Category Archives: German Empire

Junkers J.I

German Empire (1917)

Reconnaissance and Infantry Liaison aircraft: 227 Built

Intro

The Junkers J.I represented a massive leap in aircraft design philosophy, while also being a truly exceptional combat airplane in its own right. Designed to fly close along the frontlines and support infantry operations, the J.I was uniquely capable thanks to its armor plated fuselage and duralumin construction. It was exceptionally durable, able to resist both machine gun fire and weather that kept its wood and canvas contemporaries grounded. As a reconnaissance, supply delivery, and ground harassment aircraft, the Junkers J.I was both the best of its day, and a sign of things to come.

Professor Junkers

Hugo Junkers holds a position of immense importance in aviation, being the creator of the all-metal airplane and the founder of one of history’s most famed airplane firms. Junkers himself was born in February of 1859 in the Rhineland Town of Rheydt, the third of eight children. He would not stay and work at the family textile company after leaving school, instead going on to study at the Universities of Berlin-Charlottenburg, Karlsruhe, and Aachen. He completed his studies in 1888, obtaining a degree as a Baumeister, or factory official, and entered the field of gas engine design in Wilhelm von Oechelhauser’s firm, the Deutsche Continental Gasgesellesschaft. In time, the two of them would go on to found a new joint venture, the Versuchsstation fur Gasmotoren von Oechelhaeuser und Junkers, a laboratory for gas engine development. His work at this laboratory would go on to see him develop the first opposed piston, two stroke engine, calorimeters for testing gasoline, and many smaller domestic appliances from gas stoves to water heaters. It was in 1895 that he founded Junkers and Co. in Dessau to manufacture these appliances, this venture also being the foundation for his later efforts in aviation.

Hugo Junkers circa 1920, following the end of the great war his firm built the first modern airliners. (wikimedia)

In 1897, he would both be made a Professor of Thermodynamics by the University of Aachen, and he would marry his wife Therese Bennhold. At the university, he was made head of the engineering laboratories, and founded his own workshop there to secure a place to continue his experiments. His work there would progress quickly from both his personal drive, and considerable funds from the patent revenue from the products he developed. This combination of experience with metalworking, a secure lab, and his considerable engineering talents, would see Prof. Junkers enter the field of aviation well equipped.

It was in 1910 that his colleague Prof. Hans Reissner would suggest he venture into the field of aviation, and the two would work together at the University of Aachen, building an experimental wind tunnel, and a very early all-metal airplane prototype. As these projects continued, he would go on to move all of his work to his own laboratory in Dessau. At this new lab, Dr. Junkers combined the experimental wind tunnel work from Aachen with his theories on aircraft design, notably, that of all-metal construction.

The Tin Donkey

Prior to the 1920’s the conventional materials and layout for airplane construction was a biplane made from wood, and skinned in fabric, with struts and bracing wires providing the structural support for the wings. Prof. Junkers felt that the inherently high parasite drag of biplanes, combined with the external supports, was a major handicap in aircraft design, and he believed that metal construction would completely revolutionize airplane development. Using a thick, rigid wing that was internally supported, the resultant aircraft would be aerodynamically cleaner, and the internal space within the wing could be used to store fuel or cargo.

His first major effort to build such an aircraft began near the end of 1914, as a privately funded venture with the assistance of the engineers Otto Reuter and Otto Mader. Initially, the project was funded by a large influx of cash from Junkers and Co., but they received Military support by June of 1915, and they were contracted by the Army to produce the new aircraft. Supplied with tooling and material’s from Dr. Junker’s own enterprise, they proceeded, and in four months they had built their plane.

 

The J.1 during its Army test flight. Despite their extremely similar designations the J.1 and J.I are completely different aircraft. (SDASM)

The Junkers J.1 was as revolutionary a design in airplane development as had been seen since the invention of the plane itself. It was a steel mono winged plane, and the first to feature cantilevered wings, which were spar-less and consisted of a steel framework welded to an inner, corrugated skin, over which it was skinned in smooth sheet steel. Aluminum alloys were sought after, but in the end, steel was all that was available. It proved to be an extremely sturdy, but also very heavy aircraft, weighing in at 1010 kg when set for takeoff. Beyond the original benefits Prof. Junkers envisioned for his new planes, the war, and the subsequent mass production of airplanes had shown there were more practical challenges in operating wood and fabric aircraft. As the number of airplanes increased, storage space became a premium, and canvas biplanes cannot be allowed to sit in poor weather lest their wooden frames and canvas skin become warped. Pilots in combat also soon discovered their greatest fear beyond the enemy’s guns, fire, which no matter how minor at first, often became a death sentence to anyone who’s plane began to burn. However, a metal aircraft with a canvas cover can sit in nearly any weather without issue, and a fire aboard such a plane isn’t liable to spread rapidly. A pilot could ditch his plane in most circumstances, saving him from a very grisly end.

The J.1 was taken to Doberitz where it would be tested by the Army, as Dessau lacked a proper airfield. Lt. Theodore von Mallinckrodt of the German Army would be the first to fly it, finding some novelty in a metal aircraft. Much of the test team was critical of the new plane, nicknamed the ‘tin donkey’, feeling that it would be too heavy to fly, and that it was suicide to fly a plane without bracing wires. Unbothered, the lieutenant began with short hops along the ground before the first full flight test in December. It flew well at first, but with harsh vibration being noted once the plane was brought to high speed. The Army team found the flight characteristics acceptable, but found that the wings had compressed the fuselage of the plane. They were also critical of its extremely low climb rate and lackluster turning performance, but all were impressed when the aircraft achieved a speed of 170 km/h in level flight, making it the fastest plane yet built. Even with its modest 120hp straight 6 Mercedes engine, its speed managed to impress ace pilot Oswald Bolcke who had a chance to inspect the aircraft the next year.

As an experimental aircraft, it was an undeniable success, having proven both that an all metal aircraft was well within the material restrictions of the time, and that massive reductions in drag were possible using this construction. The experimental plane was thus followed by a fighter aircraft, the Junkers J.2. Similar to, but far more refined than the ‘tin donkey’, the J.2 was the first all-metal fighter aircraft ever designed, but it was never accepted for service and the Idlfieg lost interest when it was clear certain performance metrics could not be met. As with the J.1, the fighter still used a 120hp engine, and with its smaller wings, it possessed even higher wing loading, as well as the sluggish climb rate of the experimental J.1. A new 160hp Mercedes engine also failed to bring the aircraft up to the necessary performance requirements.

 

The J2 featured some very modern design choices, including an underslung mid fuselage radiator. (Wikimedia)

However, the J.2 was not the only project of that year, as another design featuring new construction methods was also in the workshop through 1916. The Junkers J.3 would never be completed, but it was the first Junkers project to feature the famous corrugated duralumin skin. Given that it was still a fairly soft material, the bends in the skin would give it the necessary strength to not only act as lifting surfaces, but also structurally reinforce the entire structure by taking shear forces. It would also use a new tubular framework for the wings, built up around a set of stronger tubular spars. While this aircraft would never be finished, these new features would be carried over into the firm’s next design, which would prove to be its first major success.

Reconnaissance under fire

By the end of 1916, not only had the war on the Western front grown into a vicious battle for trench lines between an unsurvivable no man’s land, but aircraft had been proven to be an essential means of understanding the depth of this new and horrible form of warfare. Enemy trenches could only be surveyed from high ground, vulnerable to enemy fire, and the build up of forces were completely hidden from their traditional opponent, cavalry. Aerial reconnaissance thus became invaluable in mapping out labyrinthine trenchworks, finding the positions of enemy guns, and observing the movements of the enemy away from the front lines. Two-seater recon planes were adopted, and fighters were later developed to shoot them down and seize control of vital airspace, but through 1916 the offensive use of aircraft began in earnest. While a canvas biplane had no hope of attacking reinforced trench lines, unable to resist machine gun fire, they could attack enemy infantry at the foremost positions or as they moved through no-man’s land.

While Germany had employed ground attack squadrons in early 1916, it was the use of British infantry contact patrols using fighters and two-seaters through the battle of the Somme that spurred them to develop these tactics further. Moreover, they wanted specialized infantry harassment aircraft beyond their unmodified two-seater biplanes. Losses among these units were high, and the Idflieg, or the Inspector of Aviation forces, produced specifications for a specialized Infantry aircraft. This new plane was to be equipped with armor plate which would enclose the pilot, gunner, engine, and fuel stores with a minimum thickness of 5mm. They were also given a low minimum ceiling of 1500 meters, given they were designed for ground attack and low level reconnaissance. To make a note, this series was designated the I-type, but given the older German writing of I, it appeared as a J, and this series has subsequently been noted as the J type ever since.

The Halberstadt CL.II was built for reconnaissance and ground attack, though its wooden construction left it vulnerable to ground fire. (The Great War Channel)

Albatros and AEG both promised armored versions of their successful C.XII and C.IV models respectively, but Junkers approached the specification with a new concept entirely. While he was forced to build a biplane according to the Idflieg’s specifications, he was still granted considerable leeway with the design. Junkers himself would not be as hands on with this project as he had been the J.1 .2 and .3, over its necessity of being a biplane, so instead he elected to put the project in the hands of a team of engineers. The design of the Junkers J 4, would be managed by Dr-Ing Otto Mader, along with teams headed by the engineers Otto Reuter, Hans Steudel, and Franz Brandenburg.

While it was a biplane, the new aircraft still drew from the experiences and design philosophy of previous projects. Its wings featured corrugated duralumin skin over the multi-sparred, tubular duralumin framework and were in a sesquiplane arrangement, with the lower wing being significantly smaller in length and chord than top. They were connected by an inner set of struts, but being self supporting, they needed no bracing wires. Its armor protection was comprehensive, half of the fuselage consisted of an octagonal steel compartment which contained the engine, pilot, gunner, and fuel. Rear of this armored section was a tubular frame which ended with a conventional tail section. Unlike Junkers’ earlier underpowered efforts, this new plane was equipped with a significantly more powerful 200hp Benz B.IVa straight six engine. This model was among the more powerful aviation engines in German service, excluding those built for airships.

The massive Junkers J.I featured heavy armor protection and structurally redundant wings, it was exceptionally resistant to small arms fire. (SDASM)

Three prototypes were ordered on November 3rd 1916, and delivered the following January as J.425/17, 426/17, and 427/17. On the 28th, one prototype with the 200hp Benz IVa was flown by German officer Arved von Schmidt without armor plate for testing. Taking off from snow 20 cm deep, Schmitt took the plane up to 250 meters and reached a speed of 155 km/h, finding that the aircraft was stable, if tail heavy. The demonstration was impressive enough to get an order for 100 planes on February 19, 1917. The Junkers J 4 was thus accepted into service as the Junkers J.I, under the German Air Service’s designation system. Some minor changes before mass production included a redesigned vertical stabilizer, overhung balanced ailerons, and a balanced rudder.

Given that the workshops at Dessau had yet to receive an order for a mass produced aircraft, building the new planes at a fast enough rate proved difficult. There were two major challenges, first was that while Prof. Junkers was a brilliant inventor, he and his firm were fairly inexperienced when it came to aircraft production, and second, given that this was the first mass produced-all metal aircraft, the methods of mass producing an all metal plane would be learned with it. The Army foresaw this becoming an issue and brought in Anthony Fokker, a master in aircraft production, in order to set up an aircraft factory alongside Junker and Co. in Dessau. The new Junkers Fokker Werke AG. was thus established to build a completely new production line for planes, as subcontractors could not be used to build components, as was the case for wooden planes. The arrangement worked well, with Junkers and Co. engaged in the experimental work and providing designs, while JFA handled the job of meeting the production orders, which in total amounted to 350 planes. In spite of the new facilities, bottlenecking, and the loss of one of the armor plate manufacturers to flooding, would restrict the number of planes built to far below this number.

The Flying Tank

The first J.I to see service was the first off the production line, no. 100/17, which was sent to the front in August of 1917 where it served with the Flieger-Abteilug 19. On one of its first missions, the unit commander flew the plane on a low altitude recon mission near Ypres, Belgium, and found that the plane was not only faster and better handling than the Albatros and AEG J types, but that he had received 11 hits to his aircraft, without issue. FA-19 continued to fly the aircraft, and on one occasion on September 23, 100/17 was hit 85 times, without suffering serious damage.

 

By October, the unit had accumulated enough experience to give an account on using the aircraft. In addition to its excellent protection from bullets and shrapnel, the plane could be flown confidently in weather that kept all others grounded, and it had an excellent glide ratio, which meant that in the event of engine failure, a pilot could still glide his plane back over to friendly lines and evade capture. However, it also required a long take off run and it had a higher landing speed than most aircraft. Luckily, these were issues that could be solved by instruction from more experienced pilots, and practice. Overall, the Junkers J.I proved to be an excellent aircraft from the appraisal of FA 19.

After its front line trials with FA 19, the Junkers J.I would begin to be distributed to the Schutzenstaffel, or protection flight units, whose job was to patrol the area between the opposing trench lines. This entailed a variety of missions from escorting two-seater recon aircraft to ground attack missions, with each unit consisting of some sixty seven men and six planes. Up until 1918, this role was filled by more versatile two seater aircraft like the Halberstadt CL.II, but come the winter of 1917, a small number of armored J type planes were entering service with them. This included four Junkers J.Is issued to the Schusta in December of 1917, a number which would grow to sixty by August of the following year, alongside 186 armored planes of other manufacturers. The nature of this change was revealed more fully when the Schusta were redesigned Schlachtstaffel, or attack flights, during the March offensive, as their escort role was dropped.

The Junkers J.I was used as a support aircraft whose role was primarily reconnaissance and infantry liaison work. The rear seat was equipped with a 7.62mm machine gun, and occasionally a 20mm Becker auto cannon in service, but ground attack was a secondary use of the aircraft. Its most important job was to survey areas of the battlefield that were in contention, to take photographs of bottlenecks in the terrain, or send reports of urgent developments directly to divisional HQ’s via wireless telegraph. First and foremost, the mission of J.I crews was to assist in communicating the state of the changing battlefield, an important task as in the spring of 1918 the war was again entering a mobile phase. Likewise, messages were also delivered from the HQ to the frontlines, as the telegraph wires were easily knocked out by artillery fire. Aircraft were directed by signalers, attached to infantry brigades, by the use of flares, lamps, and fabric strips to mark the position of friendly forces and enemy positions. Working with the signallers, the J.I’s crews could deliver messages to forward commanders from their headquarters, as well as supplies, like food and ammunition, to difficult to reach frontline positions.

A J.I crew prepares to drop canned food, water, and bread to a forward unit, an often overlooked task. While supply runners may not have been able to reach certain positions in daylight, crews like these could drop supplies from behind their aircraft’s armor plate. (SDASM)

In an offensive role, the most powerful tool accorded to the plane was its radio, which could be used to direct artillery, and could also be used to direct the plane to tenuous areas of the frontline to render support directly. While it was typically the job of the Schlachtstaffel to render support near friendly forces, and harass traffic behind the enemy lines, the lack of a bomb load and a standardized forward gun arrangement meant the offensive capabilities of the Junkers J.I were quite limited. The observer/gunner could engage using the mounted machine gun, but they were totally overshadowed by the lighter, unarmored two-seaters, which carried nose mounted guns and could be fitted with bomb racks.

In service, crews rendered excellent service with these aircraft, and many swore by them. One Lieutenant Wagner of Flieger Abteilung 268 flew a mission on March 28th, at an altitude of 80m over the front. During the mission, his observer was wounded, and his own helmet was shot through, but his plane, No. 128 received over 100 hits which did nothing to impede it. The Leutenant was amazed by this, as he’d overflown the enemy trenches, something that would have been suicidal in nearly any other aircraft. These encounters were fairly frequent, as one of the main tasks of the Junkers J.I units was to overfly the enemy trenches and locate the position and size of enemy reserves.

 

Ground crew maneuver a J.I in a photo for publication. (Wingnut Wings)

The Junkers J.I was considered totally unsuitable in aerial combat, given its low speed and ponderous maneuverability. Though, there is one known encounter between an American fighter and a Junkers J.I, which might very well be the only air engagement with the rare armored scout. Major Charles Biddle of the USAS 103rd Squadron, was flying his Spad XIII on May 15, 1918. While returning towards his side of the lines, after a weapon malfunction ruined an interception of a German recon plane, he encountered a ‘peculiar two seater’. Coming down to take a look, it lacked the hallmarks of most German planes of its type, but its unmistakable crosses marked it as an enemy plane. He also noted its extremely low speed, calling it ‘the slowest bus you ever saw’ and remarked he made two miles for its one. The Major dove on the plane and took up position fifty yards below its tail, then he made a mistake. He pulled up to take a shot at the Junkers, but he had misjudged the distance and ended up in the propeller wash of the German two-seater, shaking his aircraft and throwing off his aim. He dove to escape the view of the enemy gunner, but now was underneath his target. The German pilot then began to turn to bring the Spad into view of his gunner, and after several swerves to try to shake the American from beneath his plane, he succeeded. Now out of the Junker’s blind spot, Major Biddle was now the target of the gunner who, and in the words of the Major himself found himself in the crosshairs of “some of the quickest and most accurate bit of shooting that I had come up against”. The shot put a hole through the Spad’s radial engine and into Biddle’s left leg above the knee. He dove, to escape the gunner and head for friendly lines, wounded and with his engine failing. He landed in a field of shell craters, his plane turning over, in a fortunately escapable wreck. Major Biddle was likely the opponent of pilot Feldwebel Ernst Schafer, and Lieutenant Wilhelm Paul Schriber of Flieger Abteilung (A) 221, who subsequently overflew the plane and took photographs of their victory.

Construction

The all metal Junkers J.I used duralumin and steel for nearly everything but the engine braces and rear fuselage skin. (Peter M. Bowers via Fredrick Johnson)

The Junkers J.I was an all metal aircraft built from nickel-steel and duralumin. The forward fuselage was an octagonal compartment built from steel with an armor thickness of 5mm, though late production aircraft used a thickness of 3.5mm for their sides, and 6mm for the rear. The armor was impervious to small arms fire, and enabled the aircraft to overfly enemy trench lines at low altitude. The entire forward fuselage was built up around four large duralumin longerons, and joined to the rearward section, which had a tubular construction. The rear section was skinned with fabric, though the tail section was of duralumin construction with the rudder initially being fabric skinned, before it too was changed to corrugated duralumin later in production. Some very late examples of this aircraft had a corrugated aluminum skin over the rear fuselage, though these do not seem to have been delivered to the Army. The fuselage was joined to the wings by a series of steel tubes covered with protective aluminum fairings, and sat atop the lower wing. The undercarriage of the aircraft featured a conventional construction of two vees, connected to the axle through a shock absorber. The axel was a steel tube 9ft long, with it and the other structural elements being covered by aluminum fairings. The tail skid was of a simple wood construction.

 

The armored fuselage was manufactured at the Dillinger Panzerwerk from high tempered steel. (Flight)

The aircraft had a sesquiplane wing configuration with the upper wing having a span approximately 38% longer than the lower. The fine details are disputed, but the upper wing had a span of some 16m and a chord of 2.50/2.25m, the lower a span of some 6m and a chord of 1.50/1.08. The upper wing had a set of balanced, hanging ailerons. Both the upper and lower wings were built in three sections, consisting of an inner panel which was attached via steel tube struts to the fuselage, and two outer panels. The wings were built around multiple tubular spars made from 40mm tubular duralumin, with the upper wing possessing ten, the lower only five. These spars ran the length of the wing and were connected to a number of steel brackets which connected them to a framework of smaller tubes, which joined the spars and stiffened the wing. This design gave the wing both incredible strength, which needed no structural struts or bracing wires, and was extremely resilient to gun fire, as only when many of the brackets or spars were damaged would the wing become compromised. The wings were skinned in .3mm duralumin sheets which were corrugated to strengthen them, as the duralumin alloy was very soft, and was used as a structural element of the wing which bore shear forces. One aircraft, no. 749/18, was equipped with long span upper wings to lower the take off run of the aircraft, the modification did not make it into production.

 

The upper wing had ten tubular spars, not counting the aileron rod, and damage to any one of them was mitigated by others and the web of brackets through the wing. (Flight)

The control system of the aircraft also represented another departure from the conventional methods, eschewing the traditional wire control system for a more resilient push-rod system. The control systems were a duralumin stick and foot pedals for the rudders. The ailerons spanned the entirety of the outer wing panels and were connected to an aileron tube which ran parallel with the structural spars, which was articulated by linkages to the central control stick. The elevators had exterior stranded wires, which were articulated by the push rod system within the fuselage of the aircraft. The rudder operated much the same way. The cockpit furnishings were basic and the instrumentation consisted of a tachometer and fuel gauge, with a compass mounted on the wing.

The Junkers J.I was equipped with a 200 hp straight 6, Benz IVa engine. The similar 230 hp model had a dry weight of 370kg, a bore of 145mm, a stroke of 190mm, and a compression ratio of 4.91:1. It measured 1,990mm long, had a width of 530mm, and was 1150mm tall. It was water cooled, with the radiator mounted above the engine along the upper wing, its slats controlled by means of a lever above the cockpit. The fuel tank was a 98 liter seat-tank which took the place of the pilot’s typically wicker chair. It was made of sheet brass and had a channel through the back for the control rods for the tail section of the aircraft. It was divided into two sections so that a single bullet hole wouldn’t drain the entire tank. A pump drew fuel from this tank and delivered it to the gravity feed tank in the upper wing, if the pump broke the system could be driven by hand. A 38 liter oil tank was located behind the instrument panel. The engine was fitted with a 2.9m wooden propeller with a pitch of 1.9m. They were manufactured by Axial-Propeller Werke of Berlin and were issued with prop-spinners. The engine bay had two articulated panels which swung rearward to allow easy access to the Benz IVa engine, which was mounted atop two wooden engine bearers made from solid ash.

