cheb.

References

1. Knights of the Air Made in Hungary http://www.dieselpunks.org/profiles/blogs/knights-of-the-air-made-in
2. Lloyd 40.08 Valka Cz http://en.valka.cz/viewtopic.php/t/66002
3. Grosz, Peter, The Austro-Hungarian Army Aircraft of World War One. Flying Machines Press, 2002, ISBN 1-891268-05-8

Germany - 1918 Linke-Hofmann R.II

The World's Largest Single-propeller Aircraft

No that is not hyperbole just a fact. Even though it looks sleek this plane was huge. Once I saw a photo of it I knew I needed to do a drawing of it. The only colored example showed a lozenge pattern with a lot of yellows in it. I am not sure of the authenticity of the colors so I made a best guess and did it my way. If someone has a swath of the camouflage or a better guess let me know.

Linke-Hofmann R.II - 1918

The Linke-Hofmann R.II (Riesenflugzeug - giant aircraft) was a heavy bomber aircraft designed by Paul Stumpf of Linke-Hofmann and built in Germany from 1917.

The Linke-Hofmann R.I had disappointing performance and handling, as well as structural weakness, both prototypes crashing. Linke-Hoffman took a radically different approach for their second Riese Flugzeug, the Linke-Hofmann R.II. Linke-Hofmann sought to realize the benefits of the internal placement of four engines in the design of a heavy aircraft which avoided the drag created by traditional nacelles and additional structural elements such as struts and braces.

The R.II was approximately three times the size of a conventional single engined bi-plane. The Linke-Hoffman R.II was probably the largest single propellor aircraft ever built and flown, with a wing span of 138 ft, length of 66 ft and height of 23 ft. The design was powered by a single 22 ft. 7.5 in diameter propeller. Power was supplied by four 260 h.p. Mercedes D.IVa engines, arranged in two tandem pairs inside the fuselage, driving the propellor through clutches, shafts and gearboxes. Each of the four engines could be disconnected from the shaft by means of special couplings, and R. II was able to perform normal flight with two engines.

The airframe was constructed largely of wood with plwood covering the forward fuselage and a steel-tube v-chassis main undercarriage with two wheels and a tail-skid at the aft end of the fuselage. Two examples of the R.II were completed by the time the Armistice were designated, R 55/17 and R 58/17.

Flight testing of R 55/17 was carried out after the Armistice in 1919, demonstrating acceptable performance and handling, being able to fly happily with only two engines running / connected. Normal endurance was estimated to be 7 hours, but with adjustment of load and a cruising speed of 74mph it was estimated that the R.II could stay aloft for 30 hours. After several test flights the aircraft was destroyed.

There were plans to make it a 12 passenger airliner after the war, but the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty ended further development. Despite its short life, the R. II remained in history (and in the Guinness book of records) as the largest single-propeller aircraft

Germany 1916-1917 Gotha Bombers

The Iconic Gotha Bomber

When the subject of German World War One bombers comes up, most people think of the Gotha series of bombers. The reputation of this type aircraft may a bit more impressive than the actual operational record. Even though it had many flaws the aircraft has become legendary. When I drew this series of profiles I became aware of the subtle changes in the airframe and control surfaces as the type evolved to meet problems discovered in operational use. I plan on revisiting the subject with more examples of a fascinating plane.

Gotha Bombers of 1916

Gotha G.II - 1916

The Gotha G.II series was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I.

The Gotha G.II was an entirely new biplane designed by Hans Burkhard, who had previously reworked Oskar Ursinus's design for the G.I to make it suitable for mass-production. Burkhard abandoned the G.I's unorthodox configuration in favor of a more conventional design with the fuselage mounted on the bottom wing rather than the top.

Gotha G.III - 1916

The Gotha G.III was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. It succeeded the G.II in production and differed primarily in the choice of power plant. The eight-cylinder Mercedes D.IV, which had proven highly susceptible to crankshaft failure, was replaced by the new six-cylinder 260 hp (190 kW) Mercedes D.IVa engine. The G.III also featured a reinforced fuselage with an extra 0.312 in (7.92 mm) Parabellum MG14 machine gun firing through a ventral trapdoor. The G.III was also the first bomber to have a tail gun with a potential 360° arc of fire.

Most of the 25 G.III aircraft produced were delivered to Kagohl 1, operating in the Balkans out of Hudova. Combat service of the G.III was limited but effective. Its most notable accomplishment came in September 1916, when a formation of G.III aircraft destroyed the railway bridge over the Danube River at Cernavoda(, Romania. It also saw use by Kagohl 2 on the Western Front, operating from Freiburg. Following the delivery of the G.IIIs to this unit, its commander complained to Berlin about the performance of the aircraft, not because they were too slow, but because they were outrunning their escort fighters. In September 1917, all surviving aircraft were withdrawn from combat and relegated to training units.

Gotha Bombers of 1917

Gotha G.IV - 1917

The Gotha G.IV was a heavy bomber used by the Luftstreitkräfte (Imperial German Air Service) during World War I. Experience with the G.III showed that the rear gunner could not efficiently operate both the dorsal and ventral positions. Hans Burkhard's ultimate solution was the "Gotha tunnel," a trough connecting an aperture in the upper decking with a large opening extending across the bottom of the rear fuselage. The Gotha tunnel allowed a gunner at the dorsal position to depress his gun into the aperture and fire through the fuselage at targets below and behind the bomber. A ventral 0.312 in (7.92 mm) machine gun could still be mounted, and there was even a provision for a fourth machine gun on a post between the pilot's and bombardier's cockpits, although this was rarely carried due to the weight penalty it imposed on the bomb load.