 

A Telefunken radio set, amplifier, and assorted gear. (stone vintage radio)

The plane could carry a variety of equipment for its missions, though these were mostly commonly a camera, and a wireless telegraph set. The observer, who was also the commander of the aircraft, operated both of these. The camera was a separate piece of equipment carried into and out of the aircraft by the observer and set within a built-in mount. This was set in the fuselage behind the armored section and accessible through a sliding sheet metal panel. The telegraph set was installed within the armored fuselage. Built by Telefunken, the W.T. was standardized across the service. It consisted of a sturdy, protected case and a 37 m aerial, with the alternative Huth made transmitter having a 38 m length.

In regular service, the aircraft carried no forward mounting weapons and carried only a rear mounted gun within a swivel mount, which was set within a turning wheel around the observer’s seat. This allowed him to traverse the gun 180 degrees and take aim at targets above and below the aircraft. This was a largely defensive weapon, but could also be used in a limited anti-infantry role. The gun was either a parabellum MG 14 or, more rarely, a Becker 20 mm autocannon.

 

An observer with an MG 14. Like the British Vickers gun, it was a redesigned Maxim variant that reduced the size of the weapon significantly. (airwar.ru)

The MG 14 was a 7.62mm machine gun derived from the common MG 08 in service with the German army. However, it was much more compact as the toggle-lock mechanism was reversed to a downwards action, it used an internal spring, and the ejection system was made to drop casings out the bottom of the receiver rather than the front. The result was that the receiver was narrower and slimmer compared to the more cumbersome infantry machine gun. They were also equipped with a buttsock and pistol grip, with some examples being equipped with an Oigee magnified reflector gunsight. The water cooling system was not used, and the jacket was perforated to reduce weight. The gun was fed from a cloth ammunition belt which was spooled within a metal drum, with one carried on the weapon and two in reserve. It had an adjustable rate of fire between 600-700 rounds per minute. An experimental armament of two fixed, downward facing machine guns for trench strafing was installed on one aircraft, but was not used in service.

A very advanced weapon for its day, the Becker autocannon would go on to influence the development of the 20mm Oerlikon gun. (mnemonic-shapeways)

The 2cm Becker autocannon was a powerful, if cumbersome weapon. It operated on API blowback and was loaded with ten and fifteen round box magazines. Ammunition loads could consist of solid shot or high explosive shells, which could prove absolutely devastating against canvas biplanes and effective at harassing infantry. It did however have a relatively low muzzle velocity of 490m/s and a slow rate of fire, between 250 and 300 rpm, depending on the manufacturer. These were installed aboard a few Junkers J.Is, but the machine gun armament was far more common.

Each plane came with a repair kit for surface damage and the following spare parts: 1 undercarriage axle, 2 spare wheels without tires, 1 tail skid with spring, 1 complete set of structural struts and associated connecting parts, 2 trestles, 1 lifting jack, 1 set of tools, and riveting materials.

Flying and Servicing

The Junkers J.I was a ponderous, but steady aircraft to fly. Its top speed was decent for a two-seater, at 145 km/h, but its climb rate was extremely low. It took 77 minutes to reach 3km, though in service it typically operated below 1km, which only took 12 minutes to reach. Coupled with its wide turning circle, the plane earned itself nicknames like the flying ‘Tank’ or ‘Mobelwagen’, or translated, moving van. Given its low speed, it was typically given escorts. Its controls were responsive, though were different enough from its contemporaries to need some practice getting used to. The stick for instance could become shaky and uncomfortable to use if inputs were harsh and jerky. Its landing speed was also notably high, and it required a longer run for take off and landing, preferably made on compacted ground. These issues aside, most pilots were fairly confident in the aircraft, and when flown it was a very stable, especially in the wind and rain, which kept everything else grounded.

 

The Junkers J.I was often a difficult adjustment for pilots, though its stable handling characteristics and robust construction made for a safe re-learning period. (Wingnut Wings)

Crewmen were also very appreciative of the incredible amount of protection the aircraft afforded, allowing missions that would have otherwise been considered suicidal to be completed with a high level of confidence. Not only were all of the critical components of the aircraft all located within a nearly impervious armored compartment, but the wings were extremely durable and unlikely to fail even when struck continuously by machine gun fire. Perhaps best of all, the risk of fire damage was extremely low, and the fire resistant construction would give the pilot time to set the plane down. When all else did fail, and the engine gave out, the aircraft had a good glide ratio, and despite its weight, it could travel some distance without power, allowing the crew to cross back to friendly lines, or look for a safe place to ditch. Overall, the Junkers J.I was in all likelihood, the most durable aircraft to see action during the Great War, and certainly the best of the armored J type aircraft in service with the German Luftstreitkrafte. In the end, only one confirmed combat loss was noted in over its one year of service, performing one of the most dangerous missions.

 

A high landing speed and a need for compact ground meant that numerous J.I’s that  were taken out of action in accidents like these. Few were serious and the planes were typically sent back to depots for repair. (Wingnut Wings)

Its metal construction also gave a number of advantages in the field. Most convenient of all was the fact that it could be stored outside in bad weather. While wood and canvas could not be allowed to stay wet and needed shelter from the rain, a Junkers J.I only needed to have its engine and crew compartments covered. The plane was also designed from the outset to be easily transportable, the wings, tail section, and struts could be easily decoupled and placed alongside the fuselage, allowing it to easily fit in a railcar or trailer. The lack of bracing wires made this easy, and also removed a great deal of the maintenance work. Basic repair tasks were fairly simple, and every plane came with a patching kit that made combat repairs easy, but specialized training was needed for larger components. Extensive repairs usually required the planes to be sent to depots where specialists could work on them, and was usually done in the case of extensive damage to the wings or fuselage. Larger single-piece components, like the struts, were simply replaced with spares if damaged.

Conclusion

The Junkers J.I proved to be a pivotal design in airplane development, as it not only introduced to the world a mass produced all-metal plane, but it also incorporated so many other innovations, such as its cantilevered wings and use of corrugated duralumin. They would provide a practically indestructible plane to what would have been very vulnerable crews, and in the years to come, these features would put Junkers well ahead in the civil air industry.

Junkers J.I
Engine Benz BIVa
Engine Maximum Output 200hp
Empty Weight 1766kg
Combat Load 410kg
Maximum Speed 155 m/h
Combat Ceiling 3km (operational)
Armament 1xMG 14 or 1 x 2 cm Becker Autocannon
Crew 1x observer 1x pilot
Length 9.20m
Height 3.45m
Wingspan 16m
Wing Area 50.84m

Illustrations

J.100/17 was the first to enter service with the Army testing it in frontline use in the Autumn of 1917.
As the Junkers armored planes began to enter more widespread service, crews began to fashion their own camouflage schemes. Mauve stripes became a fairly common pattern among these aircraft. Flieger-Abteilung 17, 1918.
Late production aircraft had their fabric skinned vertical stabilizers and tail sections replaced with duralumin sheeting. The fabric sections of the aircraft often went unpainted, and left in the dyed lozenge camo patterns it was delivered with. Unknown unit, based at Villiers de Chevres, 1918.

Credits

Written and edited by Henry H.

Illustrated by Arte Belico

Sources

Primary:

Instruction Manual for Junk. J. I Armored Biplane. Junkers-Fokker-Werke A.G. Dessau. Translated and reproduced in Flight The Aircraft Engineer & Airships Vol. 12. 1920.

Report on the Junker (sic) Armoured Two Seater Biplane, Type J.1*. Ministry of Munitions. Reproduced in Flight The Aircraft Engineer & Airships Vol. 12. 1920.

Secondary:

Junkers Aircraft of WWI Vol 1 Junkers J.1-J.4. Owens, Colin A. Aeronaut Books. 2018.

Junkers J.I. Grosz PM. Albatros Productions. 1993.

Junkers 52 A History 1930-1945. Forsyth, Robert & Creek, Eddie J. Crecy Publishing 2014.

German Observer’s Guns. Woodman, Harry. Albatros Productions 2001.

German Air Forces 1914-1918. Sumner, Ian. Osprey Publishing Ltd. 2005.

AGO S.I

German Empire (1918)

Armored Ground Attack Aircraft [2 Built]

One of the two AGO S.I, this would be one of the first dedicated “tank busting” aircraft built. (Otto, AGO and BFW Aircraft of WWI)

The AGO S.I was an armored, heavily armed ground attack aircraft designed to fill the requirement for the German Luftstreitkräfte  their S type plane; a dedicated anti-tank ground attack aircraft. Before the end of the war, two of the type were produced, but the war would end before production could begin, nor did the prototypes see service. The aircraft featured a downward facing 20mm Becker cannon which it would use against the thinly armored roofs of tanks.

Tank Troubles and the Search for a Solution

The introduction of the tank in 1916 was a turning point for all modern warfare. The use of the machines to break through barbed wire and enemy trench lines proved itself effective, and as the war dragged on, the number of tanks increased year over year. Germany would use infantry based special weapons such as armor piercing K-bullets in rifles and machine guns, the heavy Tankgewehr m1918 rifle, or artillery bombardment to stop the metal monsters. The Germans would show hesitation in producing their own tanks due to resistance from the German High Command and a lack of industry to produce them in large numbers, but would eventually do so with the Sturmpanzerwagen A7V. The type however, would prove to be riddled with flaws that rendered it able to do little to counter the allied tank numbers. In addition, the A7V would only arrive in 1918, the last year of the war.

A 20mm Becker cannon mounted to the side of an Albatros J.I armored aircraft. This weapon would begin being carried by aircraft late in the war, and was required to be mounted on the S type aircraft. The Becker is known for being the basis of the famous 20mm Oerlikon cannon. (Albatros Aircraft of WWI Volume 3)

Aircraft were never used in a major role to destroy tanks during the war, but the two would encounter each other nonetheless, with German aircraft able to score several victories against them. There seemed to be little interest by the Idflieg in developing aircraft or aerial weapons to be deployed specifically against tanks for the majority of the war, until around the start of 1918. The Idflieg would designate a new type of aircraft, the S type, for a dedicated aircraft meant for ground attack and destroying tanks. The S type anti-tank aircraft was meant to be an armored aircraft with a requirement to mount the 20mm Becker automatic cannon. Armored aircraft themselves weren’t something new within the German Empire, as they were categorized under the J type. These were dedicated armored aircraft and were in use operationally by this point of the war. Some examples included the AEG J.I and Junkers J.I. The Becker Cannon was also in production and had been mounted on various aircraft by this time, mostly by twin engined G types but there were ongoing developments to put the weapon onto a single engine aircraft. The Albatros J.I was one such aircraft and a number would have the cannon mounted on a pintle on the side of the craft, but crews found the weapon placement and pintle mount made the weapon hard to operate and aim. Eventually it was found that this weapon could be most effectively mounted on a single engine aircraft by being placed at an angle inside the hull to fire downward towards the ground. The cannon would be placed this way on the new S types, where it could fire at the thin roofs of tanks. One would think that manufacturers familiar with designing armored aircraft would rise to the occasion, such as Junkers who were at the forefront of developing metal skinned aircraft, or AEG who were producing operational armored aircraft, but surprisingly, it was the the smaller company of AGO that proceeded with developing the only an S type aircraft, and complete it.

The AGO S.I

An example of an AGO C.IV. While this aircraft was AGO’s most produced, it was not liked by its crews due to flight handling and issues with the fuselage. (Otto, AGO and BFW Aircraft of WWI)

AGO Flugzeugwerke was a smaller aircraft manufacturing company in Germany that had found moderate success with its two-seater C type aircraft. The company was known for its C.I, which was the only mass produced single-engine pusher aircraft deployed by Germany in the war, and later, by the C.IV, its most successful aircraft. The C.IV was their most produced aircraft during the war, and the fastest C type at the time of its introduction thanks to its tapered wings, with over 70 being used operationally. Its moderate success however, was overshadowed by a hatred of it by its crews due to issues with its handling and problems arising with the constriction of the fuselage. This disdain for the aircraft would eventually lead to it being removed from service and its production being canceled around September of 1917. Despite this, the company had continued developing their C type aircraft line until 1916. While the S type was a two seater, AGO appears to have no experience with developing an armored aircraft, as all of their previous aircraft were of simple wooden and fabric construction. Development on their own S.I likely began around the time of the creation of the S nomenclature. A patent for the aircraft’s design was filed in July of 1918, showcasing how it’s seating and armor were laid out for the pilot and gunner. Details regarding its development are extremely lacking but it is known that two S.I aircraft were completed by October of 1918. The design was a rather large single-engine aircraft with a boxy fuselage, a consequence of its armor layout. The Becker cannon is known to have never been mounted on the aircraft but accommodations in the design were made, most apparent is the lack of an axle between the wheels. This was done to allow the hull mounted cannon to fire unobstructed. Despite this being done for the cannon, the removal of the axle was almost unseen in this era of aircraft and would become a standard design aspect in the postwar years as aircraft design streamlined. Due to its completion so close to the war’s end, it rarely flew and its performance went undocumented. All development of this aircraft was abruptly brought to a halt a month after the two aircraft were completed due to the war’s end on November 11th. With the signing of the Armistice, all combat aircraft were ordered to be destroyed or transferred, and this is without a doubt the former is the fate the two S.Is met. No further development of the type was allowed after this. The S.I was the last aircraft project AGO would work on before the end of the war.

 

Direct frontal view of the AGO S.I (Otto, AGO and BFW Aircraft of WWI)

Design

The AGO S.I was a conventional biplane designed to fill the role for the S type aircraft. While its specifications aren’t known, the size of the aircraft is evident in the photos that exist that the aircraft was quite large for a single engine aircraft. The fuselage was armored, evident via the angled shape of it. This was done to protect the aircraft in its low level attack runs on the enemy, and would offer protection against small arms fire. According to the patent, the armor was focused in the nose section, surrounding the engine, pilot and gunner positions. An armored plate separated the pilot and gunner’s positions at an angle to accommodate the 20mm cannon. The rear of the fuselage tapered into the tailplane. The two bay wings of the aircraft were large and rectangular in shape. Each bay had two wires going across. Control surfaces of the aircraft were standard, with a large rudder at the back, conventional elevators, and ailerons on the upper wing. At the front was a 260hp (194kW ) Basse und Selve BuS.IV 6-cylinder inline engine that drove a wooden two-blade propeller. This type of engine was often found on larger G type aircraft but the S.I likely had them to bring the heavily armored aircraft into the air. The aircraft would have a fixed landing gear located beneath around where the pilot sat. The aircraft had the unique distinction of having no axle, a feature virtually unseen in aircraft of the era. This was done to allow the hull mounted cannon to fire without having the axle obstructing it. For the extra support, three struts connected each landing gear to the aircraft. Each landing gear had one rubber wheel. At the tail end of the aircraft was a landing skid.

The patent for the armor and gun position in the S.I (Otto, AGO and BFW Aircraft of WWI)

For its armament, the Ago S.I was to have two machine guns; one mounted in the rear for the gunner to use on a flexible mount to fire around the aircraft, and another was likely to be mounted forward for the pilot to use at the front. The centerpiece of the armament was a 20mm Becker Cannon. The cannon would be mounted in the center of the fuselage, directly underneath where the pilot would sit. To fire the gun, the gunner would sit down into the fuselage at a dedicated firing seat in the hull. From here he could operate the weapon and aim at tanks beneath the aircraft.

Conclusion

The AGO S.I was developed too late to see combat and with its performance being unknown its would-be impact on enemy tanks is likewise unknown. Despite this, it represents one of the very first instances of an aircraft built with the destruction of enemy armor in mind, a role that would continue to develop into the Second World War, with aircraft like the Henschel Hs 129, Ilyushin Il-2, and further even until today with the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II.

Interestingly, a month before the two S.Is were completed, 20 of the aforementioned AEG J.II armored aircraft would be delivered with the Becker Cannon mounted in their hull similar to how it would be in the S.I for use against tanks. It is not known whether these aircraft saw combat or how they performed with the modifications.

Although the effectiveness of tank busting aircraft of WW2 has been debated in recent years, the AGO S.I would have several benefits going for it during the First World War. The tanks of this era were slow, and the Mark V tanks the S.I would no doubt encounter would have a top speed of 5mph, making the tanks a fairly easy target for S types. The Mark V also had considerably less armor then later tanks, with a meager 8mm of armor plate for the roofs, making these vehicles easier to damage if the aircraft’s gunner managed to hit it. However, being able to hit tanks was still quite a difficult task to accomplish, and with performance figures not currently being known for the S.I, it can only be debated as to how well it would perform its role.

After being shut down in 1919, AGO Flugzeugwerke would be brought back by the Nazi Government and would produce aircraft once more. The AGO Ao 192 seen here is one of the few original products the company would produce.

AGO Flugzeugwerke would only survive for less then a year after the First World War, its founder attempting to instead shift their production into automobiles, but they would not find success and would close the production facilities down. Despite this, two decades later the Nazi government would reconstitute AGO for aircraft production once more in 1934, and would bring the company back to life. They would mostly produce aircraft from other companies in preparation for the encroaching war, but AGO would have their own design bureau and would work on a select number of their own designs, like the AGO Ao 192 twin engine transport plane.

Variants

 

  • AGO S.I – Armored two-bay biplane design with an armored fuselage and a focus on attacking enemy armor. It was equipped with 2x machineguns and 1 20mm Becker Cannon. 2 built

 

Operators

 

  • German Empire – The AGO S.I was meant to serve the Reichsluftkreite in a ground attack & tank destroying role but arrived too late to see service in the war.

AGO S.I Specifications

Engine 1x 260 hp ( 194kW ) Basse und Selve BuS.IV 6-cylinder inline engine
Propeller 1x 2-blade wooden propeller
Crew 1 Pilot

1 Gunner

Armament
  • 1x 20mm Becker Cannon
  • 2x machine guns (1 forward, 1 rear mounted)

Gallery

Sources

Herris, Jack. Otto, AGO, and BFW Aircraft of WWI: A. 2019.

Weird Wings of WWI: Adventures in Early Combat Aircraft Development. 2023.

Herris, Jack. Development of German Warplanes in WWI: A Centennial Perspective on Great War Airplanes and Seaplanes. 2012.

B. David, Sturmpanzerwagen A7V.https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww1/germany/sturmpanzerwagen_a7v.php

Stiltzkin. Effectiveness of Tactical Air Strikes in World War II – “Tank busting”. https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/articles/tactics/tank-busting-ww2.php

 

DELAG: The First Airline

German Empire, German Republic, Nazi Germany

9 Airliners

The airliner Hansa prepares to depart from Potsdam. (stampcircuit)

Intro:

While the age of the airship has long since passed, these aircraft were involved in a nearly 30 year battle for aerial supremacy with the airplane. This competition would lay the foundations for modern air travel and, as the railway once did, change humanity’s conceptions of space. The Zeppelins of the DELAG airline earned the honor of being the first aircraft to regularly fly passengers, and to be the first to offer transatlantic air service from Europe to the Americas. While the destruction of the Hindenburg, operated by the DZR, spelled the end for passenger airship travel, DELAG’s airships had defined modern air travel with a near spotless safety record.

The Count

Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was born in the Grand Duchy of Baden in 1838 as the second of three brothers to a fairly unremarkable aristocratic family. His father was an aristocratic native of the region and his mother being of French-Swiss descent. As a child, Ferdinand was educated by a tutor hired by his family before joining the Army at age 15 in 1858. He saw no action in the Franco-Austrian war in 1859, and in the peace before the Kingdom was embroiled in the wars of German unification, Zeppelin would continue his education. He took courses at the Stuttgart Polytechnic institute, the University of Tubingen, and the Royal War College. Zeppelin was an odd character, traditional, curious, fascinated with machines, and equal parts ambitious and stubborn.

He was far more adept in terms of his technical knowledge than other aristocrats, with engineering typically being reserved for young men of the middle class. Zeppelin, however, could not be considered a true engineer owing to the broadness of his studies. His formal education would end in 1861 when he began to travel Europe at the behest of the Army, observing the armies of foreign nations. He would travel to Austria, Italy, and France before finally making his way to the Americas, then embroiled in civil war.

Count Zeppelin during his time with the Union Army, pictured center. (wikiwand)

This journey, however, was a personal venture, the young Lieutenant Zeppelin having taken leave to see the conflict. He would arrive in Washington DC in 1863 where he acquired permission to travel with the Union Army after a meeting with President Lincoln. Zeppelin soon found himself in the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac in May, and was disappointed soon after. In short, apart from an impromptu escape from a Confederate cavalry patrol in Ashley Gap, Virginia, his experiences with the Union army were dull and uninformative. He felt that their ways of fighting were clumsy and dated, and that the openness and frankness of officers with their superiors was unprofessional and unwarranted. It seemed the entirety of the trip seemed a loss, militarily he found no new lessons or methods to be found with the Army of the Potomac. This was until he encountered Professor John Steiner, an aeronaut who formerly flew as a balloon observer in the service of the Union army.

By this time, the balloon had become a valuable, though uncommon, tool of the Union army, and a ride for thrill seekers. Steiner flew his balloon the ‘Hercules’ for the public after serving with the Union’s balloon corps. The Bavarian born aeronaut met Zeppelin in Saint Louis during the former’s diversion to see the Great Lakes. The two had very little in common apart from their first language and an interest in technology, which quickly sparked a long conversation over balloons and their operation. They spoke of the difficulties and limitations of the existing spherical balloon, which had to be tethered, lest it be carried off by the wind, and was almost impossible to keep them oriented in anything but the most mild weather.

With the end of their conversation, Zeppelin was eager to set off in the balloon. So eager in fact, that he purchased much of Saint Louis’ supply of coal gas to ensure his fight, to the annoyance of its residents. The two took to the sky on August 19, 1863, rising to around 55 meters. In the air, Zeppelin was not amazed or awestruck by the feeling of flight, in fact he never would be, but he saw in it both an immense promise and a series of problems to be solved. To the aerial observer, every detail of the landscape was revealed, and to a military man like Zeppelin, its value was evident and extraordinary. However, it wasn’t without its drawbacks. To his frustration, the balloon had to remain tethered, as uncertain winds could take the balloon any number of directions and Steiner didn’t believe they had enough coal gas for a long flight. The two would part ways after the flight; Steiner would later design and build his own portable hydrogen generator, and Zeppelin would return to Württemberg to resume his service with the army.

Zeppelin wouldn’t fly again for forty years and by the time he had returned home, he had largely thought the issues surrounding balloon flight were yet unsolvable. The Lieutenant would return to his homeland facing the Prussians, who were then seeking to establish their hegemony over their neighbors in a new central German state. Zeppelin was promoted to Captain and an aide-de-camp to the King in 1866. He would see no action, and witnessed the loss of the Austrian led coalition. Zeppelin remained in the army after the loss and was later married to baroness Isabella von Wolff.

With the start of the Franco-Prussian war, Captain Zeppelin was once again called into service, and with some good fortune, placed back on the path to aeronautics. Zeppelin would see action in this war, in the form of a daring, if brutal cavalry mission which saw everyone in his unit except him, killed or captured. He was subsequently honored by his homeland of Württemberg, and met with a decidedly cold reception by the Prussians, with whom he had developed a growing antipathy towards. However, Zeppelin’s key moment of the war came at the outskirts of Paris.

The Neptune was the first balloon to fly out of Paris, photographed here on 23 September 1870. (wikimedia)

When the war had been decidedly lost for the French, the capital remained a brave, but doomed, holdout. As Zeppelin waited on the outskirts of the city with the rest of the Prussian-led coalition, he noted the many balloons that departed the city. Numerous French aeronauts made flights out of the city, carrying news and letters out with them. Zeppelin once again saw the drawbacks of the balloons, the wind drew them in random directions, though most landed in friendly territory. He would still regard the balloon as questionable at best, and though he would take note of their ability to drift over the blockade safely, he lamented that they were totally unnavigable.

After the war Zeppelin remained with the army, being given command of the 15th Schleswig-Holstein Uhlans. For many years, he expected that this would be the end to the most exciting chapters of his life and prepared himself for a relaxing, if uneventful retirement. In all likelihood this would have happened, had it not been for a riding accident on March 18, 1874 (Robinson 9-13, Rose 3-12).

The Dream

After a particularly violent fall from his horse, Zeppelin was placed on several weeks of sick leave. During his recovery a fellow staff officer had come to deliver his well wishes, and some reading material, which included a pamphlet from the head of the new Imperial Post Office entitled World Postal Services and Airship Travel. The pamphlet, and a subsequent lecture Zeppelin attended, would set his imagination running. Soon he would begin accumulating basic airship concepts, though these early ideas proved very crude. Such was the case for a large airship which controlled its altitude solely through dynamic lift, and no ballast. However, from this early point he would also conceptualize the use of a rigid hull formed from rings and longitudinal beams which would contain a number of individual gas cells. Several features, like propulsion, were simply omitted as they had not yet been developed. It is curious that Zeppelin conceived of his first vessels without a way to move them, but in a period of such rapid technological development as the late 19th century, it was not an unreasonable assumption that the problem would be solved soon enough (Robinson 14). In Zeppelin’s case, the ‘suitable prime mover’ that his first concept used, materialized in less than a decade when Daimler produced the first series of reliable gasoline internal combustion engines.

Perhaps most crucially of all, Zeppelin understood the airship would operate as a series of independent components which could be developed, and improved upon separately. Its hull structure, gas cells, control systems, and propulsion could and would be developed in turn.

These developments, however, would be stalled for some years following the birth of his daughter, Hella, and his return to military service. This hiatus would only end with the end of the Count’s military career. By this time, the German Empire had only existed for some few years, and its second sovereign, Wilhelm II, was defined mostly by his insecurities and petulence. His greatest irritation were those in the Empire who still held to their regional identities and allegiances to their local Kingdoms and Duchies, over the Prussian dominated Empire. In this way Zeppelin found himself labeled a ‘peculiarist’ by the Emperor after he submitted a report in which he wished that the Army of Wurttemberg would retain a degree of autonomy and that its King not simply become a rubber stamp for the governing of the Empire. These sentiments instantly made him an enemy of the Emperor, and despite a glowing review from General Von Heuduck after the Imperial War Games of 1890, he was dressed down by the Prussian General Von Kleist in front of his fellow officers (Rose 19). At fifty two, his career was over and in its place was a desire to restore his name and all the time he needed to pursue what he’d set aside years ago, building airships.

Following his forced retirement, Zeppelin soon confined himself to private study on pursuing the airship. However, beyond his desire for restoring his name, he also worked against what he saw was the newest and greatest threat to Germany, French airships. Having previously written to the king of Wurttemberg over the success of the airship La France in 1887, he was now focused on designing an aerial warship to combat it. With his declaration of ‘help me build the airship for Germany’s defense and security!’ he established his own airship development firm in 1891 (Robinson 15).

La France was an impressive airship of its day, and inspired a panic in certain military circles. (wikimedia)

Zeppelin’s firm rapidly sent out requests for engineers, manufacturers, and workers to begin his work. Additionally, he also began a correspondence with General Alfred von Schlieffen, who directed him to the Prussian Aeronautic Battalion, the best hope for getting military interest in the airship. Zeppelin’s contact with Capt. Rudolf von Tschudi of the PAB was cordial, but to found he would need to provide an approved design before funding would be forthcoming for the project (Robinson 15). Zeppelin’s first major design was led by Theodore Kober, a twenty-four year old engineer formerly employed by the Riedinger balloon factory. It was almost entirely unworkable, with the two being far too inexperienced to carry out the project successfully. The airship was designed with a layout akin to a train, with a locomotive section at its front, being 117 m in diameter, 5.5 m in length, and with a volume of 9514 cubic meters. When the design was reviewed on March 10, 1894, Cpt. Hans Gross and Maj. Stephan von Neiber of the PAB, and Muller-Breslau of the technical college at Charlottenburg, would point out the design was unworkable for countless reasons. Zeppelin refused to accept the verdict and railed against his critics, only abating when Muller-Breslau agreed to consult with him on improving the design. The resultant airship presented a length of 134 m with a 13 m diameter, its hull was cigar shaped, and its hemispherical ends were replaced with tapering ones. Despite being at first very grateful for Muller-Breslau’s much needed assistance, Zeppelin never openly credited him for his work. Zeppelin would prove a difficult man to work with, and for Breslau, this was likely a better outcome as the count often took criticism very personally and rarely, if ever, forgave a slight. Zeppelin would harbor an intense and abiding hatred in the aforementioned Capt., later major, Hans Gross, who among other things, openly supported an unsubstantiated rumor that Zeppelin had appropriated the work of the then deceased aviator, David Schwartz. A duel between the two men was only stopped by the Emperor’s intervention (Robinson 22 Rose 50).

With the shape of the airship decided, what lay ahead were the no less important practical duties of building the firm’s manufacturing base, and finances. In short, Zeppelin’s airship was to be paid for mostly by his own fundraising efforts, with his joint stock company being established in 1898, to which he paid 300,000 of the 800,000 raised. The airship’s engines were among the first major steps forward for the program, with the Count having been in contact with the up and coming Wilhelm Maybach of DMG. The correspondence between the two would result in Zeppelin’s access to the new Phoenix engine, a two cylinder engine which included a spray-nozzle carburetor and a camshaft for controlling the exhaust valves. The lightweight engine was among the most advanced internal combustion engines in the world at the time, and by 1900 it would produce 16 horsepower. The engine however, was not so much as chosen for the project, as to boost the confidence in the effort overall, as the final design would use a different model. The design team was also shaken up with Kober’s departure after the airship’s redesign, Zeppelin was fond of the optimistic young engineer, but recognized that his inexperience made it impossible to head the project. In his place came Ludwig Dürr, a solitary, humorless, 22 year old engineer. Dürr was initially derided for his eccentricities, but his talents soon revealed themselves and he outshone everyone at the firm. Such were his abilities that he became the only employee to openly disagree with Zeppelin (Rose 54). In this first project however, his tasks were focused on the fabrication and construction of the airship, most of which had already been designed when he arrived at the firm.

Possessing the best power plants available, a workable design proposal, and a very capable engineer to head the project, Zeppelin prepared to begin the work itself. The site of construction and testing was to be Manzell, Baden-Württemberg, which sat on the Bodensee, a serene lake whose shores were spread between Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. The final construction and housing of the airship was to be done within a floating hangar on the lake. Zeppelin believed water landings were much safer, and the hangar, which was to be anchored at only one end, would be able to turn with the wind, which was a considerable safety feature. At the time, the hangar was the largest wooden building in the world, which amusingly enough, was secured only by a chain which anchored it to a 41 ton concrete slab at the bottom of the lake. Construction began on June 17, 1898 with components arriving from across Germany. The airship’s aluminum frame was supplied by the Berg factory in Ludenscheid, its gas cells came from the August Riedinger balloon factory in Augsburg, the engines were shipped in from the Daimler works at Carnstatt, its gas storage tanks came from the Rhine Metal works, and its hydrogen came from the Griesheim-Elektron chemical company from the city which was its namesake (Robinson 23, Rose 54).

Humble Beginnings

Zeppelin’s airships were first assembled ashore before being delivered and reassembled in the floating hangar. (wikimedia)

The construction of Luftschiff Zeppelin 1 was an arduous task which took almost two years. Zeppelin himself was involved in ensuring nearly every part of the vessel matched its specifications and that the components he was shipped were of acceptable quality. Safety was a top priority, one that kept the 62 year old count at the firm ten hours a day for nearly the entire duration of the construction process. When completed, the airship measured 128 m and 11.7 m in diameter, its hull was composed of 24 longitudinal beams connecting 16 rings, each composed of 24 beams which were bolted together and supported by bracing cables. This hull framework was made of aluminum, which easily made it the most expensive component, as the mass production of aluminum was not yet economical. Its lift and altitude control was achieved by means of 17 cylindrical hydrogen cells with a combined volume of 11298 cubic meters, in combination with water ballast. To propel it, the airship carried a pair of Daimler 4 cylinder gasoline engines which each produced 14.2 horsepower, and were connected to two pairs of two bladed propellers through a set of bevel gears and shafts. These engines were carried in a pair of aluminum control cars in which the crew sat, with the forward car equipped with controls for the gas cells and the airship’s few control surfaces.

Controlling the airship was done through two pairs of small rudders, placed fore and aft along the sides of the airship. To control its pitch, there was a weight placed along the narrow walkway between the control cars, which was manually winched between the two to achieve the desired pitch. Climbing was achieved entirely through dumping ballast and some small degree of dynamic lift as the airship was being propelled forward (Robinson 24, Curtis).

“It was an exciting moment. When the first command to let go the cable sounded from the raft, and the airship, which, up until then, had been held by the hands of the firemen, laborers, and soldiers, rose slowly into the air, and suddenly, at the height of 25 meters was released and soared upward” -Captain-Lieutenant D. Von Bethge, steamship inspector. (Curtis 9) (wikimedia)

The long awaited flight was primed for July, 1900, with the airship being floated at the end of June. Given that only a handful of aviators worldwide had any experience in controlled flight, Zeppelin himself would take the controls. When conditions were prime on July 2nd, the airship was withdrawn from its hangar before the waiting shoreline crowd and a number of onlookers who had arrived in their boats. Along with the more casual onlookers was the head of the PAB, Bart von Sigsfeld. Before all of them, Zeppelin took off his hat and led the crowd in a short prayer before he took a boat to the airship.

Zeppelin was joined in the front car by one of his company’s own mechanics, Eisele, and a personal friend and physicist, Baron Maximillian von Bassus. The rear car would seat the journalist and world traveler Eugene Wolff along with Gross, a Zeppelin company mechanic. The airship was untethered at around 8 in the morning where it was soon trimmed to level flight. The entire flight lasted some 18 minutes, and was cut short by the trimming weight becoming jammed, and the failure of an engine, though neither proved dangerous as level trim could be maintained by venting hydrogen, and the second engine provided enough power for the remainder of the flight. From the floating hangar, the airship traveled to Immenstaad under favorable conditions, with the entire flight spanning around 5 and a half kilometers. Even with these impediments, Zeppelin was able to bring the ship in gently on the surface of the lake before returning to its hangar.

While the crowds were thrilled by the exhibition, the PAB’s response was mixed. While Sigsfeld was thrilled by the demonstration, the other two representatives had understood that while the airship was safe and capable of navigation, its low speed, reportedly between 13-26 kilometers per hour by journalist Hugo Eckener, left it unable to travel in anything by the most placid weather (Robinson 26, Eckener 1). Perhaps of greater concern was the structural damage the airship had sustained during its flight.

The aluminum beams which comprised LZ 1’s hull had warped during its flight, and likely made worse when the wind had pushed the airship ashore after it landed. Unfortunately, the girders had been laid in a manner similar to the first airship concept, and provided little strength against torsional forces and seemed unable to adequately support the weight of the motor-carrying control cars. The airship’s hull was bent upwards at both ends, and was clearly operating on borrowed time. It was reinforced and sent airborne again on September 24, where it flew for an hour and a half, and again for one last time on October 17, where it reached a top speed of 27.3 kilometers an hour and maneuvered well against the wind. These flights, however, failed to convince the military that LZ 1 was much more than a clumsy experiment.

Unable to sell the airship to the army, or even fly his prototype again, Zeppelin dismantled the company, sold its assets, and laid off his staff, save for a handful of specialists. However, to the stubborn Count, this represented a short hurdle to be overcome, and soon he would begin new appeals for funds and resources while the diligent Ludwig Dürr began to design the next airship (Robinson 28).

LZ-2

Even with its limited test flights, LZ 1 had much to teach Zeppelin’s firm on airship construction. Dürr would revise its hull, using triangular section girders that could resist warping in all planes, and they would be built with a zinc-copper-aluminum alloy, instead of soft aluminum. He also reduced the number of sides to each ring section and shortened the overall length of the airship. LZ 2 would be far simpler, and stronger than the first design.

The flimsy and unreliable lead trim weight would also be removed, with pitch control being achieved by added elevators. The small rudders of the first design were also improved, using several parallel sets in a ‘venetian blind arrangement’. Its engines too were massively improved, with Zeppelin having access to Daimler’s new 85 hp motors, which now drove three bladed propellers. Redesigning the airship would prove a surprisingly straightforward process, with each component, the hull, the motors, and the control systems being addressed and improved upon in turn (Robinson 28, 29; Rose 73, 74).

What would not prove as straightforward, was fundraising. While the first airship found a number of financiers, few shared Zeppelin’s stubborn optimism in working toward his second aircraft. The previously reliable Union of German Engineers had become outright hostile towards the Count after the LZ 1 failed to find buyers, and the public was mostly indifferent to the project. The private appeals, which bore a good deal of capital for the first airship began to fail too, bringing in only 8000 marks.

However, the Count would end up finding the money he needed. His prime supporter, King Wilhelm of Wurttemberg, once again came through and authorized a state lottery which brought in 124,000 marks. Surprisingly enough, the Emperor too gave support to the project, after the Kingdom of Prussia initially denied Zeppelin a lottery. He subsequently provided an additional 50,000 marks and instructed the War Ministry to rent hydrogen storage equipment to Zeppelin at low cost. Much in character for WiIlhelm II, his support came not from any generosity or personal interest in the Count, but out of a desire not to be outdone, and thus be under threat, from the new French Lebaudy airships.

The French airship program continued to worry and motivate Zeppelin, here, the LeBaudy brother’s airship, Le Jaune, glides by the Eiffel Tower in 1903. (air and space mag)

 

The remainder of the sum, amounting to about 400,000 marks, was acquired through a mortgage of his family’s properties in Livonia. Along with material assistance from some of his past clients, principally Daimler and Berg, the airship would be built. In all, funding the airship would prove a far greater challenge than designing and building it. While the design work began after LZ 1’s dismantling in 1900, construction would not begin until 1905 (Robinson 29, 30 ; Rose 75).

Zeppelin’s firm began building LZ-2 in April, 1905 at the same wooden shed that housed the first, though it had since been brought to the shoreline. It would be completed in seven months, though a towing accident would see its nose dip into the water, which resulted in damage that wouldn’t see it fly until the beginning of next year. It would seem rather peculiar that Zeppelin would launch the airship during the windiest, and thus most dangerous time of year, but his hand had been forced by world events. The Russian Empire, where his mortgaged estates were located, was crumbling, and the properties held as collateral were destroyed during the 1905 revolution. Zeppelin needed results, and so he raced to launch his airship.

LZ 2 presented a series of major improvements to  all of the former airship’s major components. (Wikimedia)

LZ 2 first took flight on January 17, 1906, with the Count once again at the controls, and accompanied by experienced balloonist Hauptman von Krogh, along with five mechanics. Wolff was prohibited from attending after criticizing the performance of the first airship. The flight was conducted extremely early in the morning, and with so little notice, one engineer, Hans Gassau, arrived wearing his slippers. While the weather was permissible, the flight got off to a rough start, as the crew dropped too much ballast water and the airship rose to some 450 m. After some ballast work, the crew achieved equilibrium and leveled off allowing the flight to begin in earnest. Almost immediately the airship demonstrated massive improvements as to its speed and controllability, with the craft reaching an estimated 40 kilometers an hour and demonstrating the ability to navigate in stiff winds.

However, in the midst of this promising flight, a serious problem arose. The airship proved longitudinally unstable, with its nose pitching up and down as it traveled at speed. This motion flooded the Daimler engines, stalling them, and to make matters even worse, the rudders jammed when resisting a harsh crosswind. LZ 2 was soon adrift over the lake, and it would be several agonizing minutes before they were overland and the airship’s drag anchor could be used. As the airship cleared the shore and drifted towards the Allgau mountain range, Zeppelin ordered the anchor dropped. The anchor found purchase in the frozen earth and the momentum of the ship drove it downwards as it resisted the anchor’s hold, bouncing against the ground and slowing it as it passed two local farms. Eventually it halted over nearby marshland, sustaining considerable damage from the ordeal. The crew dismounted the ship, tethered it at both ends, and left to return in the morning. Upon their arrival the following day, they found the ship had been torn to shreds in the night during a windstorm. Being tethered at both ends, the ship remained fixed and unable to turn with the winds, the forces warping the aluminum struts and tearing off wide sections of fabric (Robinson 30-33; Rose 77).

The stricken LZ-2, despite the violence of the crash and the exposure to high winds, its rubberized-cotton hydrogen cells were almost entirely intact. (Wikimedia)

Journalist Hugo Eckener recounted that the old Count was utterly heartbroken, and beside the wreck of his airship claimed it was the end. He ordered LZ 2 dismantled. Eckener naturally thought this the conclusion to his story, which he would continue to believe until some days later, when Count Zeppelin came to visit him. While the Count often detested most of the journalists who covered his experiments, he saw Eckener’s work, which was mostly concerned with engineering, as honest and constructive. He offered to confer with Eckener directly on future projects, and invited him to dinner several days later. Eckener rightly surmised that Zeppelin was prepared to reveal something greater at their next meeting, and he was proved correct. The Count was preparing to develop a new airship to compete with the Prussian Airship Battalion’s semi-rigid design for a new military project (Eckener 12, 13). Eckener readily joined the project both as both a publicist and a consultant, with his position to encompass more of the airship project in the coming years.

While LZ 2 can’t be regarded as more than a cumbersome and tragic project, Zeppelin wasted little time in gathering up the resources to capitalize on the intense military interest that had arisen around the airship.

The Winner

Practically undaunted from the loss of LZ 2, Zeppelin raced to produce a new airship for the army. One might think that the partial success of LZ 1 and the solo-ill fated flight of LZ 2 would have disqualified him, but at this early stage in aviation, Zeppelin was a leading pioneer in airship design. Disqualifying Zeppelin was not an option, and so, he joined the competition alongside August von Perseval, and the Count’s old rival, Gross of the Prussian Airship Battalion. His competitors produced a non-rigid, and a semi rigid airship respectively. However, by the time the Military Airship commision began, Zeppelin was the only aspirant to have already built and flown their design. In this way, he held a considerable advantage ahead of his opponents, despite the military commision being biased towards semi-rigid airships. In many ways, Zeppelin had already won the competition before it had even begun, as his immense technical advantage was cemented by his military background. With his foot in the door, Zeppelin soon received a gift of 100,000 marks from the Emperor, gained 250,000 marks from a Prussian state lottery, and a Government interest-free loan of 100,000 marks (Robinson 31; Rose 90).

LZ-3 included a series of new control surfaces, seen here in its late configuration (Wikimedia)

Zeppelin’s only real competition was the Gross-Bassenach, a fairly uninspired semi-rigid airship, as while Perseval’s blimp was fairly practical, it had very little room for further development. With Eckener’s appeals in the press adding to his credibility, all Zeppelin had to do was cross the finish line before his rivals. The race to build LZ-3 was on, and to save time it would use the same hull as its predecessor, even reusing the propellers from the wrecked airship. While the airship would be built on the same lines as LZ 2, it carried with it serious improvements in regards to propulsion, maneuverability, and its hydrogen capacity. Dürr would increase its capacity to 11428 cubic meters and fit the new ship with a set of triple box rudders, two pairs of vertical stabilizers, and two pairs of elevators. These modifications were refined at the engineer’s own homemade wind tunnel and would greatly improve the stability and maneuverability of the ship. However, the airship still lacked a set of vertical stabilizers, mostly as a result of the dated aerodynamic theories the Count still stubbornly clung to. Regardless, the new airship flew spectacularly.

On its first flight on October 9, 1906, LZ-3 traveled some 111 kilometers for two hours and seventeen minutes. It too proved fast, with a rated top speed of 39 kilometers an hour, with a highest claimed, and likely overly optimistic, speed of 53. Though perhaps more than anything, it carried eleven people aboard and possessed a maximum useful load of 2812 kilograms (Robinson 32). LZ-3 not only proved that Zeppelin’s airships were capable of navigation in windy conditions, but that they could do so when loaded with cargo. Many within the government were impressed with Zeppelin’s results, including Major Gross who, in spite of their rivalry, recommended that the Count receive additional resources for his experiments. This wave of support led Zeppelin to offer LZ 3 to the Military with a promise to build them two more airships. He also followed this deal with a series of claims so optimistic and absurd, only his finance man, Alfred Colsman, would repeat them. One such claim was that he would soon build an airship capable of transporting 500 soldiers and use heated air in place of hydrogen (Robinson 33).