The G.IV introduced other changes. The fuselage was fully skinned in plywood, eliminating the partial fabric covering of the G.III. Although it was not the reason for this modification, it was noted at the time that the plywood skinning enabled the fuselage to float for some time in the event of a water landing. Furthermore, complaints of poor lateral control, particularly on landing, led to the addition of ailerons on the lower wing.

Gotha G.V - 1917

The Gotha Bomber was produced in the autumn of 1916 when the limitations of the Zeppelin as a raider had become obvious. The German High Command ordered that 30 Gotha bombers were to be ready for a daylight raid on London on February 1st, 1917, but the machines were not ready until May. The first daylight raid on London was carried out by 14 Gothas on June 13th, 1917. On July 7th, 22 Gothas raided London. Night raids began in August of 1917 and continued until May 1918 when they were abandoned because of the increasingly heavy losses. At peak employment, in April 1918, 36 G.Vs were in service.

Operational use of the G.IV demonstrated that the incorporation of the fuel tanks into the engine nacelles was a mistake. In a crash landing the tanks could rupture and spill fuel onto the hot engines. This posed a serious problem because landing accidents caused 75% of operational losses. Gothaer produced the G.V, which housed its fuel tanks in the center of the fuselage. The smaller engine nacelles were mounted on struts above the lower wing.

Germany 1916 - 1917 Friedrichshafen G.III

The Friedrichshafen G-Type Bomber

The Friedrichshafen G.III (factory designation FF.45) was a medium bomber was designed and manufactured by Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen. They were used by the German Imperial Air Service (the Luftstreitkräfte) during World War I for tactical and limited strategic bombing operations. After the end of the war a number of Friedrichshafen bombers were converted into transport aircraft while a small number also saw service as dedicated airliners.

Friedrichshafen G.III - 1916

The success of the G.II paved the way for the larger and more powerful G.III, which entered service in early 1917. While it looked somewhat similar to the G.II, the G.III was longer and had a greater wingspan which caused its designers to increase the number of interplane struts to three pairs on each side of the fuselage. Operational experience with the G.II had revealed a tendency for the aircraft to "nose over" during landings with deadly consequences for the nose gunner and possibly also the pilot. Friedrichshafen engineers solved this problem by equipping the G.III with an auxiliary wheel mounted under the nose gunner's position. The G.III also used the more powerful six-cylinder 190 kW (260 hp) Mercedes D.IVa engines. The extra power increased the bomb carrying capability enabling the aircraft to carry a bomb load of up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb), though this severely reduced operational range. In practice, the heaviest bomb load rarely exceeded 600 kg (1,320 lb). Some of the bomb load could be carried internally but most of it was carried on removable external bomb-racks and usually consisted of streamlined P.u.W bombs but specialized munitions such as air-mines could also be carried. As production continued further modifications were made to the G.III series that resulted in two sub-variants:

Friedrichshafen G.IIIa

Friedrichshafen G.IIIa - 1917

This sub-variant reintroduced a box-shaped biplane unit which improved the aircraft's control response when it was being flown on one engine. Another modification was the installation of a third 7.92 mm (.312 in) machine gun to combat British night fighters, which often attacked German bombers from below where they were hard to spot but the bomber's silhouette was easy to see against the night sky. This gun was mounted on a tubular, sliding mounting bolted to the floor of the rear gunner's position and was fired downward through a small sloping gun-tunnel cut into the bottom of the rear fuselage. By the last year of the war, the G.IIIa had replaced the G.III in production.

Italy 1914-1918 Caproni Bombers

Gianni Caproni's Heavy Hitters

The Italian designer Gianni Caproni produced arguably the most influential bombers of the war. They were the standard others were measured by. They were powerful, versatile, reliable and structurally tough.

Italian Heavy Bomber Development

Italian Bombers - 1918

Caproni Ca.3 - 1914

The Caproni three-engined Italian heavy bomber of World War and the post-war era. The Caproni Ca.3 was the definitive version of the series of aircraft that began with the Caproni Ca.1 in 1914. The production version, equipped with three 100 hp fixed in-line Fiat A 10 engines entered service in the summer of 1915, and it was the most effective bomber of any air force, except for the Russian Sikorsky.Ilya Mourometz.

Italian Bombers - 1918

Caproni Ca.4 - 1918

Caproni Ca.4 Series was patterned along the lines of the Caproni Ca.3 series of biplane bombers, the larger triplanes of the Ca.4 series were designed to be more effective in combat. Sometimes armed with up to eight machine guns, these cumbersome bombers were capable of accurately delivering large payloads of bombs to distant enemy targets. Although mainly used at night, they took part in daylight raids towards the end of the war. Of thirty-two Ca.42s manufactured in 1918, six of them were used by the Royal Naval Air Service.

Caproni Ca.5 - 1918

The Caproni Ca.5 was an Italian heavy bomber of the World War I and post-war era. It was the final version of the series of aircraft that began with the Caproni Ca.1 in 1914.

By late in World War I, developments in aircraft technology made older bomber designs unable to penetrate targets defended by modern fighters. Caproni's response to this problem was to significantly uprate the power on the existing Ca.3 design, with some versions of the Ca.5 eventually carrying engines with nearly five times the total power that the first Ca.1 had.