The military would decline the offer, and the Interior Minister would state that the government would purchase no airship incapable of making a 24 hour long endurance flight. However the Count still had an excellent position. Zeppelin had practically beaten out his competitors and now had a good deal of confidence in military circles. Even the Emperor himself was pushing airship development both to ensure the German military stayed ahead of the French and draw attention away from a series of scandals in his court. In more practical terms, they extended him a payment of 500,000 marks to pay for a new, expanded hangar, to be dubbed the ‘Reichshalle’ (Rose92).

Seeking the military contract, Zeppelin would have LZ-3 improved with the goal of reaching the 24 hour endurance threshold. Its easily damaged forward elevators would be moved higher up to the sides of the hull, and its rudders would be placed between the horizontal stabilizers. The latter were made more effective, and enabled the airship to take off heavier thanks to dynamic lift, and the former less effective, and less responsive at lower speeds. Stability was further improved by extending the triangular keel forward and aft of the control cars.

After the move to the Reichshalle, the airship was refloated in September of 1907. Its next flight was on September 24, where it spent 4 hours and seventeen minutes over the lake. Several more flights were conducted with a number of guests including Dr. Eckener, the count’s daughter Hella von Zeppelin, Major Gross of the PAB, a Naval Representative Fregattenkapitan Mischke, and the Crown Prince. Its most impressive flight was during Mischke’s visit, when LZ 3, then piloted by Dürr and Hacker, conducted an overland flight lasting seven hours and 54 minutes, turning back when their fuel ran low. It was a notably more challenging flight, as the inconsistent air currents overland and the up and down drafts caused some concern. This was to say nothing of the 152 m altitude they flew at. In spite of the challenge, they flew some 354 km over Lake Constance followed by the Ravensburg countryside. Despite their success, they did not reach the threshold, and by the end of the year the airship was in need of new gas cells, and their supply of hydrogen, which the PAB had provided, had been fully expended. Things were not helped by a winter storm which pulled the floating hangar from its moorings and pushed it ashore, damaging LZ 3 in the process (Robinson 34-36).

LZ-3 over the Bodensee during an early point in its career (Zeppelin)

While LZ-3 did not reach the Interior Minister’s goal, it drew international attention. Despite this, the acclaim it won abroad was nothing compared to the excitement it generated across Germany. The turn of the century was a period dominated by immense technological and industrial development, where countries sought to distinguish themselves through cutting edge developments. Where Britain had its gargantuan high speed ocean liners, America, its skyscrapers, and France its groundbreaking film industry, Germany would have Zeppelin’s airships. Amateur aeronauts and students formed clubs to travel to see the airships as they glided over the Bodensee, and among the upper classes there was likewise excitement as balls were held in honor of Zeppelin’s achievement, and there was even talk of events to be held over a 300 meters in the air (Rose 96). While LZ-3 failed to meet military standards, the funds for LZ-4 would come as a matter of course. Its success was taken as inevitable, and with this in mind, LZ-3 was placed in long term storage as work on the next airship began.

LZ-4

LZ 4 at the floating hangar (Library of Congress)

Zeppelin’s next airship was once again an incremental improvement on the previous design, this new model being built to meet the 24 hour endurance requirement. Its production began shortly after LZ 3 completed its last flights for the year, with the skeletal hull of the new airship being assembled in the old floating hangar at Manzell in November 1907. Construction was finished on June 17, 1908, after it had traded places with the damaged LZ-3 in the restored Reichshalle. LZ 4 was designed to increase the endurance of its forebearer, and improve its mobility and maneuverability. It was lengthened to 136 m to accommodate a 17th hydrogen cell, increasing the total volume to 15008 cubic meters, and it received a large rudder at the nose, but this was removed after test flights revealed the arrangement to be inadequate. The gondolas too were enlarged to fit a larger 110hp Daimler motor (Zeppelin 15). A small cabin was also added along the keel, which was connected to a rooftop platform for navigation.

LZ 4 first flew on the twentieth of June, during which the airship turned so poorly that it soon made its return to the hangar, after which the aforementioned fore rudder was replaced by a large, semicircular aft rudder. The succeeding trial flights on the 23 and 29th would prove well as to convince the Count to embark on his most ambitious journey yet. Zeppelin would take his new airship over the Bodensee and across the Alps to Lucerne, Switzerland on July 1st. It proved exceptionally well, making the 386 km journey in 12 hours, setting records for both distance traveled and time spent in the air. Zeppelin’s airship traversed the picturesque, but dangerously windy Alps, and was met by crowds in the Alpine city. After a set of maneuvers to impress the crowd at the lake, LZ 4 departed for home. This was made all the more impressive as the airship traveled into a headwind on its return flight to Manzell through Zurich. Only one problem arose, this being that once the fuel in the main fuel tanks for each engine ran low, the engines had to be shut off while they were refueled from cans, leaving the airship at half power for several minutes. It would, however, prove only a minor inconvenience in the greater scope of the journey. Dr. Eckener wasted no time in working the press to promote this newest achievement, ensuring generous articles in Germany’s leading, and competing, newspapers Die Woche and the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung. Word soon reached France, Britain, and America, though it would only be an echo of the attention Zeppelin received within Germany. A week after his return, he received over a thousand telegrams for his seventieth birthday and King Wilhelm II of Wurttemberg, his longest and steadfast supporter, awarded him the Kingdom’s gold medal for the arts and sciences (Robinson 36 Rose 102).

LZ-4 lifts off (Loc)

The Swiss voyage would prove an immense success both in proving the airship a robust means of travel over otherwise rough terrain, and as a symbol of technological accomplishment which propelled the Count and his creation onto the world stage. As one might expect, the Count was now confident enough to attempt the 24 hour endurance flight which would ensure military interest, and allow him to sell his two airships. On July 13, 1908, LZ 4 was outfitted for the long trip and departed the next day, only to have to return after a fan blade broke on the forward motor. Further delays were caused when the airship collided with the hangar, resulting in damage to its hull and hydrogen cells. The next journey to Mainz was pushed back until August 4th, where it departed with incredible fanfare.

LZ 4 left with a crew of eight, which included Dürr, its designer, the Count’s old friend Baron von Bassus, and three veteran engineers, Karl Schwarz, Wilhelm Kast, and Kamil Eduard Luburda. They departed before an immense crowd, the largest share of which came from a nearby resort. Zeppelin, rather uncharacteristically, eschewed the typical maneuvers over the lake, and instead ordered the ship to its next destination at its best speed. LZ 4 would overfly several towns to the delight of crowds who were gathered by telegraph reports and special newspaper editions. In spite of the fanfare, trouble began in the evening when the engines began to run rough around 5:24 PM. After setting down at a quiet spot near Rhine at Oppenheim, they set off again, only for a more dire failure to crop up at 1:27 the following morning. Its front engine was shot and the rear motor was sputtering and smoking, having expelled what little remaining oil was aboard. With Stuttgart tantalizingly close, Zeppelin brought the ship down outside Echterdingen, around ten and a half kilometers outside their final destination. While they waited for a team from a nearby Daimler workshop, a crowd grew.

News of the grounded airship spread fast, and soon tens of thousands had begun to move. Thousands poured through the small town on bikes, carriages, wagons, and cars with the hope of seeing the airship. In all, some fifty-five thousand would assemble to see the Count’s airship, with some even being recruited by Schwarz to set up a make-shift anchor out of a carriage to hold the airship in place. The rest of the crowd was kept to a safe distance by what policemen and soldiers could be mustered. At around noon, concerns arose as the sounds of a thunderstorm made themselves clear. These concerns were soon justified as gusts of wind soon followed and began to pull the airship away from its moorings. The gale pulled the airship around the clearing as soldiers desperately worked the mooring ropes and the Daimler mechanic became worried enough as to leap from the front engine car. Schwarz worked his way through the catwalk and began to release hydrogen to prevent the airship from being carried high and away by the storm. He succeeded, but was unable to stop the winds from carrying the airship across the field into a stand of trees. Gas cells were shredded, the framework twisted, and in an instant the ship was alight. Schwarz lept, and in a terrifying moment on the ground, found himself covered in burning net and cloth. Miraculously, the mechanic cast off the debris and crawled through the burning wreck and, in his own words, ‘ran like hell’. Apart from Schwarz, a soldier, and his fellow mechanic, Laburda had also escaped the airship. The latter was merely singed, and the former left unconscious. Fortunately, there were no fatalities and those injured received prompt medical attention (Rose 108, 109).

The aluminum from LZ-4 being carted off from the site of the accident. (Wikimedia)

 

The crowd was horrified and left utterly dumbstruck having witnessed the destruction, and forlornly surveyed the wreckage. Zeppelin and the rest of the crew were similarly dismayed, having returned to the site from their hotel in Echterdingen and finding the warped aluminum frame of the airship across a charred stretch of Earth. The future British PM David Lloyd George was among those gathered, and having traveled hoping to see the airship would only find its remains. He would state “Of course we were disappointed, but disappointment was a totally inadequate word for the agony of grief and dismay which swept over the massed Germans who witnessed the catastrophe. There was no loss of life to account for it. Hopes and ambitions far wider than those concerned with scientific and mechanical success appeared to have shared the wreck of the dirigible. Then the crowd swung into the chanting of Deutschland uber Alles with a fantastic fervor of patriotism.” (Rose 110,111).

Dejected, the Count and crew returned to their offices in Friedrichshafen. They could have hardly expected what was waiting for them there.

The Miracle

While the accident had largely reinforced the skeptics in official circles, the public was not willing to let Zeppelin’s work come to an end. In the aftermath of the tragedy, thousands began organizing donations. What had begun with an off the cuff speech by a Stuttgart merchant Manfred Franck, to rouse the public to help build Zeppelin’s next airship, had become a national phenomenon. Soon the press echoed his words and were raising thousands of marks a day, and they were not to be outdone by public and private associations who alike, sent hundreds of thousands of marks to Zeppelin AG. Those who hadn’t the money, sent clothes, food, and liquor of varying quality, and had done so in such amounts that the resort town’s post office was incapable of sorting it. Following Zeppelin’s return to his offices in Friedrichafen, he had received some 6,096,555 Marks from the public (~$25-30 Million USD 2020).

Perhaps even more bizarrely, came the Government’s response. Despite Zeppelin’s inability to perform the 24 hour flight, they were interested in purchasing the rebuilt LZ 3 and commissioning a new airship of the same design as LZ 4, to be accepted into service under the designation Z-2. The Emperor himself would soon visit the Reichshalle hangar to inspect LZ 3 and award Zeppelin with the Order of the Black Eagle, the highest order the Kingdom of Prussia could bestow. In a further and ironic twist, he was also invited to the Imperial War Games, or Kaisermanover, where he accompanied the Crown Prince (Robinson 41-43, Rose 113, 114).

 

LZ-3 was the first airship to be sold to the German Military, where it spent many years in service. (Wikimedia)

Almost impossibly, Zeppelin had been propelled far further by his greatest disaster than he had his greatest success. Zeppelin had both the love of the public and  a powerful presence in the halls of Government, and with his gifted fortune, he set off to expand the horizons of what was once a personal project. On September 3, 1908 the Count founded Luftschiffbau Zeppelin Gmbh, or Zeppelin Airshipworks Inc. What was once a small, dedicated team running out of a handful of facilities along the Bodensee, was transformed almost overnight into an industrial powerhouse. In the following years and under Colman’s direction, he founded a number of new enterprises under the parent company which would include the Maybach Motor Company in 1909, Ballon-Hullen-Gesellschaft of Berlin Tempelhof in 1912, to build hydrogen cells, Zeppelin Hallenbau of Berlin in 1913, to construct hangars, and Zahnrad-Fabrik in 1915, to build gear and drive shafts (Robinson 41, 42). At the center of all of this sat Friedrichshaven, which became the hub for all of these projects, and by 1914 the small resort town would grow to become the wealthiest city in Wurttemberg. As the headquarters for the new company, it would boast new homes for the workers, along with schools, groceries, a pub, and a performance hall. On top of all of this was a generous company life insurance policy, and free room and board for the families of workers who found themselves struggling.

In the months following the new founding of Zeppelin Airship Factory in 1908, the newly christened Z I (formerly LZ 3) was delivered to the army, where it served until 1913, along with the newly built Z II, its company designation being LZ 5. Z II was completed in May 1909 and was identical to its ill fated predecessor save for the omission of the ventral fin along the gangway, the cabin, and the installation of additional fuel tanks. Before it was delivered to the army, Zeppelin wished to demonstrate its capabilities with a 36 hour flight to Berlin. The flight began in earnest after two aborts, on May 29, 1909, and the airship proceeded through a dark and squally night on the way to Ulm. From there they once again met frenzied crowds as they traveled around Augsburg, Nuremberg, and Leipzig before having to turn back as the fuel supply was inadequate, with the flight being terminated at 21 hours. It was not, however, insufficient enough to prevent them from flying around and circling Bitterfield, the headquarters of their rival firm, Parseval. Apart from the airship receiving damage from landing on the only pear tree in a field during a night landing, which punctured the forward gas cells, they returned home with little else to remark upon. Following repairs, it was ready again on June 2, though it would not attempt a second flight before the army came to accept it on July 24. In service Z II would see no true military duties, but it would be a considerable tool for generating notoriety for the service. Its high point was a demonstration at the International Aviation Exposition held in Frankfurt am Main, in September and October of that year. Generally, the army did not consider any of the airships they were provided with suitable for general service and would not procure any more until new models were built. They would largely be proven right when Z II was shredded while grounded during a storm, with Zeppelin’s outburst over the army’s carelessness bringing his relations with them to a new low (Robinson 47, 58).

Regardless, Zeppelin sought to renew military interest with LZ 6. Once again, this airship was derived from LZ 4, though the heavy lateral driveshaft gears connecting the engines and propellers were swapped with a steel band drive to save weight, it used more powerful 115 hp engines, included passenger accommodations in the cabin, and lacked vertical stabilizing fins. A short fabric ‘rain skirt’ was also installed around the hull to prevent rain water from dripping on the occupants of the gondolas, but it was removed as the crew felt it unduly lowered the airship’s top speed (Robinson 49). Its similarities to the three previous airships was likely an influencing factor in it receiving no trial flight. Instead, Zeppelin would fly the airship straight to Berlin on its first outing for the Whitsunday holidays. Unlike his attempted flight in LZ 5, he would not be able to turn back, as he was expected to arrive at Tempelhof Field where the Emperor awaited him. He was firmly reminded of this in a series of demanding telegrams from the Emperor, something the Count would have to heed now that he was in the graces of the court.

Count Zeppelin with his airship during the Berlin trip. (Bundesarchiv)

The airship departed August 24th at the command of Dürr, the Count having recently undergone surgery and unable to make the flight until after the airship stopped to refuel at Bitterfield. Trouble arose several hours after departure, as the lighter steel band drives immediately showed themselves to be less durable than the bevel gears. A former navy man, Helmsman Hacker was able to repair the drive, but several hours later a cylinder crack stopped one of the engines. The airship stopped at Nuremberg, awaiting a mechanic from Daimler, this detour leaving them unable to depart until the 28th. Similar problems persisted with the drive bands, but the airship would make it to Berlin on the 29th, though not in the best state (Robinson 50). However, the crowds assembled there took no notice and upon landing at Tempelhof, Zeppelin shook hands with the Emperor as the crowd cheered. The Count would also meet Oliver Wright, famed American aviator and co-inventor of the airplane, though the two would see very little promise in each other’s work (Rose 120,122). The Count and LZ 6 would remain on the public tour for some weeks, and it required a good deal of work to get the airship running well again. They went so far as to borrow the propellers from the army airship Z II. After giving the first aerial tours of the city to members of the Reichstag and public officials around the country, LZ-6 would return again to the hangar at Manzell before being presented at the 1909 International Aviation Exposition at Frankfurt in September. From a temporary shed built on the grounds, the airship gave passenger flights up and down the Rhine. These flights attracted little military interest but captivated the public, and to them, it seemed that the long awaited dream of air travel had been made a reality.

LZ 6 from bellow. (Wikimedia)

LZ 6’s return would see it sent to a new tent shed at Friedrichshafen, with the former floating hangars to be dismantled. With its publicity tour over, Zeppelin sought to rebuild the airship in the hopes of selling it to the military. A third engine, a Maybach 150 hp model, was added in the former passenger cabin which was geared to a pair of hull mounted propellers, allowing it to make a new top speed of 58 km/h. This was later removed for some time after it was believed to be a fire hazard, being mounted so close to the ship’s hydrogen cells. LZ-6 would also temporarily receive an experimental radio set, though the sum of these modifications would be altered again in the spring when the ship was dismantled and rebuilt. It was lengthened by eight meters, the third engine was reintroduced in the rear engine car, and the stabilizers were reworked. The biplane stabilizers at the back were combined into a single, large stabilizer, from which the elevators and rudders hung. The aft ‘barndoor’ rudder was also removed, with a fixed, vertical stabilizing fin taking its place. In all, the ship could now make 56 mk/h and was far more stable in flight. This however, was not enough to convince the army to purchase it.

With the failure to sell more airships to the military, Zeppelin was in a bind. While the extremely generous public donations could keep him afloat for the time being, he would need to find a means of consistent income for the company. Colsman, the corporation’s finance chief, had a brilliant solution. Given the public’s incredible enthusiasm for the airships, naturally they would prove the ideal customer base, and thus he proposed the Deutsche Luftschiffahrts-Aktien-Gesselschaft (DELAG), or German Airship Transport Company. In other words, the world’s first airline.

The First Airline

Zeppelin detested the idea, as he considered his airships the weapon to make the German army unparalleled in field and to boost the prestige of the country by carrying the flag, just as the expanding German navy did. While he had once considered civilian applications for the airship in the 1890’s, years in the limelight and his rehabilitation in military circles had firmly shifted his view, to him, the airship was first and foremost a weapon. However, Zeppelin Gmbh. was not the small outfit driven by one unshakable nobleman like that which preceded it. The decision went before the board of directors, who decided in favor of the airline. DELAG was founded on November 9, 1909 with the hope of beginning operations in the summer of the following year.

The shrewd and energetic Colsman proved right, and it wasn’t long until he had amassed the three million mark starting capital and the backing of the famous Hamburg-America shipping line, who would be the primary means of ticket sales and advertisement. Many larger cities soon sent requests to be included, with the mayors of Frankfurt, Cologne, Dusseldor, Baden-Baden, Munich, Leipzig, Dresden, and Hamburg soon joining the airline’s board of directors, and with several seeing to it that airship sheds were assembled in their respective cities (Robinson 52, Eckener 15). While orders for commercial airships were placed, they proceeded to organize the first operations using LZ 6 and the newly completed LZ 7 ‘Deutschland’.

Deutschland was built along the same lines as the modified LZ-6, and was the first to carry passengers for the airline. It was a stretched design some 148 meters long with a capacity for 19,340 cubic meters of hydrogen and a useful lift of 4,990 kilograms, with up to 1,496 kilograms of that being fuel. However, its real innovations were found in the once austere sightseeing cabin. The former canvas box was now a comfortable sitting and viewing room, which was of high layer plywood construction covered in mahogany sheets with mother of pearl inlays on its pillars and ceiling beams. The carpeting and comfortable wicker furniture added to the finery, and given the length of the flights, a small galley with matching aluminum cutlery was also wisely included. Lastly, it was the first to carry a lavatory, it also being aluminum to save weight. Behind all of this were a series of aluminum struts and cables which anchored it firmly to the hull (Robinson 55, Rose 134).

The Deutschland was still very much a derivative of LZ-3, which while versatile, was dated. (Wikimedia)

It was captained by former Prussian Airship Battalion Captain Kahlenhberg, as despite the several airships flown over the years, there was no sizable pool of experienced aviators to recruit from. The foremost of these were Zeppelin himself, who could not be convinced, and Dürr, who was otherwise occupied in his role as head designer for the firm. The first flight would be to Dusseldorf, the city which managed to complete their hangar first. It was scheduled for June 28 with a passenger list of 23, mostly journalists who had been invited by Colsman. The expectation was a flight of three hours, which began after a breakfast of caviar and champagne. Unfortunately, the crew had departed without a weather report. After the failure of an engine, the ship was left floundering in higher than expected winds. Deutschland struggled for hours through turbulence, violent gusts, and rain with one officer making the mistake of telling a concerned passenger ‘we do not know what will happen.’ Captain Kahlenburg was unable to prevent the underpowered, unbalanced airship from making a crash landing in the Teutoburg forest. Thus ending the short stopover flight that became a nine hour endurance test for everyone aboard. Apart from a crewmember who made a dramatic leap from the rear gondola, and fractured his leg, there were no injuries. Understandably, the journalists’ impressions were quite poor and the airship was disassembled and shipped back to Friedrichshafen where it would be rebuilt (Robinson 56 Rose 136).

Kahlenburg was laid off, and in his place Dr. Eckener became both a pilot and head of flight operations for DELAG. His first action was to familiarize himself with airship piloting on LZ 6, making some 34 flights, though this airship was soon damaged beyond repair after a fire in its hangar. With this accident, hopes were placed on the up and coming LZ 8 Deutschland II, made mostly from the reclaimed material of the previous ship. LZ 8 was identical to its ill-fated predecessor, and was likewise as ill-fated. With Eckener at the helm on its first passenger outing, he allowed himself to be pressured by the crowd to bring out the airship in a dangerous crosswind. Deutchsland II was subsequently knocked alongside the hangar and bent out of shape. Eckener claimed this cured him of all recklessness thereafter, and he subsequently went to completely reform flight operations at DELAG (Eckener 16).

The rebuilt Deutschland was met with an end that was as embarrassing as it was avoidable, but it thankfully motivated such a strict safety regimen that DELAG never suffered such an accident again. (Wikimedia)

Dr. Eckener isolated the causes of accidents that had plagued operations thus far, and focused on ensuring that DELAG airships would be crewed by veteran airmen who would have the benefit of extensive weather reports and more reliable equipment. The board was willing to give it another try, and authorized the construction of a new, modern airship. This new ship was LZ 8 Schwaben, which was shorter, more maneuverable, had a useful capacity of 6486 kilogram, and used new 145hp Maybach engines which would prove far more reliable. It made its first, and very promising, trial flight on June 26, 1911 where it made for 75 kilometers an hour (Robinson 59). Many of these advancements came as a result of Dürr accepting a variety of new concepts from junior designers, key among these was in rejecting the continuous lengthening of airships to boost their lift, and placing a greater focus on theoretical testing and problem solving, rather than building a ship and continuously modifying it as difficulties arose.

Schwaben was the first Zeppelin to have all its control surfaces at the rear, where they would remain on all future Zeppelin airships. (SFO Museum)

Along with the new airship came a series of reforms to DELAG’s flight guidelines. Crew training was standardized and captains in particular were required to have a thorough understanding of their vessels and to have participated in 150 flights before they would be allowed to command an airliner. The training program would be so successful that the military would send their crews to train with DELAG during their off season. Some would even fly passengers during the airline’s regular service (Rose 138). These procedural improvements were to extend to the ground crews, both to improve the tricky process of moving an airship in and out of its shed, and to avoid the kinds of accidents such as the one which claimed LZ-6. In that case an unmarked can of gasoline was thrown over a fire in the hopes of dousing it. Facilities were thus overhauled and staffed with thoroughly trained professionals. Perhaps most importantly of all were the stations for meteorological reporting. Unlike Kahlenberg, future DELAG captains would benefit from near nationwide weather reports from the series of meteorological stations which captains could contact at any time over the radio. Even without the radio they would have access to wind maps which charted the typical currents over Germany and allowed captains to safely determine new courses should their first choice be unavailable. Should all else have failed, emergency depots were established along common routes where airships could stop for repairs and fuel.

In order to avoid accidents while departing the hangar in a cross wind, the airships were tethered to trolleys called Laufen Katzen, or running cats after being likened to cats running across the top of a fence. (SFO Museum)

With these improvements, Schwaben was well equipped when it began passenger service in the summer of 1911. With all the methods worked out and potential dangers addressed, passenger flights went off without a hitch. A typical flight saw passengers assemble early in the morning, when winds were at their weakest, and allowed them to see the airship as it was serviced and brought out. When they departed the airship was almost impossibly smooth as it pulled away from the ground and began its journey. While the passengers traveled to a variety of locations and took in the view they were provided with a series of refreshments. The meager provisions aboard Deutschland paled in comparison to what Schwaben’s passengers enjoyed. Along with a considerable wine list that boasted a selection of Rhine, Moselle, and Bordeaux along with champagne, passengers were served a selection of cold dishes such as caviar, Strasbourg pate de foie gras, and Westphalian ham (Robinson 59). All of this was enjoyed in relative silence as the canvas skin and hydrogen cells dampened the sound from the propellers.

The main attraction beyond all of this was the view of the country from the air, as while this was a passenger service, its lack of fixed schedules could mean a wait of several days as weather cleared or repairs were made. Tickets too were steeply priced, owing to the limited number of seats aboard and high operating costs. A ticket could cost between 100 to 600 marks depending on the destination, though many passengers didn’t pay for their own seats as they were invited to garner publicity for the service. It was very common for periodicals and newspapers to send their own aboard to gather material. Along with journalists were VIPs, such as notable public figures, and foreign dignitaries the state wanted to impress. Those unable to purchase a ticket had the option of watching one of the many films made aboard the airliners or visiting one of the many DELAG airports located across Germany.

In the several weeks following its entrance to service, Schwaben was a hit. After the miserable year of 1910, it seemed as if the airline had not only been improved, but practically perfected.

The Golden Years

Viktoria Luise would introduce a number of notable improvements, chief of which was a larger passenger compartment. (Wikimedia)

As Schwaben was refitted following its stowage in the previous winter, it was joined by a slightly larger airship, LZ 11 Viktoria Luise. Named for the Emperor’s daughter, its design and performance were nearly identical to the Schwaben, save for its redesigned elevators and rudders. The year would start well, though an accident would leave Schwaben burned on June 28. It was traced to a static discharge caused by the rubberised fabric which formed its hydrogen cells. No one was aboard the grounded airship, though the public was momentarily disquieted. To allay fears, the Dusseldorf maintenance team took the blame while Colsman quietly shifted to the use of cells made of cotton and goldbeater’s skin. This material was a finely woven cotton fabric laminated with chemically treated sheets of cow intestine, which while unpleasant to produce, was lighter than the rubberized fabric while remaining just as durable, and removed any chance of static discharges (Chollet 6). Apart from the loss of Schwaben, operations continued without trouble for the remainder of the year.

Operations were expanded by a new airship, LZ 13 Hansa, named for the medieval Hanseatic league of merchants which spanned the Baltic. Identical to the Viktoria Luise, it was completed July 30 and took Schwaben’s place. For the remainder of the year Viktoria Luise and Hansa operated out of the double hangar built in Hamburg, where at the end of autumn, they were used to train the first Naval air crews. At the end of this training period, Hansa was flown over the High Seas Fleet Parade and the naval maneuvers that followed it. Ironically, Zeppelin’s civilian operation had managed to capture the military’s interest more so than any direct appeal.

Passengers sightseeing aboard Hansa. (Ryan Smith)

By the start of the 1913 season, DELAG was an international sensation, and in Germany, a technological achievement of immense pride. Shortly after Hansa and Viktoria Luise had entered service, they were joined by LZ-17 Sachsen. This ship, named for the region it would service, was slightly shorter than its contemporaries though built with a wider diameter, and held the highest lifting capabilities of the three . It was completed on May 3, 1913 and was sent to a shed at Leipzig where it operated from thereafter (Robinson 333). During the summer season all three ships were in service, and each operated out of its own region. Hansa left Hamburg for Potsdam, to service Berlin, and Viktoria Luise was sent to Frankfurt.

Hansa comes in to land. (Wikimedia)

These regional flights would ensure the airships were seen over and around most of Germany’s largest cities. What was once a curiosity that rarely strayed from the Bodensee was now a common sight for millions of Germans, one that stirred both patriotic fervor, and a curiosity and optimism for what the future held. While a relatively small proportion of Germans would ever fly aboard these airships, they drew massive crowds around the cities they visited and at the sheds where they were stored. Sadly, the entire enterprise was cut short by the beginning of the Great War, and the airships were turned over to the military during the period of general mobilization. Practically overnight, DELAG had ceased to exist, and in the end, it’s difficult to know how successfully DELAG would have been had it continued to operate its three airships. When its airships were pressed into military service, the company was still operating in the red, though its operating costs were plummeting and the proportion of paying versus invited passengers had climbed steadily. Regardless of its financial forecast, DELAG’s technical achievements would not be rivaled again for over twenty years. Its airships carried a total of 34,208 passengers over a distance of 1,172,529 kilometers, nearly five times the Earth’s circumference (Rose153).

The Zeppelin at War

Despite the Count’s enthusiasm that his airships would prove a decisive weapon in any war to come, this would not prove to be the case. In the years DELAG was operating, the German military had received a number of airships, though they never effectively developed their offensive capabilities. Both the Army and the Navy possessed a small fleet of Zeppelin airships, each with very different missions in mind, with the Army placing an emphasis on bombing, and the Navy on reconissance. In contrast with the well coordinated and professional civilian operation, both the Army and the Navy would suffer numerous accidents, the worst of which befalling the Navy’s L.2. The ship burned as a result of design choices from the Naval representative, Felix Pietsker, who was at Friedrichshafen to oversee its construction. He demanded the airship’s keel be placed within the hull to streamline it and bring the engines in closer to the hull, both choices being strongly criticized by Dürr as being unsafe. During a test flight, the inner keel collected leaking hydrogen, which otherwise would have exited through the top of the airship, and was subsequently set alight by the heat of the engines. All 28 aboard would be the first to die on a burning airship, and with the war on the horizon, they would not be the last (Rose 151).

Most surprisingly, no specialized weapons were developed for the airships, which as bombers first carried 15 and 21cm artillery shells which were ejected from the airship over the target. These were used by the Army’s Zeppelins in the opening weeks of the war, but it soon became clear that these low flying airships were too vulnerable to groundfire to be of any real use (Robinson 86). This realization would push airship design evolution faster than any previous motivator. Among the first major new additions were the cruciform tail sections added to the M-Class airships. This feature had been pioneered by the rival Schuttz-Lanz airship company, and would markedly improve the handling and aerodynamics of the airship. Previously, Zeppelin’s had blunt tail sections, which were initially believed to be aerodynamically superior, but the taper on the newer models allowed for far better stability at speed. Enclosed gondolas were also added, being more or less essential for long patrols over the sea. Perhaps the most important of all was the introduction of duralumin on LZ 26 which enabled the construction of larger and stronger airship hulls (Robinson 89). The first airships to combine all of these features were the P-Class ships, which were very capable maritime patrol aircraft and were used on the first raids on London.

L12, a P-Class airship, the class would prove to be excellent naval patrol vessels and far more comfortable for their crews over the older, open gondola ships. (IWM)

As strategic bombers, the Zeppelins were ineffective. While at first they were surprisingly resilient to bullets and artillery splinters, the introduction of better training for anti aircraft crews and special phosphorus-core bullets for aircraft would see them fight a losing battle that would only end weeks before the war itself did. Zeppelins were built to fly ever higher to try and avoid these threats, and they flew their raids at night to try and avoid detection and artillery spotters. They would fail, but they would produce much more robust and versatile airships which remained very capable maritime patrol aircraft. The prime of these being the R-Class.

These ships entered service in 1916 with a host of new improvements. The new class did away with the long, inefficient cylindrical sections in favor of a teardrop shape which both reduced drag and vastly increased internal capacity. They were also the first to carry six engines, these being Maybach HSLu motors capable of producing 240Hp which gave them a trial speed of roughly 60 kilometers an hour. The hydrogen controls too were improved, with a responsive electric control system allowing for more precise and sensitive inputs, which were necessary when the airship operated at or above its maximum loaded ceiling of 3962 meters. In all, virtually every aspect of these ships had been improved (Robinson 120. Stahl 84-89). Unbeknownst to the German Navy, who were looking for better bombers to wage their ineffectual nightly war, Zeppelin had built a truly exceptional intercontinental aircraft.

The R-Class possessed a revolutionary teardrop hull shape, which vastly improved its aerodynamic qualities over the previous cylindrical forms. (Hauptkull)

On the night of July 26, 1917, Captain Ernst Lehmann set out on the longest patrol of the war thus far. With the standard R-Class airship, LZ 120, he patrolled the Baltic Sea for 101 hours. This ‘experiment’ was conducted with a considerable load of 1202 kilograms of bombs, 16918 kilograms of fuel, with a crew of 29. With his men divided into three watches, and running only three engines at a time, LZ 120 endured poor weather and successfully enacted engine repairs, all while dodging thunderstorms. When they returned to their base at Seerappen, the airship remained in good condition with enough fuel in its tanks for 14 more hours (Robinson 251, Stahl 89). As astounding as this feat was, it would soon be outdone.

In light of Lehmann’s record setting patrol, the German army now looked to the Zeppelin to undertake a truly groundbreaking mission. It seemed to all that General Lettow-Vorbeck’s troops, alone in Africa and low on supplies, were fighting on borrowed time. It was clear that the only way to reach them, and deliver vital supplies, was by airship. Thus a specially modified R-Class airship was prepared, L-59, which was lengthened and lightened to carry out the special mission. The 750 foot airship was to fly to Lettow-Vorbeck from Jamboli, Bulgaria, to the beleaguered general some 7000 kilometers away. It carried approximately 16,238 kilograms of cargo, and would be disassembled with its aluminum and fabric repurposed into radio towers and bandages. KorvettenKapitan Ludwig Bockholt set off from Jamboli on November 21, 1917 under strict radio silence. They passed through thunderstorms over the Mediterranean before crossing into North Africa, which would prove even more treacherous due to the updrafts which threw the ship about over the deserts. The heat too caused excessive hydrogen loss which had to be offset by dumping large amounts of ballast. They would cross the desert and receive a signal from Berlin, advising them to turn back as Lettow-Vorbeck’s forces had been defeated. In reality, the guerrilla general had pressed on into Portuguese Mozambique, where he had gathered the supplies he needed. Bockholt ordered the ship back with some arguments among the crew, and was back in Jamboli on November 25. In all his ship had been airborne for 95 hours and had traveled some 6760 kilometers, and upon its return still carried enough fuel for 64 hours more (Robinson 253-255, Stahl 90-91). Theoretically, L59 could have traveled to Chicago one way from Friedrichshafen, or potentially to New York and back.

The lengthened L59. (Hauptkull)

The rapid advancements in airship design during the war were incredible, though their use against civilians would leave a black mark which they could never truly wash away. England in particular bore deep scars as a result of the ‘baby-killers’, and as if to mark the end of an era, Zeppelin had passed away in March of 1917 at the age of 78. Despite the dark turn his invention had taken, many still viewed the count favorably, and in a May 1917 edition of the New York times he was placed as an equal alongside the Wright Brothers and praised for the years of dedication and disappointment he had spent honing his creation (Rose177). In the end, the war would cripple airship production and design in Germany, as the state was subsequently banned from operating large airships, and many of its Zeppelins were turned over to the Allies or destroyed by their crews. Many airship veterans, and even historians, would continue to state decades after the war, that the raids over England held down ‘a million men’ from being deployed to the continent. In reality, by June of 1918, Britain had exactly 6,136 men devoted to home air defense, and the total wartime damages from strategic bombing amounted to 1.5 million GBP. This compares rather poorly to the equivalent of 13.25 million GBP spent on airship construction, to say nothing of the hundreds of Gotha and Zeppelin Staaken biplane bombers built (Rose 173).

 

The Crossroads

Without their primary customer, and more or less totally banned from building their main product, the Zeppelin company was seemingly at the end of the line. Colsman, seeking to rapidly increase revenue, attempted to pivot the enterprise away from airships towards cars and consumer goods, regardless of the anger from the true believers in the firm. However, the economic crises that emerged in Germany after the war rendered the plan hopeless; there would one day be a market for luxury Maybach cars, but it was very far off.

A brief power struggle in the company ensued with Dr. Eckener becoming its head over the firebrand Captain Lehmann, who had taken part in destroying several Navy airships which were to be turned over to the Allies. Dr. Eckener found a loophole in the treaty which threatened to destroy the company; while Germany wasn’t allowed to possess an airship, the Versailles treaty did not explicitly prevent any private enterprise from building or operating airships of their own (Rose 194). With this in mind, Eckener approached Dürr and his engineers to design a new airship, one which could in no way be used for military purposes. Thus it seemed that DELAG was poised to return almost as suddenly as it had vanished back in 1914. Initially, there were plans for a trans-atlantic airliner based on a massive wartime X-class airship, but its proximity to a military design was too problematic, not to mention expensive. They accordingly settled on a small design with regional ambitions.

A model of LZ 120 is prepared for wind tunnel tests. (Wikimedia)

The design work for LZ-120 Bodensee, named for the lake from which the first Zeppelin’s flew, was completed on March 10, 1919 and first flew that August. Its design was the most efficient of any airship built up to that point, as despite being considerably shorter than the airliners that preceded it, at around 120 meters, it possessed an incredible useful lift of 44,678 kilograms and had a trial speed of 132 km/h, thanks to its four 245hp Maybach IVa motors. Perhaps most impressively of all, it could fly in all but the worst weather (Eckener 201). When fitted out for service, it was laid out in a manner similar to a passenger train within the combined cabin and control car. It possessed five compartments seating four, and one VIP cabin in the front who paid double fare. Six more seats could be fitted if the partitions were removed. As with the previous airliners the cabin was well furnished with a fine wood paneling over the structural elements and specially made aluminum and leather chairs for the passengers. At the rear of the gondola were the washroom and buffet (Robinson 258 Rose 196).

The small but quick Bodensee. (George Grantham)

When DELAG resumed service in the fall they began operating on fixed scheduling, which was made possible owing to Bodensee’s reliability and ability to fly through rain and wind. The sightseeing flights were done away with and replaced with a regular passenger route which ran from Friedrichshafen to Berlin with a stop in Munich. Generally speaking, the lax margins for luggage that existed in the pre-war DELAG were also done away with fees being added after 13 kilograms. On one occasion, a woman wearing extravagant furs brought nearly a dozen trunks aboard and tried to protest the fees which greatly exceeded that of the original ticket. In order to make up for slack during slow periods, mail was carried in place of passengers. Overall, Bodensee proved very effective, earning 500,000 marks in its first month, placing it on the road for long term profitability (Rose 196). Typical passengers were state officials, Zeppelin company personnel, and foreign visitors who could not depend on the rail network, which had been racked by strikes, coal shortages, and damaged infrastructure during the revolutions of that year.

Likely owing to tastes tempered by wartime hardships, Bodensee’s decor was subdued and looked to serve a more professional class, rather than the pleasure seekers of the Pre-war DELAG airships. (Bundesarchiv)

Eckener saw these routes as only the beginning and traveled with the airship to Stockholm in October. There he received an enthusiastic reception where he sold tickets for flights on the yet-to-be completed LZ 121 Nordstern. This was to be just the start, for the real destination for his airline was Spain. In the long term, however, his hope was in crossing the Atlantic. The Zeppelin’s long haul capabilities were well proven and shorter flights could be serviced by more modern planes, which by the mid 20’s could be flown with some semblance of safety and comfort. With long term plans seeming coming to fruition, DELAG completed the season’s operations in December, having flown on 88 out of 98 days for 532 hours, over 51,981 kilometers, and servicing 4,050 passengers. LZ 120 was placed in maintenance to be lengthened and have its control surfaces altered to compensate for its oversensitive yaw characteristics (Eckener 200, 201 Rose 198). However, these plans were not to be, as the loophole that allowed these operations was closed.

1919 was a chaotic year for most of Europe. In Germany, mass strikes of workers, and mutineers from the Army and Navy, launched a short-lived revolution in Germany after the Emperor fled and his government collapsed. (National Archives)

The Allied commission had ruled in January of 1920 that DELAG was not authorized to fly airships under the Versailles treaty, and they were instructed to turn their two airships over to France and Italy, who were to have received Navy Zeppelins that had been destroyed by their crews. Dr. Eckener would claim this was a protectionist ruling, given that the Allied commissioner, Air Commodore Masterman, was also in charge of Britain’s own flagging airship program. In any case, LZ 121 was christened Mediterranee in French service, and subsequently dismantled in roughly a year. Bodensee however, would spend many years in Italian service as the Esperia. While it never returned to regular passenger service, it made flights from time to time at numerous civil and military events from its shed in Ciampino near Rome. Most notably it accompanied the polar exploration airship N1 as it traveled to Barcelona, Spain, flew from Rome to Tripoli and back in 24 hours, and was shown to Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito during his visit in 1921. While most reparation airships were neglected and dismantled in the years following the Great War, Esperia seems to have been well maintained until it was decommissioned on July 18, 1928 (Robinson 350).

Esperia a few weeks before its decommissioning after nearly ten years of service. (Bundesarchiv)

 

With Bodensee and Nordstern out of their hands, Zeppelin seemed to be running on borrowed time once again.

The Zeppelin, Banned

Zeppelin was in trouble, but there would soon be an opportunity for them to get back on their feet. While the British airship program was largely dysfunctional, it had managed to garner interest in the technology. Their own R.34, which was largely a reverse engineered R-Class Zeppelin, had managed to cross the Atlantic, though with worrying slim margins for fuel. For the time being, the British built on this achievement with the pending sale of R.38 to the US, which subsequently was renamed ZR 2. Given American interest in the technology, Dr. Eckener offered to build the United States an airship to compensate them for the one which was promised to them under the Versailles treaty, but which its crews destroyed. The US Navy jumped at the offer and offered to pay 3.56 million gold marks for the airship, though they were stopped by Air Commodore Masterman who refused to allow the construction of the airship in Germany. This block would remain until the US Navy was preparing to receive the ZR 2.

While the British were able to replicate German airship technology, they understood it exceedingly poorly. R.38/ZR-2 was based on a high altitude airship design with a hull that was designed to be maneuvered only at high altitudes, as its beams were made thin to reduce weight. While ZR-2 was proceeding with its final trial flight, its hull shattered during a low altitude turn at 99 kilometers an hour and it exploded. Of its 42 crew and passengers, only 5 survived. The US Navy was outraged. They directly accused the British of protectionism with the intent to force them to purchase their dangerous aircraft, and in the maelstrom of backlash, the German airship ban was lifted. The US Navy and Dr. Eckener soon agreed to an airship specified to be only used for civilian purposes, and that Zeppelin would shift production to consumer goods after it would be completed. All involved knew that neither clause would be observed, but Masterman was forced to accept their terms regardless (Rose 221, 222).

The US Navy soon sent representatives to Friedrichshafen to oversee the design and production of LZ 126/ZR-3. The partnership between Zeppelin and the US Navy proved amicable in 1922, and eventually it was agreed to establish a US based entity for airship production, Goodyear-Zeppelin, the following year. Work on the new airship progressed as smoothly as one could have hoped during such difficult times.

LZ-6 is brought into the Lakehurst hangar for the first time. It was soon to be rechristened as the USS Los Angeles. (Wikimedia)

ZR-3 was launched in 1924, the large airship looking akin to a much larger, and stretched LZ 120. The airship was not merely a means of keeping the company afloat but to test the new technologies that could very well make trans-Atlantic air travel safe and reliable. Eckener himself flew ZR-3 out of Friedrichshafen on October 12, 1924, and despite some concerns about the airship’s maximum range, ZR-3 made the flight from Germany to the U.S. handily, despite running into a storm and encountering a headwind which slowed the ship down to 48 kilometers an hour. The airship flew over New York for several hours before proceeding to its shed at Lakehurst, New Jersey where it was met by a tremendous crowd. The ship would soon become the USS Los Angeles, and its success did more than save the company, it proved intercontinental air travel was more than achievable, it could be done safely and comfortably (eckener 27, 28).

The USS Los Angeles on parade over New York, joined by two US navy blimps, including the aluminum clad ZMC-2. (imgur)

ZR-3 also proved to be somewhat of a political litmus test. In the early Weimar period, its politics were especially volatile and Eckener had to brave these winds in order to accomplish anything. Whereas Count Zeppelin played the Imperial Court, Eckener faced liberals, conservatives, and political extremists of almost every variety. He did exceedingly well. The Zeppelin itself, a symbol of ‘the good old days’, played well with conservatives, liberals were satisfied with his ability to reinvent and grow the company in hard times, and the company’s large industrial workforce and generous benefits saw him receive congratulations from socialists and some communists. In terms of the far-right, he ranged from disinterest to outright hostility. Among the Nazis there was little interest in airships in general. Herman Goering, one of the movement’s leaders and former ace fighter pilot, saw airships as quaint and dated, with most in the party sharing his sentiments. Some members of even more extremist organizations claimed Eckener and Zeppelin had sold Germany out by giving ZR-3 to the US. Ultranationalists would go on to accuse the company of being controlled by a Jewish cabal and Eckener himself was the target of a young man with a rifle who had sworn to kill him, who was subsequently arrested (Rose 232). Eventually, some nationalists would be satisfied by Zeppelin’s all German operation and the ZR3 “controversy” would be left in the past. Despite this, the work at Zeppelin would proceed apace, especially as the German economy stabilized in the mid 20’s and many of the most dangerous fringe political groups had burnt out or had fallen out of public view, if only for the time being.

With a more or less stable political footing, and as the US Navy began to work their new airship into service, Dr. Eckener planned the next major step for Zeppelin.

The Graf

Eckener wanted an airship to build on the promise ZR-3 showed in its cross Atlantic outing. However, a roadblock appeared between Eckener and his new airliner, he hadn’t the money. The start-up capital to build and operate a new airship amounted to some 7 million marks, and to try and reach this figure he would attempt to repeat the miracle of Echterdingen. The press campaign began in July of 1925, and through donations and the sale of memorabilia, he was only able to amass 2.5 million marks, suitable enough for only the ship’s construction and nothing more. In short, the average German was far less secure in their finances, while the affluent noble class, once patrons of the old count, were gone (Rose 249). To make matters worse, airplanes had made significant strides in both safety and passenger capacity. Gone were the temperamental and fragile canvas and wooden biplanes, now in their place were solid plywood marvels like the Fokker F.VII and the all metal Junkers F.13, which rapidly took over intercity air travel during the mid 20’s.

Graf Zeppelin undergoing skinning in the Friedrichshafen hangar. (Zeppelin GMBH)

Regardless, Eckener pressed on, and between 1925 and 26 he gave nearly a hundred lectures on a press circuit which bolstered fundraising efforts. Once it was clear appeals to the public had reached their limit, he would make a personal request to President Paul Hindenburg, which brought a state contribution of 2 million more marks. The last of the money was found in selling assets from Zeppelin’s subsidiary companies (Eckener30, Rose 287). With the funds in hand, the design work was finalized with the new airship being what was, more or less, a larger derivative of LZ 126 with some cutting edge features. However, the new LZ 127 would not be the largest and most efficient airship the company was capable of building, but rather it was a proof of concept that would show that commercial, oceanic air travel was possible. While they had the funds for a new airship, they were still restricted by the size of their hangar at Friedrichshafen, which would prevent them from building airships much larger than the wartime X-Class for years to come.

Graf Zeppelin’s lounge prepared for dining service. (Yurigagarin-flickr)

By early 1927, LZ 127’s design work had been completed, and while built along the same lines as ZR3, it was fully furnished for passenger comfort. The combined gondola would contain the control and navigation facilities, along with the passengers rooms and amenities. The fore section contained the control room, a radio room, and a navigation room for use for the crew, and behind it was the kitchen, dining room and lounge, and passenger quarters. At the rear of the gondola were the stairs which led to the main crew quarters which contained mostly the same amenities, though with none of the fineries which existed below. The style of the passenger quarters evoked that of the famous and luxurious American Pullman railcars, though with some clever features. The passenger berths served dual purposes, by day they were lounges where passengers could take meals and relax in private, and by night they could be converted to a two bunk cabin.

Each 2 person passenger berth could be converted into a lounge during the day. (Zeppelin GMBH)

While LZ-127 could mostly be described as an enlarged version of the company’s previous airship, it did feature a number of innovations. Chief among these were its new Maybach VL2 engines, which in addition to producing a respectable 530PS, were multifuel engines that could run on either gasoline or Blaugas. The former was a fuel specially designed for airship use, as it possessed a density very close to air and could be stored in its own gas cells below the hydrogen. This enabled them to cut weight and conserve ballast hydrogen over long trips, as unlike gasoline, when the Blaugas was burned it did not significantly alter the weight of the airship and did not require the venting of hydrogen to regain equilibrium. Gasoline usage was kept to a minimum and would typically be reserved for takeoffs. Despite much of the design being brought over from a previous project, the airship was far better equipped for long flights. Its 37 tons of Blaugas could provide fuel for around 100 hours of flight, with a similar weight of gasoline providing only 67 hours (Rose 289).

Graf Zeppelin was built to the widest diameter that could be accommodated by the wartime hangar at Friedrichshafen. (Zeppelin GMBH)

The airship was completed in early July 1928, it being brought into service on the 8th and named Graf Zeppelin, in honor of the late Count. Shortly after a series of shorter test flights, Eckener arranged for a thirty six hour endurance flight across Germany on September 18th. The original course took the ship over Leipzig, Dresden and Berlin, before proceeding to Hamburg to practice oceanic navigation at night over the North Sea. However, the low cloud cover would have prevented the public from seeing the airship along that route and so they diverted to Frankfurt and Mainz before heading on to Cologne and Dusseldorf before reaching the North Sea via the Rhine valley. As was the case so many years ago, they were met by massive crowds as they passed these cities before finally heading out to sea. On the next day their course home took them over Hamburg, Kiel, and Berlin before they proceeded south back to Friedrichshafen (Eckener 32). However, not all were pleased. During further flights in October, French authorities protested the flight over the politically contentious Rhine territories, and subsequently provided directions for the use of airships over their own territory, forcing LZ 127 to fly at night and away from any military installations. The airship’s flight over southern England would also prove rather unsettling to those living there as it brought up unpleasant memories, and the airship would only rarely travel to Britain thereafter (Rose 289).

Graf Zeppelin over Berlin’s city palace during its first overflight of the city. (Bundesarchive)

These early flights would prove extremely promising, the only major issues which arose were political in nature, and the airship itself proved superb. Naturally, Eckener pushed for a flight to Lakehurst, New Jersey.

To Lakehurst

Eckener was prepared to fulfill the promise long dreamed of since the invention of the balloon and kindled during DELAGs best years, he was going to prove air travel could deliver passengers anywhere across the world. 40 crewmen and 20 passengers were assembled for the flight, though few paid for their tickets as they were mostly there to drum up publicity. This included journalist Lady Drummond-Hay, who had come on behalf of the media mogul William Randolph Hearst, who had exclusive reporting rights in the US for the voyage. One of the four who did pay the small fortune of $3000 for a ticket was one Frederick Gilfillan, an American financier who had a plane crash and two shipwrecks under his belt (Rose 295). To add to the foreboding, the weather reports were bleak. Storms and strong winds pervaded most of the approach to New York and numerous older steamships were in distress, while more modern liners were reporting considerable delays to their arrival (Eckener 34).

Eckener took the airship out of Wilhelmshaven on October 11, 1928, opting for a longer, but hopefully calmer Southern approach. The other captains, Fleming and Schiller, agreed to take a course South to the Mediterranean via the Alps, then to Gibraltar, followed by the Azores, and finally proceeding across the Atlantic to the airfield at Lakehurst. This earliest section of the voyage proved the most enjoyable as passengers and crew overflew the scenic Northern Mediterranean with largely agreeable weather. This however, was not to last. As after they flew west off the Azores, they ran into a storm front, and in the midst of exchanging the deck crew for the most experienced members, the nose dipped. Pots and pans clattered to the floor, the breakfast table settings slid from the cloth, and thunder rang out. While the crew remained in control through the rough weather, the passengers were no less terrified (Eckener 39). However, more shockingly, the crew would discover a wide swath of fabric had been torn from the lower port elevator and stabilizing fin, and threatened to jam the controls. By the time this was recognized, the Graf Zeppelin was in the middle of the Atlantic and three days from US navy assistance. After Eckener reported the incident to the Navy, he dispatched a repair team, which included his own son, and informed the passengers of the situation.

The repair team luckily found the damage to be less threatening than they had worried, and that they would be able to reattach the third of fabric that had remained , while cutting away the fluttering edges. The repairmen wore safety tethers while they clung to the outside of the airship and endured the roughly 80 kilometer an hour slipstream as the ship bobbed up and down as the control crew compensated for the increase in weight brought on by the rain. The repair crew worked for around five hours until the ship could rely on the fin once more (Eckener 41).

The result of the storm damage. (Wikimedia)

While the ship was no longer in danger, the new problem became boredom and discomfort. Safety precautions prevented the kitchen from using its electric stoves, lukewarm coffee was served in glasses, as all the china cups had broken in the morning, and, perhaps most distressingly, the beer and wine had run out. The passengers, with the exception of Lady Drummond-Hay who brought plenty of warm clothes, learned just how chilly the Atlantic could get, as the airship had little insulation. Though, the passengers discomfort was eclipsed by the elation of the crowd that gathered to see the ship as it flew over Washington DC, Baltimore, and Philadelphia before it went on to New York. This would prove prudent, as it showed the public that despite the damage it had taken, it was in no danger and capable of traveling wherever its crew saw fit (Rose 299, Eckener 43).

The discomfort of many of the passengers was quickly overshadowed by the Graf Zeppelin’s arrival at Lakehurst. Some 150,000 people had traveled to Lakehurst, where they were policed only by some 76 marines, 50 sailors, and 40 state troopers. While Eckener received congratulations from President Hindenburg via telegram, he embarked on a number of press ventures and all manner of celebratory events in New York. All the while, he was kept informed of the repairs being made to the airship, which would take 12 days and delay their return to Freidrichshafen until October 28.

Graf Zeppelin often shared the Lakehurst hangar with the USS Los Angeles during its visits to New York. (Wikimedia)

In all, the trip was successful but with mixed results. On a financial basis, the trip was successful in that it was profitable going one way. The operating costs were judged at $54,000 one way, with cargo and passenger revenues bringing in roughly $70,000; beyond that were the press deals which saw Zeppelin receive some $83,000, though these were likely to be considerably reduced for a regular commercial route. Eckener would claim a profit of $100,000, which considering the one million plus price of the airship, meant long term profitability was feasible.

The performance of the airship in the press was seen as both groundbreaking, yet unimpressive. From Germany to the US, the cross Atlantic voyage took some 111 hours, which actually compared poorly to the world’s fastest ocean liner, RMS Mauretania, which managed the crossing in 107. However this would be dispelled when Graf Zeppelin made the return trip in better weather, without detours, and arrived 72 hours later (Rose 301). Passenger comforts too were an issue compared with the ocean liner, though with a larger liquor cabinet and a gramophone with an ample selection of records, things were markedly improved on subsequent voyages.

Chief of all were safety concerns, as despite the airship being capable of handling the storm and subsequent damage better than any plane, it was still extremely concerning to any serious customer base. There was however, one feat which could allay these concerns for good, a world tour. However with the winter fast approaching, such a trip would be put off until a more favorable season.

Egypt Bound

The Graf Zeppelin would fly twice across the Mediterranean, visiting many of its most ancient landmarks (bsmith2123)

While a world tour was not feasible for several more months, a trip eastward was planned to raise publicity and bring in much needed capital. To promote the airship, a number of high level government officials and members of the press were invited. The choice of location would be Eastern Mediterranean, and much like the pre-war DELAG flights, the emphasis was on sightseeing. A particularly frigid winter would delay the flight four weeks until March 21, 1929, whereafter the Graf Zeppelin flew to a more hospitable region. It made its way down the French Riviera, after which it passed over Corsica and Elba on its way to Italy.

As they over flew Rome, with its ancient and modern sights alike, they sent a telegram to the head of Italy, Benito Mussolini. “Filled with admiration as we look down on Eternal Rome with its timeless remembrance of a glorious past, and its lively activity as a flourishing modern metropolis, we respectfully send our greetings and our good wishes to the genius of this splendid city.” Eckener would derisively say that he wondered if Mussolini would believe himself to be the “genius” of the city. The response would read “Many thanks for your friendly greeting! I wish you a happy journey. Mussolini.” (Eckener 59). From Rome it was on to Napoli, then Eastward across the sea to the Isle of Crete. Their arrival in the Eastern Mediterranean came with the end of the chill that had followed them since their departure from Friedrichshaven. With the last of the coats coming off, the airship made its way to Tel Aviv, and on to Jerusalem with the ship spending the night above the Dead Sea.

Graf Zeppelin over Jerusalem. (The Atlantic)

Unfortunately, the Graf Zeppelin was denied passage over Egypt by the British Foreign Office. This was likely because they wished to be the first with their own airships, which in a few years time were to fly from England, to Egypt, and then on to India. Eckener would be forced to tell King Fuad of Egypt that the weather prevented any landing there. However in 1930, the Graf Zeppelin would repeat this flight and would carry aboard a number of distinguished Egyptian passengers who were flown over the Pyramids and north, over the coast to Palestine.

During the first flight however, the airship overflew the coasts before heading Northward to Greece. They reached Athens at 6 am, there flying over the ancient Acropolis and then on to Mount Olympus. The planned overflights of Romania and Istanbul were canceled after deep cloud cover was reported over much of the region, and thus they returned to Athens, to the enthusiasm of those who slept through the airship’s first visit. From there it was West to Corinth before making the return trip to Friedrichshaven. The route home was to be over the Dinaric Alps, on to Pressburg and Vienna, before heading west and home. Apart from some passes through narrow clearings, and a blizzard which came on as they passed over Vienna, the return trip was uneventful. In fact, Eckener himself was glad for the poor weather as he was able to impress upon his passengers the safety of the airship and its ability to handle the elements (Eckener 65).

The Egypt flight of 1929 would prove an incredible and undeniable success in comparison to the admittedly rough Atlantic voyage. In addition to the views of some of the most ancient sites across the region, there were no hiccups in regards to lapses in comfort or entertainment, as the ship passed over the less exciting spaces in the dead of night. Perhaps most importantly of all, the ship’s reliability shone through with no major mechanical issues being reported during the flight.

Around the World

A postcard illustrating the course of the world voyage. (The Atlantic)

With the sight seeing trip behind him, Eckener now had the ideal Autumn weather to prove once and for all the safety and reliability of his airships. The route was largely predetermined as the Graf Zeppelin would need to stop at suitably sized hangers to take on new supplies and undergo any serious maintenance should trouble arise. The ship could take on fuel, ballast, and hydrogen at a simple airship tether, but there it would also be at the mercy of the weather. As such, Graf Zeppelin would fly East over the Soviet Union and make a brief appearance in Moscow, then proceed to Kasumigaura Air Base near Tokyo, where a former wartime zeppelin shed had been transferred and rebuilt. From there it was across the Pacific to America, then to Lakehurst outside of New York, and home again after crossing the Atlantic. However, a wrinkle formed in this plan when William Randolph Hearst, who would pay $100,000 for exclusive media rights in the US and Britain, requested that Eckener begin the journey from Lakehurst. His deal covered a good amount of the overall operating expenses of the trip, valued at around $225,000, much of the sum being spent on shipping 25,003 cubic meters of blau gas to Tokyo. Eckener’s solution was simple: fly Graf Zeppelin to Lakehurst, announce the voyage to the English speaking press there, and then fly back to Friedrichshaven and announce it again to the German press. In doing so he placated Hearst and the more nationalist elements within his own country.

The rest of the expenses were largely paid through passenger and mail fares, though again, few bought their own tickets. The overwhelming majority of passengers were there on behalf of newspapers and a variety of media groups whose focus was on travel, though a single ticket could cost upwards of $2,500. Beyond that was a hefty $50,000 gained through German media deals, and a number of limited postage stamp sets which sold very well among collectors. Despite the record setting nature of the flight, it was to bring in some $40,000 after covering the considerable supply hurdles (Eckener 68, 69).

The Graf Zeppelin departed for Lakehurst on August 1, 1929. This was to be a fairly unremarkable flight save for its two special passengers, Sue, a baby gorilla, and Louis, a chimpanzee, who were being brought to their new home in the US. 95 hours later, they were in Lakehurst and the true voyage began (Rose 307). Graf Zeppelin would return to Friedrichshafen after an overflight of Paris. The trip so far would prove to have a markedly different atmosphere, as in addition to the card games, conversations, and the record player, which often hosted Eckener’s own collection of Beethoven and Mozart, the air was busy with the clatter of the reporter’s typewriters.

The airship would spend five days in Friedrichshafen preparing for the journey ahead, which was to cover some 20,116 kilometers. During the layover, a number of new passengers boarded including Commander Rosendahl of the US Navy, Professor Karlkin, a Soviet meteorologist, and Commander Fuiyoshi of the Imperial Japanese Navy who was accompanied by two members of the Japanese press. With a crew of 41, and 20 passengers on board, Graf Zeppelin flew east (Eckener 72, Robinson 272).

A post card depiction of Graf Zeppelin leaving Friedrichshafen after the second “start” of the voyage. (German Postal History-Stampcircuit)

Now prepared for the flight ahead, they departed and flew north east over East Prussia and the Baltics. The approach to Moscow saw the trip’s first real challenge, a low pressure area developed north of the Caspian sea and was moving north. This would create strong headwinds along the original route and could potentially strain the airship’s fuel supply, however if they chose to fly on a more northerly course they would have a favorable westerly wind. To the anger of the Soviet representative, and to the disappointment of the crowds that had gathered in Moscow, Graf Zeppelin flew north. Upon flying past the city of Perm and past the Ural mountains, it quickly became clear why they had to bypass Moscow. The immensity of the far east would have proven disastrous had they run out of fuel, it was a land which was mostly untouched and beyond human civilization. Regardless, the frustrated Soviet Press devoted a good deal of energy criticizing Eckener and leveling a number of conspiratorial allegations at his decision (Rose 309).

Beyond Central Russia was the expansive taiga which Eckener described, “Like an extraordinary, decorative carpet it blazed up at us in all its colors-green, yellow, blue, red, and orange-horribly beautiful when we thought we might have to land on this carpet and be trapped helpless and lost amid the swamps and countless criss-crossing little streams” (Eckener 75). Navigation here and across Northern Asia would prove difficult owing to the few landmarks, even the smallest villages were noted and used to chart a course, the smallest being made up of a number of tents. Among the many incredible sights on those northern latitudes were the distant villages of the Yakut people and the aurora borealis which shone over the horizon. As they neared edge of Siberia they visited the city of Yakutsk, where they dropped a wreath over the cemetery where German prisoners of the Great War were buried. From there they proceeded to the sea of Okhotsk where their trek through Siberia ended (Eckener 76-81).

Graf Zeppelin reached Hokkaido, Japan at dawn, and with good weather proceeded southward on to the Japanese mainland. The airship overflew Tokyo for some time and performed a series of maneuvers over Yokohama Harbor above the massed onlookers. When they came in to land at Kasumigaura, they were met by an immense crowd, as thousands had traveled across the country to see the airship.

A commemorative wood block print of the Zeppelin’s visit to Japan. (The Tokyo Files)

While the airship was impressive to crowds on both sides of the Atlantic, it hardly compared to the fanfare it received in Japan. While Graf Zeppelin shaved roughly two days off the next fastest way across the Atlantic, it had bridged Japan and Europe in less than four. The next fastest, and still rather exclusive method, the Trans-Siberian Railway, took two weeks. Otherwise, by fast steamer, it took nearly month. One local newspaper would claim the trip as one of mankind’s finest achievements, and the event would receive more column space than any other event in Japanese history until that point. Those aboard the airship would spend six days in Tokyo, with key members of the crew being invited to a series of events hosted by the Japanese government. Eckener and his officers would attend a lavish state banquet at Tokyo’s grandest hotel along with Japan’s highest ranking ministers and the Chief Admiral of the Navy. This however, could not compare to Eckener joining Emperor Hirohito for tea at the Imperial palace, after which he was presented with a pair of silver cups, a ceremonial sword and dagger, silk embroideries, and porcelain vases. The stay in Japan culminated in the entire crew having afternoon tea at the German embassy, with nearly every German in Japan being in attendance (Eckener 83, Robinson 273, Rose 309).

Graf Zeppelin over Yokohama Harbor. (Old Tokyo)

With their stay over, the crew prepared for the flight across the Pacific, though an accident in removing the airship from its hangar resulted in a delay until the following morning on August 23, 1929. The airship would depart minus its Soviet representative, and its Japanese contingent would be rotated out for Naval representatives Lt. Commander Ryunoske Kusaka, Major Shibata, and a reporter. The journey across the Pacific was fairly unremarkable apart from the distance traveled, and the views were often obscured by clouds and fog. Graf Zeppelin reached San Francisco on the early morning of August 25 where it was greeted by a number of airplanes and ships which had come out of the harbor to meet it. They then proceeded South to Los Angeles where it would land at Mines Field, the airship arrived late at night and went largely unseen, save for those who traveled to see it the following morning. Interestingly, the landing was made difficult due to a low altitude temperature inversion which required they valve off hydrogen as the denser layer of air otherwise prevented the ship from descending (Robinson 273). This effect is partially responsible for the region’s agreeable climate, and its smog.

The airship was greeted by half a dozen or so aviators as it reached San Francisco. (SADSM)

Unlike Tokyo, the stay would not be a long one, and after an evening with Mr. Hearst, whose massive mansion was in Los Angeles, the airship was preparing to leave again. However, upon trying to leave they were short on hydrogen and were forced to proceed at very low altitude with very little ballast, southward around the Rocky Mountains. Initially, it flew so low that it nearly struck power lines as it departed the airfield. From San Diego they traveled through New Mexico and, like the crew of the L 59 almost ten years earlier, experienced extreme updrafts which could drag the ship over a 300 meters upward. Eckener considered this the most difficult point in the journey, and he believed the region made traversing America by airship a serious gamble should one wish to travel from coast to coast. Apart from the Texas homesteader who took potshots at the airship, the flight proceeded smoothly after they reached El Paso, after which they swung north on a course that would take them over Kansas before reaching Chicago. While the airship was greeted by crowds wherever it went, Chicago’s excitement rivaled San Francisco’s as a handful of planes joined it in the air and massive crowds cluttered the roads and gathered in parks to see the airship overfly their city. On its departure, it visited the Goodyear-Zeppelin headquarters at Akron Ohio before making its way to New York to complete the journey (Eckener 90).

Chicago matched San Francisco’s excitement as Graf Zeppelin was greeted by planes, crowds, and caused massive traffic jams. (RareHistoricalPhotos)

The world flight was completed when Graf Zeppelin returned to the hangar at Lakehurst on August 27, 1929. While the airship had visited the city several times before, its reception on that date surpassed all the rest. On that day New Yorkers shredded more phone books for confetti than ever before, and after a massive reception at city hall, Eckener was invited to a meeting with President Hoover. There Hoover would tell him “I thought that the day of the great adventurers, like Columbus, Vasco de Gama, and Magellan, was in the past. Now such an adventurer is in my presence. I am happy, Dr. Eckener, that the American people have greeted you so warmly, and today would like to extend my personal good wishes for your enterprise.” (Eckener 93, 94)

Graf Zeppelin had made the 11,104 kilometers from Friedrichshafen to Tokyo in 102 hours, had crossed the 8851 of the Pacific in 79, and crossed the 5,632 of America in 52 (Rose 314). All of these were new records, and the lack of any major mishap would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt the safety and reliability of Eckener’s airship. With it completed it seemed it would be simple enough to begin a regular passenger service, though this was not to be. A massive stock market crash in the US in just a month’s time would spill over and leave the entire world economy in shambles, aviation in particular would be hit hard. All but the largest aircraft manufacturers were out of business, and what few fledging airlines existed were hit equally as hard.

The Desert and the Future

With the world in the grips of an economic catastrophe, Eckener had to redress his plans. Further airship construction would need to be put on hold and new streams of capital would need to be established. The admittedly lackluster successor to Graf Zeppelin, LZ 128, was canceled. With its cancellation also went the hope of a triangle airline scheme by which DELAG was to sell tickets which granted passengers access to North and South America and Germany. However, Graf Zeppelin completed a trial run with a complement of paying passengers and freight in 1930, flying from Friedrichshafen to Recife Brazil, and then to Lakehurst. It proved impractical, as the volatile and unpredictable North Atlantic weather made comfortable passenger travel impossible without a specially designed airship. While no additional triangle flights were conducted with Graf Zeppelin for some time, it made a profit of over $100,000. Owing to having only 11 passengers aboard, air mail and stamp sets made up most of the earnings (Rose 350).

Graf Zeppelin at Cardington field with the British airship R-100. (Fineart America)

In 1930 Graf Zeppelin made a number of publicity flights across the UK where tickets were offered for short sightseeing flights. By this point the British aversion to the Zeppelin had clearly run its course, perhaps this can be seen no clearer than when the Graf Zeppelin overflew Wembley Stadium during the FA Cup. Beyond this the Egyptian tour was revisited again, and with the tragic demise of the British Imperial Airship scheme after the crash of R-101, Zeppelins were allowed full reign over the region.

Graf Zeppelin would finally dispel Britain’s phobias during its English visit, here overflying Wembley Stadium during the FA cup. (Wolves)

In the meantime, Graf Zeppelin was hired out to complete a scientific survey of the North Pole in 1931. Without passenger fare, reporting rights and stamp sets would bring in most of the profits. Incredible concerns were raised over the Arctic weather and icing, which could disturb the airship’s equilibrium. Despite being seriously damaged by a hail storm, Graf Zeppelin completed the survey along with the Soviet icebreaker, Malygin.

Zeppelin survived these financially tumultuous years by very narrow margins, and oddly enough, was kept afloat by stamp collectors who drove up the price of the limited edition sets the company commissioned. However, in 1931, there were bright spots on the horizon for DELAG. Graf Zeppelin was to begin a regular international service to South America, and a new airship was being developed for cross Atlantic service.

Regular Service to South America

The airship landing field at Recife, Brazil. (picryl)

While regular triangle passenger flights between the three continents were well beyond the capabilities for Graf Zeppelin, it could chart a service to South America with ease. While the North Atlantic was frigid and temperamental, and had previously proven extremely uncomfortable for passengers, the tropical and relatively warm waters of the South were ideal. After the Arctic flight, three passenger flights to South America were conducted in the late summer and autumn of 1931. These early flights were fairly limited, after leaving Friedrichshafen they proceeded over Southern France, Spain, the South Atlantic, and arrived in Recife, Brazil where an airship mast allowed them to service their vessel. This sole mast and its fairly remote location required DELAG to partner with the German Condor Airline to service other major cities across South America (Robinson 279). In spite of this, these initial flights would prove so successful, that all publicity flights were terminated so that all efforts could be taken to focus on the South American line.

Graf Zeppelin’s groundbreaking South American trips were the first of their kind, and were refined over the coming years into a regularly scheduled route. (Hapag Lloyd)

The following year would see nine passenger flights, the last three of which saw the airship fly down to Rio de Janeiro in order to draw interest to build a hangar there. Beyond this the flights were improved in the choice of view. When the airship departed or returned to Europe, it often did so through the French Rhone Valley and over the Bay of Biscay, or it proceeded south over Spain and then to the Cape Verde Islands off of Africa. Occasionally, there were also scheduled stopovers in Barcelona and Seville, where the excellent weather often permitted the airship to remain outdoors for sometime (Robinson 280). While the 1931 flights were more or less experimental, those of the following year were routine, all of which sold out, and beyond ticket sales the revenue from freight and mail was not inconsiderable (Ecekener 115).

As successful as these flights were, they were overshadowed by events in Germany. The Nazis were gaining greater prominence, with the regime exerting an ever more dominating force over the country, though Zeppelin and DELAG remained independent for the moment. In the backdrop of such developments, Eckener was able to see that the Rio hangar was built. The year would see another nine trips, the last being a triangle flight that would take the airship to the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair.

By the summer of 1933, the aviation authorities in Germany required all registered aircraft to display the Nazi swastika. The Graf had swastikas painted on the port side of its vertical stabilizers, the other emblazoned with the older Imperial style flag. Displeased with having to carry the symbol, Eckener flew the airship around Chicago on a clockwise course which hid the swastikas from crowds. He was, however, unable to prevent it being photographed by circling planes, with the subsequent images being printed in newspapers images world wide. This would not be the first time he attempted to act against the new regime. Prior to this, he forbade the Nazis from holding events at the new massive hangar at Freidrichshafen (Rose 357, 364). These marked the first in a number of protests Eckener had against Nazi propaganda minister Josef Goebbels, who wished to use the Zeppelins to carry the flag of the new regime. Beyond this, Goebbels often took to chartering the airship for political events and publicity flights, much to the annoyance and displeasure of Eckener and many airship crewmen who hated the politics of the new regime and saw these “circus flights” as a waste of time.

In spite of the ongoing feud, DELAG continued to improve its services to South America. Graf Zeppelin flew twelve round trips to South America in 1934, the third flying as far as Buenos Aires where Eckener unsuccessfully tried to convince the Argentinian government to build an airship hangar. Buenos Aires was to be a major hub for DELAG, as it was hoped that they would be able to make sales amongst the sizable German enclave there. However this was not to be, and instead they bolstered their partnership with the Condor Airline which could fly the airship’s passengers from Rio de Janeiro by seaplane.

Graf Zeppelin’s overflight of Buenos Aires wasn’t enough to convince the Argentinian government to help finance an airship hangar there. (Wikimedia)

The political environment became more contentious during this time, as Goebbels’ propaganda ministry and Goering’s Air ministry began to feud over the airships. Both offices devoted large sums to the production of LZ 129 and chartered increasing usage of Graf Zeppelin. Despite his long standing personal disinterest in the airship, Herman Goering recognized it as an important and internationally recognized symbol of German aviation. A symbol which he knew improved the standing of his new office, in contrast with Goebbels ideological zeal. In any case, both men knew they could force Eckener’s cooperation through the resources they devoted to his company, despite what trouble he would occasionally cause them.

The year 1935 would continue to see a business boom for the Brazil route, and saw 16 round trip flights across the Atlantic. There was also considerable growth in passenger travel which peaked in that year at 720 with an additional 14,061 kilograms of freight carried, including some 900,000 letters (Eckener 116). In short, DELAG had pioneered the international airline just as it had in 1919 when it achieved regular air service with Bodensee. However, just as it had been in 1919, DELAG would be dissolved again.

Political Troubles and the End

LZ-129 Hindenburg comes in to land at the airship hangar outside of Rio De Janeiro, here the two airships alternated on the South American route until the loss of Hindenburg at Lakehurst. (Wikimedia)

Just as DELAG was honing its international air service, it was dissolved. Air Minister Goering would reorganize most German airlines, and he would visit this on DELAG on March 25, 1935. The new Deutsche Zeppelin Reederei (DZR), or German Zeppelin Shipping Company, would take its place, this new entity being state owned. In doing so, Goering would have final say on airship use, largely putting an end to the quiet feud with Goebbels.

With this change came a transfer of command, Eckener was replaced with Lehmann, of Great War fame. Lehmann was an able commander and fiercely nationalistic, which made him a far more palatable choice over the decidedly liberal and world trotting Eckener. The former became chairman of the Board of Directors and still held some influence, but his control over the airline and the Zeppelin company, which he still presided over, slackened. Eckener continued to work for the airline in order to ensure safe operations, and to do his best to keep the Nazis from becoming too intertwined with the business. Initially, he was successful, as LZ 129 entered service to become the second airship on the South American route, after he had first flown it to the United States. Its name too, Hindenburg, was chosen for its lack of ties to the new regime.

This state of affairs was not to last as the political tides grew more volatile. As a result of Ecekener’s open and continued complaints about Goebbels’ use of the airships, the Reichsminister would issue an order to remove all mention of Eckener in any future news publications. This would backfire spectacularly when President FDR assumed and looked forward to Eckener being the captain of the Hindenburg on its first Atlantic voyage to the United States. Rather than admit a blunder on the world stage, the publication moratorium was lifted temporarily, with Goering subsequently intervening between the two and meeting with Hitler to have the moratorium lifted entirely (Rose 393, 395). In any case, and in spite of his own convictions, Eckener’s work would continue to benefit the Nazis and he would continue to stay, and work in Germany.

The final straw came a year later in 1937, when Hindenburg caught fire over Lakehurst in the most infamous airship disaster. While accidents were common in air travel at this point, never had one so spectacular been caught on film and so publicized. In spite of DELAG never having lost a passenger in its decades of operation, passenger airship travel would end there. As a result of a flashy landing stunt to bring the airship in quickly, Captain Lehman overstressed one of the rear structural rings and snapped a bracing wire. The wire tore a hydrogen cell, and a static discharge ignited the air mixture near an aft ventilation shaft (Rose 440, Eckener 173). Following the accident, what interest the state and public had in the airships quickly dissipated, and Graf Zeppelin, after nearly ten years in the air, was decommissioned and later dismantled. Eckener himself would largely go into retirement, though on paper he remained a key figure at Zeppelin and some of its subsidiaries.

Conclusion

The Graf Zeppelin coming in to land at an airport in Basel, Switzerland. (TagesWoche)

The airships built by Count Zeppelin and the airlines which operated them can be said to be among the most groundbreaking endeavors in the history of aviation. In terms of long range aviation, many of their efforts would outpace their competitors for upwards of a decade. In regards to air travel, nearly every major milestone was achieved first using their airships. DELAG would be the first to pioneer passenger air travel, establish regular, scheduled transportation flights, and build the first transcontinental airline. While the passenger airship was dealt a fatal blow with the destruction of the Hindenburg under the DZR, ironically, few endeavors can claim to have done so much with so few injuries as the DELAG airline.

Advanced Technical Descriptions

LZ 1-1900

LZ 1 prepares to depart. (Zeppelin The Story of a Great Achievement)

LZ 1 had a symmetrical, cylindrical hull formed from 16 transverse, wire braced, rings composed of 24 polygons that were connected by 24 longitudinal beams. The rings were spaced 7.98 m apart, save for those around the two control gondolas, which were 4 meters apart. The hull was made from unalloyed aluminum, and thus was very soft and contributed to the airship’s structural issues. The beams, which comprised the hull were practically openwork I-beams and offered little resistance to compression or bending loads, resulting in the center hull bending downwards during its test flights. The hull measured in at a length of 128 m with a diameter of 11.74 m. (robinson 23)

There were 17 cylindrical hydrogen cells made from rubberized cotton. This material was composed of thin laminated sheets of lightweight cotton and rubber. Each cell was fitted with a relief valve, with 5 being fitted with control valves which allowed the crew to adjust for lift. The airship was covered in cotton treated with pegamoid to reduce drag and friction within the hull. Pegamoid was also used as a basic waterproofing material, its use was continued on Zeppelin’s until more suitable doping materials were employed during WWI.

The airship lacked large control surfaces, there being only a small pair of rudders above and below the nose, and a rear set which were connected to the sides of the hull. Pitch was changed by means of a 100 kg lead weight that was moved along the rail between the gondolas. This proved to be a very cumbersome and unreliable system, with the weight jamming on at least one occasion.

The diminutive Daimler engine and its bevel gear arrangement. (Wikimedia)

LZ 1 was controlled from two cars along the underside of the airship. These were both made of aluminum and designed to float in case of emergency. These were connected via metal piping which served to act as a walkway. Each carried a Daimler 4 cylinder engine which produced 14.2 horsepower at 680 rpm, with a weight of 385 kilograms. These each drove a pair of propellers on the upper hull above the cars, which they were connected to via bevel gears and shafts. These turned at a maximum RPM of 1200, considerably faster than the engine, in order to follow one of the Count’s theories. He would later find large diameter propellers operated at lower RPMs to be more efficient. The propellers themselves were made of simple flat sheets of aluminum and had four blades with a diameter of 1.22 meters(Robinson 24, Eckener 191).

 

 

Golden Years Airliners 1911-1914

LZ 10 Schwaben-1911

Crews gather to maneuver Schwaben after it lands (Stampcity)

LZ 10 Schwaben was the first specially designed airliner and almost fully divorced from the LZ 3 derivative airships. It was shorter and carried less hydrogen than the initial, and very unsuccessful Deutschland, but was far more efficient. The framework was made of a strengthened aluminum alloy, and used the tried and tested triangular girders that Dürr developed for airship use. The hull was 140.2 long and 14 m in diameter, containing 17 rubberized cotton hydrogen cells. This would be the last Zeppelin airship to use them, as they constituted a fire hazard and were responsible for the loss of this airship.

The Maybach C-X was the major success of the firm, which would go on to produce a number of specially designed aircraft engines. (Smithsonian)

Schwaben was powered exclusively by three 6 cylinder inline Maybach C-X engines, these being developed specifically for airship use. Each engine provided up to 145 horsepower and weighed 652kg. These water cooled motors had a displacement of 20.5L, and had a bore and stroke of 160 mm x 170 mm. Overall, they measured 129.5 x 182.9 x 86.4cm (Smithsonian). The forward engine was coupled to a pair of two bladed hard aluminum propellers, with the rear two being coupled to a pair of four bladed propellers. The rear propellers were a pair of two bladed propellers affixed to one another on the same drive shaft. They could propel the airship to a trial speed of 76.6 km/h.

The airship was controlled from the forward car which contained one of the three engines. Controls were improved as all the control surfaces had been moved aft, with the rudders and elevators being installed in a box like configuration at the rear of the airship. Ballast bags were installed fore and aft.

As with all DELAG airships, it did not lack for amenities and comforts. The passengers were seated in a gallery amidships. This compartment was composed of an outer frame sheet aluminum with inner wood supports and decorative framing. The inner compartment was covered in wood paneling that consisted of high layer plywood covered in mahogany sheeting. Pillars and decorative elements were decorated with mother of pearl inlays and the floors were carpeted. Ahead of the gallery was a small space for the attendant and an ice box with an accompanying liquor cabinet. To the rear of the gallery was a lavatory with a latrine made from aluminum fittings to save weight. The entire compartment was affixed to the hull with reinforced aluminum girders and cables.

LZ 11 Viktoria Luise & LZ 13 Hansa- 1911&1912

Viktoria Luise drops a line to its ground crew (this day in aviation).

These two airships were built roughly to the same specifications though Hansa was the heavier of the two owing to some minor difference in construction. These were very similar to the Schwaben in their overall layout, though they differed markedly in that they used goldbeater skins in place of rubberized cotton for their hydrogen cells. This material was a finely woven cotton fabric laminated with chemically treated sheets of cow intestine. It proved to be both lighter and could not accumulate a dangerous static charge and was used on all subsequent airships (Chollet 6).

The two also featured a crude cruciform tail section, from which the elevators and rudders hung. These were smaller than those mounted on Schwaben, but were no less effective. These evidently reduced drag considerably, as despite being 7.90 meters longer than Schwaben, both airships made for a trial speed of approximately 80 kilometers an hour. This added length allowed for an expansion of the passenger compartment (Stahl 66).

LZ 17 Sachsen-1913

Sachsen amidst a crowd of onlookers (Zeppelin GMBH)

This airship was built much to the same standards as the previous two but it was built to a shorter length and wider diameter. When designing previous airships, or in enlarging existing models, the common technique was simply to add a lengthening section. It was initially believed that nearly all drag was created by the frontal cross section, with very little being induced by the surface area of the rest of the vessel. The aim with Sachsen was to increase the volume of its gas cells, and thus its cargo capacity, while also keeping drag to a minimum. It was quite successful, but it entered service only a year before DELAG was dissolved at the start of the Great War, and thus had the shortest passenger service of these early airliners.

LZ 120 Bodensee-1919

Swedish soldiers help secure the landed airship. (Picryl)

Bodensee was built with a number of new design features which had become commonplace during the war. Chief of these were its teardrop shape, which cut down on drag while retaining a large hydrogen capacity; and its cruciform tail section, which improved stability and maneuverability. Despite having roughly the same hydrogen capacity as the Sachsen, built years earlier, Bodensee boasted a much higher top speed and lifting capacity, all while being considerably shorter.

The hull of the Bodensee was constructed of 17 sided rings of various dimensions, the largest being 18.6 meters in diameter. The hull was made of a more modern duralumin which made it far more resilient, and likely contributed to the long service life of the airship. Along the underside of the hull was a catwalk which gave the crew access to the engines and command gondola. Above the catwalk were the ship’s 11 hydrogen cells. The entire airship, including the gondola, was skinned in a doped cotton fabric which gave excellent weatherproofing.

The gondola itself was divided into a forward command section and a rear passenger section. The command section featured modern controls which had been commonplace for some years, most notably an electric control panel for hydrogen release. Its passenger space could be divided into five compartments seating four, with one VIP cabin in the front who paid double fare. Six more seats could be, and often were, fitted if the partitions were removed and the space was consolidated. As with the previous airliners, the cabin was well furnished with a fine wood paneling over the structural elements and specially made aluminum and leather chairs for the passengers. The decor was fairly subdued compared to the more lavish furnishings of past DELAG airships. Aft of the passenger compartment was a buffet staffed with an attendant who prepared meals with an electric hotplate. The last gondola compartment contained the restroom. (Robinson 258 Rose 196). Flights typically lasted seven or eight hours on its typical Friedrichshafen-Berlin Route. Owing to the short nature of the flights, the airship was crewed by only a dozen or so men.

The Maybach Mb IVa was the engine that powered the R-Class and all succeeding models of German military airships during the Great War. Surplus motors were used aboard the Bodensee and Nordstern. (Smithsonian)

The airship was propelled by four Maybach Mb IVa engines which were high altitude motors and were mass produced during the Great War for the R-Class, and later “height climber” Zeppelins. Owing to the lack of superchargers, they instead used incredibly high compression ratios, which meant they could not be run at high throttle below 6000ft. Some examples approached 300hp at high altitudes, but in the case of the low altitude Bodensee, they could be expected to top out at 245 hp under normal conditions. These were water cooled 23.1L inline 6’s with a bore and stroke of 165 mm and 180 mm, and a weight of 417.8 kg (Smithsonian, Robinson 258). Two motors were mounted in their own individual cars on each side of the hull, with a rear, centerline car containing two motors, side by side, and were geared to the same propeller. These were geared to a wooden 5.2 meter propeller with a reverse gear that could be used slow and maneuver the airship as it came in to land. Each engine car had a skeletal aluminum frame that was fabric skinned. The engineers worked in the cars to adjust their output, with commands being telegraphed from the control room, and to maintain them throughout long flights. In most cases this amounted to supplying them with more oil. The engines could propel Bodensee up to 132km/h, making it the fastest airship thus built. They also made it considerably overpowered and the crew had to be wary of oversteering when the engines were running near their highest output. The ship was later lengthened to extend its range and help compensate for this issue.

LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin 1928

An internal schematic of Graf Zeppelin. (Zepplinweltfahrten)

Graf Zeppelin was the largest and most advanced airship to serve with DELAG, with most of its features being tested and tried aboard the ZR 3. Graf Zeppelin’s hull was built to the restrictions of its hangar in Friedrichshafen with the 236.6m long and 30.5m airship having the familiar teardrop shape of its predecessors. Its structure was conventional, though made use of improved duraluminium and had built up sections around the gondola and the struts supporting the engine cars. The hull included two catwalks, one along the bottom, to give access to the engines, crew quarters, and gondola; and a center catwalk which gave access to the gas cells and the exterior of the airship should repairs need to be made. There were 17 hydrogen cells with a volume of about 85,000 cubic meters set above the fuel gas cells, which contained some 26,000 cubic meters of blau gas. Depending on the configuration of the airship, the combined gas capacity of hydrogen and fuel was normally 105,000 cubic meters (Robinson , Eckener 207). The use of blau gas meant a lower lifting gas capacity, but it freed up several tons of weight by eliminating the use of gasoline, and meant the airship needed less water ballast to offset the burning of a denser fuel source. The lower ballast requirements also made the airship easier to fly over long distances, as it meant the crew needed to make only minor adjustments to the airship’s trim and ballast. A small amount of liquid fuel was carried to bring the airship out of its airport, as burning it lightened the ship and aided in climbing without sacrificing any ballast water. The entire airship was skinned in treated fabric, its waterproofing treatment now containing aluminum, which gave the airship its iconic metallic sheen.

Graf Zeppelin’s Gondola (Zeppelinweltfahrten)

The lower hull contained the amenities for the crew, including the bunks, which were spaced out along the lower corridor, their restrooms, and a small lounge space where they rested and took their meals. The gondola itself was divided among the forward control rooms, and rear passenger quarters. The forwardmost was the control room, followed by a navigation room, the radio room, and kitchen. Control of the airship was managed through similar, but improved means compared to the LZ 120. The elevator controls in particular were improved by the use of a boost motor to make the difficult and physically straining job of the elevator man easier. A fully automatic gyro for rudder control was also installed, but often went unused as it was felt its impulses were too heavy and clumsy, in comparison to hand control from an experienced helmsman. Landing was done without the use of either system but was aided by the use of bubble pointers geared to both controls which accurately displayed the inclination of the airship relative to the inputs of its controllers ( ONI Lt. Cmdr. Kenworthy 3). In practice, both systems were typically only used when controllers were changing course against the wind. Navigation aboard the ship was often done through dead reckoning and star sighting, though it was also capable of radio direction-finding as well. A powerful 3 million candlepower searchlight was mounted aft of the passenger section which enabled altitude checks and drift readings in the dead of night (ONI Fulton 3,4). These systems were powered by a pair of auxiliary power units which took their fuel from the Blaugas reserves.

Heinrich Kubis, worked at some of the most fashionable hotels in Europe before becoming the world’s first flight attendant on the Schwaben. Pictured here setting a table in the Graf Zeppelin during its later years. (Wikimedia)

The kitchen was well stocked and the cook and his assistant prepared meals through the use of electrical stoves. Food was served on the airline’s own signature dishes and cutlery. There were ten two-passenger cabins, a pair of washrooms, and a lounge area that could be rearranged for dining or leisure. The original decor evoked the luxury of Pullman railcars, though the traditional, and fairly dated, wallpaper was later replaced with a coat of white paint to give the airship a more nautical feel. Passengers were less than thrilled over the fairly confined nature of their quarters and the lounge, though the annoyance of not being able to smoke was the chief complaint. After the first several voyages, the airship began to stock a larger liquor cabinet, impromptu tours of the airship were given, and a gramophone, which often played Eckener’s own extensive collection of Beethoven and Mozart, was brought aboard. Smoking however, was never allowed and the lack of insulation required passengers wear coats in cold weather.

The heavy duty, dual fuel Maybach VL-2 (Smithsonian)

Graf Zeppelin was propelled by five Maybach VL-2 motors, these being multifuel 33.3L V-12s which could run off gasoline or Blau Gas. The VL-2 was a specialized engine designed to run for long periods and to be easy to repair in flight by airship engineers. Each engine produced up to 570 hp at 1,600 RPM and weighed 1,148 kg. They had a bore and stroke of 140 mm and 180 mm. These were water cooled engines, with their radiators being at the front of the engine car where a pair of shutters controlled air flow. They were all geared to propellers via planetary 2:1 reduction gears, and like Bodensee, were reversible. They were initially all geared to two bladed wooden propellers, though all but the lower gondola would be fitted with larger four bladed 3.4 meter propellers. The lower car retained the shorter propeller as it would have otherwise run into ground clearance issues. The engines also had the benefit of a silica absorber which reduced moisture exposure and allowed them to reclaim fresh water, which proved very useful as the airship frequently crossed oceans (LT. Cmdr. TGW 3). These engines overall proved very reliable for their day, though on occasion they would encounter minor breakdowns which required a brief stoppage of all engines to fix it. They could propel the airship as fast as 128km/h, though the airship typically traveled at 112km/h which was ideal for fuel economy.

A sketch by artist Theo Matejko of one of Graf Zeppelin’s crew berths, these were spaced out along the lower catwalk. The crew lounge was above and behind the gondola. (Wikimedia)

For any considerably long voyage, a crew numbering at least thirty was required, and for regular passenger service, some 40 crewmen were aboard. On a flight from Germany to Pernambuco, Brazil on October 9, 1932, Graf Zeppelin was commanded and flown by the following: 1 commanding officer, 3 watch officers, 3 junior officers, 1 chief engineer, 1 assistant engineer officer, 1 leading engine man, 15 engine men, 2 electricians, 3 riggers, 3 radio men, 3 rudder men, 3 elevator men, and 3 stewards, these being a flight attendant and the two cooks. The longest watches belonged to the watch officers, the radiomen and riggers, and the leading engineering officers who all had a watch of four hours. Every crewman had their own bunk by the time of the regular South America flights (ONI Lt. Cmdr. T.G.W 1,2)

Graf Zeppelin’s control room, prior to the installation of instruments. (Zeppelin GMBH)

Specification:

Illustrations:

LZ-1 was the first airship built by Zeppelin and the only one that wasn’t designed by Durr. It flew quite well during its test flights but failed to attract buyers, it did however bring Eckener aboard the airship project.
LZ 13 Hansa was named for the medieval Hanseatic league of Baltic merchants and entered service with DELAG in 1912. The airship would later be based in Potsdam.
Bodensee was the first airliner to run on a strictly maintained schedule, as apart from the pre-war service, its aim was purely transportation and not sight seeing. Its time serving with DELAG was short, though it spent many years in Italian service under the name Esperia.

 

Where Bodensee set the standard for reliable service, the Graf Zeppelin set every major milestone in international air travel. Often flown under the captaincy of Dr. Eckener himself, the airship flew to many far off destinations from Tokyo to Rio De Janeiro.

 

Gallery

Personalities

Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin was the foremost innovator of airship design for nearly 15 years. Stubborn, but generous, the Count remained unperturbed by setbacks that could have otherwise ended everything, and persevered to lead the world in airship piloting and development. He remained in nominal control of the company until around the start of the Great War, when his old-fashioned ways of managing the business caused friction within the new modern corporate structure of the company, with the Count subsequently entering semi-retirement. Pictured here wearing the Imperial Yacht club cap he took to wearing during flights. (Zeppelin GMBH)
Dr. Ludwig Dürr was the engineering genius behind nearly every airship the company built. Involved in redesigning the LZ 1, Dürr headed nearly every design team up to the Hindenburg and the second Graf Zeppelin. While many initially found the humorless engineer odd to work alongside, Dürr was accommodating to the newcomers to the company, who brought with them new techniques and theories in aeronautics. A homebody and an eccentric, Dürr rarely left Southern Germany, but his work circled the globe. (Zeppelin GMBH)
Entering the Zeppelin enterprise as a publicist, Dr. Hugo Eckener would become a pilot during DELAG’s first years, and would lead the firm following the end of the Great War. Politically savvy and ambitious, he led the firm through its darkest days and made DELAG a world renowned name once more. While Eckener never built his fleet of ocean striding airships, he would continuously break records and set nearly every major milestone when it came to modern passenger air travel. (Zeppelin GMBH)

Early Airships

Zeppelin and the Crown Prince, a patron of the Count. (Wikimedia)
Schwaben comes into land, making so little noise that the sheep used to keep the grass short are undisturbed. (SFO Museum)

 

A DELAG advertisement. (Smithsonian)
Viktoria Luise drawing a crowd. (Wikimedia)
Zeppelin’s airships had cemented themselves as a cultural fixture in Germany, here Schwaben is depicted in a game where players race to visit all of Europe’s largest cities. (Stadtmuseum Berlin)

 

Hansa’s passenger compartment without passengers or tables. (Wikimedia)
Prior to the Great War, DELAGs airships became a regular sight over many German cities.(Wikimedia)
Schwaben inside its hangar. SFO museum
Bodensee is managed by ground teams. (Pinterest)
Bodensee cruises over an airfield with a Zeppelin-Staaken bomber, built by a Zeppelin company subsidiary, and later used for advertising the Fletcher’s World magazine. (John Parker)
Bodensee’s hangar. (Wikimedia)
Bodensee comes in to land during its Swedish trip. (Wikimedia)

Graf Zeppelin

A ventral view of Graf Zeppelin. (Wikimedia)
Graf Zeppelin landed at the airship station at Mines Field, California. (SDASM)
The crew had access to much of the exterior of the airship via the ventilation shafts. On several occasions they enacted repairs on the protective fabric after harsh storms. (Life Magazine)
Graf Zeppelin is joined by a Junkers F.13 as it cruises over Berlin. (Bundesarchiv)

 

Despite its increased size, Graf Zeppelin could easily handle ground landings, just as all previous Zeppelin airliners made. (The Atlantic)

 

Graf Zeppelin over Berlin’s Tempelhof field. (Bundesarchiv)
While on the ground, LZ 127 was maneuvered about by ground teams. (Bundesarchiv)
The Chef and his assistant at work in Graf Zeppelin’s kitchen. (Bundesarchiv)

 

The dining service during one of the airship’s earlier voyages, the Pullman carriage inspired decor was later replaced with a nautical theme. (Atlas obscura)
The rudder control position aboard Graf Zeppelin. (Getty)
LZ 127 over the Sumida river. (Old tokyo)
Graf Zeppelin flies over Seville, Spain. It stopped several times at the city on its South American route. (SevillaInsolita)
One of Graf Zeppelin’s engine cars. This gives a good view of the canvas frame of the unit. (Zeppelin GMbH)
Graf Zeppelin cruises past Rio de Janeiro on one of its earlier South American excursions. (Wikimedia)
A view of the hydrogen cell free hull of Graf Zeppelin. A ballast bag hangs at the right. (Zeppelin GMbH)

Credits

  • Written by Henry H.
  • Edited by Ed Jackson & Henry H.
  • Illustrations by Ed Jackson

Sources

Primary:

Eckener, Hugo. My Zeppelins. Putnam & Co. Ltd, 1958.

Von Zeppelin, Ferdinand. Die Luftschiffahrt Und Die Modernen Luftfahrzeuge. Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1909.

Capt. Chollet, L. Balloon Fabrics made of Goldbeater’s Skin. NACA, 1922.

Curtis, Thomas E. The Zeppelin Airship. Smithsonian Report for 1900. 1901.

Dr. Dürr, Ludwig. The American Airship ZR-3. Zeitschrift des Vereines Deutscher Ingenieure. May 31, 1924, Vol. 68, No. 22. 1924.

Fulton, G., J. L. Kenworthy, James L. Fisher, and Edwin F. Cochrane. “LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin: Flight Reports by US Navy Officers,” October 1933, November 1934.

Mills, George H, Meister Von F.W. LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin correspondence relating to George H. Mill’s flights. 1934.

Ebner, Hans. The Present Status of Airship Construction, Especially of Airship Framing Construction. Zeitschrift fur Flugtechnik und Motorluftschifftfahrt Vol. 24, Nos. 11 and 12, June 6 and June 28, 1933 Verlag von R. Oldenbourg, Munchen und Berlin. 1933.

Stahl, Friedrich. Rigid Airships. NACA Technical Memorandum, 1920-1921.

Munk, Max M. The Drag of Zeppelin Airships. NACA. 1923.

Maybach VL-2, V-12 Engine. National Air and Space Museum. A19350052000.

Maybach AZ, In-line 6 Engine. National Air and Space Museum. A19791399000.

Maybach MB IVa, In-line 6 Engine. National Air and Space Museum. A19710882000.

Secondary:

Rose, Alexander. Empires of the Sky. Random House. 2020. (Ebook).

Maiersperger, Walter P. Design Aspects of Zeppelin Operations from Case Histories. NACA. 1975.

Robinson, Douglas H. Giants in the Sky History of the Rigid Airship. Billing and Sons Ltd., London. 1973.

Vissering, Henry. Zeppelin The Story of a Great Achievement. Chicago. 1922.

Parseval-Sigsfeld Drachenballon

German Empire Flag German Empire (1898)
Captive Observation Balloon

 

Austro-Hungarian Drachenballon in 1917 [US National Archives]
The Parseval-Sigsfeld Drachenballon was a German observation balloon designed to replace the older spherical-type balloons used for nearly a century. The balloon would be designed in such a way that it would face into the wind, and be much more stable over its predecessor, using design attributes similar to kites. The Drachenballon would be used in several wars over its lifetime, including widespread use during the First World War. Here, it saw service on almost all fronts, and would even be copied by the Allies. The type would eventually be replaced by the much more stable Caquot/Type Ae 800 observation balloons in 1916, but despite this would continue to see service until the 1920s.

The Spherical Balloon: An Outdated Design

Two German spherical balloons in 1896. These balloons could only be used in good wind conditions, any rough weather would jostle the balloon around. [Waffen Arsenal 149]
The idea of using balloons as a means of observation in war dates back nearly to their initial conception in the late 1700s. An aerial observer allowed an army excellent view of the battlefield below, offering a strategic advantage over your enemies. The first time a balloon would be used in war for this purpose would be at the Battle of Fleurus in 1794 during the French Revolution. Balloons would continue being used in several smaller roles in later wars, such as the American Civil War and the Boer Wars, but would never see widespread use in large numbers. Beginning in the late 1800s, balloon corps began forming in sufficient numbers, all using the same type of spherical tethered balloon design that had been used for nearly a century without design changes. While it allowed observers to be elevated to altitudes sufficient to observe the battle, it was not the most stable of designs. Spherical balloons, when encountering even a light wind, would be thrown about. This severely limited when the balloon could operate, as even slightly windy days could prevent the aircraft from operating efficiently. The swaying from the wind also made it difficult for the operators to observe the battle and would oftentimes make them very air sick. Despite this, the design was the only type of observation balloon used for nearly a century.


Two French Type H balloons with a Type E spherical balloon. [Imperial War Museum]

The Parseval-Sigsfeld Drachenballon

Diagram of a Drachenballon from Balloons and Airships, 1783-1973

The German Empire was no exception in this field and had their own balloon corps formed after seeing the success of observation balloons in the American Civil War. Like the rest of the world, they too would use the simple spherical balloon type until the 1890s. In the early 1890s, two German officials; Major August Von Parseval and Captain H Bartsch von Sigsfeld began working together to create a new type of balloon to address the problems associated with spherical balloons. The two had extensive experience with designing and using balloons for military applications. Attempts to remedy the old spherical balloon had been attempted in the past, but none of these would ever be successful. Parseval and Sigsfeld would use the knowledge gained from these past attempts to develop their own replacement. Testing of the new type began in 1893. Many different shapes, sizes and layouts were tested over several years, until in 1898, the final design for their observation balloon was completed. The new design was named the Drachenballon, literally ‘kite balloon,’ as it would glide with the wind, with the German spelling ‘ballon.’ The balloon was designed in such a way that it would face into the wind, instead of being blown around by it. Balloons designed in this way would from then on be called kite balloons. The Drachenballon would mostly serve as a captive balloon, or one that was connected to the ground via a cable. With the design proving to be a major improvement over the old spherical balloons, mass production soon commenced. Production of the type initially began at the August Ridinger plant in Augsburg, Germany. Here the balloons would be produced as well as the vehicles necessary to transport and support the balloons. The type quickly became the mainstay for the German Military for aerial observation duties, both by the German Army and the German Navy. For the Navy, Drachenballons would be carried aboard large warships and sent up for rangefinding and battle observation. Despite being superior to the spherical balloons, the two types were still used together in balloon companies until the early 1900s when the Drachenballon completely replaced the older spherical type.

Design

Two German Drachenballons in different colors. The closest is painted green while the background is tan. The tan balloon’s ballonet isn’t inflated yet. [Waffen Arsenal 149]
The Drachenballon was a captive observation balloon developed for the German Empire. The main body consisted of a large cylinder shape made out of rubberized fabric that was filled with hydrogen gas. Gas pressure and release was regulated by a valve in the nose of the balloon. It could do so automatically, or manually via rope. At the rear of the body was an internal air bag, or ballonet, that was filled with air via the wind to keep the balloon’s shape if the hydrogen gas bag was not fully filled yet. Underneath the ballonet was an air inlet that was fed directly by the wind. On the underside of the front of the balloon was its neck, where the hydrogen gas would be pumped into the gas bag while it was on the ground. Two valves placed on each side of the gas bag/ballonet could be opened to quickly release the gas/air and descend. On each side of the balloon’s body was a small stabilizing fin. Early examples of these were triangular in shape, but they became rectangular near the outbreak of World War I. At the back of the body was a steering bag that was sewn on. The steering bag was made of regular fabric and was designed to keep the balloon stable and facing into the wind. The steering bag was inflated by wind via a large intake at the bottom of the bag facing forward, and a smaller intake located on the bag itself. At the top of the steering bag was a safety valve that permitted excess air to escape. The steering bag was held together via rigging to the main body. Connected to the steering bag was the tail of the balloon, which was a long cable with up to 6 removable tail cups, resembling small parachutes which trailed behind the main balloon, that helped with stabilization. The balloon would face towards the wind at an angle of 30-40 degrees. Slightly below the equator of the balloon was the balloon girdle. This was made of rubber and served as the attachment point for all of the balloon’s rigging. Various ropes were used for the rigging, which kept the different parts of the balloon together. Three colors of rope were used to differentiate their specific sections; white, red and blue. Blue rope was rigging for the steering bag, white rope was for cable rigging and red ropes connected to the observer’s basket. It is unknown if rope colors were used throughout its service or if the copies used by the Allies also used colored ropes. The cable that connected the balloon to the ground and the ropes that connected the basket were different ropes and were not connected together. On the ground, the steel mooring line was connected to a pulley that prevented the balloon from moving and could lower or raise the balloon at will.

A balloon operator fires a signal gun in the basket of a German Drachenballon. [US National Archives]
The basket of the Drachenballon was made of willow and bamboo and was secured to the balloon by four ropes. These ropes were adjustable by the crew to prevent the basket from swinging around. Accommodations for the observer were located in the basket. A telephone could be placed in the basket and would have its cable connected to the ground via an internal wire that went through the mooring cable. Two pockets were located inside the basket to store equipment, as well as ten metal cases to protect valuable reports. Once a report was finished, it was put into a case and dropped from the balloon to the ground. Flags were put on the cases to help the ground crew find them more easily. Standard operating height for captive observation balloons were 500m, but if the weather was rough, the balloon would be raised to 300m instead. The larger Drachenballon variants created during the First World War would be able to achieve a maximum height of 2,000 meters. Inflation of the balloon would take 15 minutes, with ascension taking 10 minutes and descent taking 5 minutes. Equipment used by the observer included maps, notebooks, two signal flags (one red, one white), a barometer, a knife, two looking glasses of varying magnification, and a signal disk to show what commands could be done with the flags. Later on during the First World War, parachutes would also become standard onboard equipment. Additional equipment that could be carried included signal flares, a flare gun, or a camera. On Drachenballons used by the Navy or aboard ships, life preservers were standard issue. A single observer would remain in the basket during operations but up to 48 men made up the ground crew that would handle moving, inflating, deflating, and transporting the balloon and its associated equipment.

A German Drachenballon being fired upon by flak. [Imperial War Museum]
The Drachenballon would be used for observation of enemy troop positions and movements, and would report on the current situation of the battle. Gun sighting and fire correction were also reported during battle to adjust the accuracy of artillery used near the balloon. Aboard ships, the Drachenballon was used for rangefinding purposes. During the First World War, submarine spotting was an additional duty naval Drachenballons were used for.

Drachenballons of the German Army were standard tan or dark green in color. On the sides and on the underside was an Iron Cross emblem to identify its operator. Allied countries would not have these emblems on their balloons and their exact colors are unknown. Russian Drachenballons were known to be white.

The 1900s: The Drachenballon Goes To War

A German Drachenballon prepares to go up, 1915. [Rolf Kranz]
The Drachenballon would see its first operational use in wartime in 1904 during the Russo-Japanese war. Imperial Russia had acquired several Drachenballons from Germany around the outbreak of the war, and would use them in the conflict. The first battle Drachenballons would be used in would be the Battle of Port Arthur. Aside from land usage, the balloons were also used by the Russian Navy, one such Drachenballon was used aboard the Armored Cruiser Rossia for observational duties and for directing fire of the main guns. The balloons would be used through the war until the final battle at Mukden.

Drachenballon on the Eastern Front in 1916. [Waffen Arsenal 149]
In 1909, Sweden would purchase five Drachenballons from Germany to use for their military. The type would be named the Drakballong m/09, with three going to the Royal Swedish Army and two going to the Royal Swedish Navy. Two m/09s would be sent to the Swedish Balloon Corp stationed in Frosunda for training. The Swedish Royal Navy would purchase a barge from Britain and convert it into a balloon carrier. The ship would be designed to house and operate the two m/09s the navy operated and was named Ballongfartyget No 1. Sweden would continue to use the m/09 until 1926.

Also in 1909, Spain would use a Drachenballon they built from purchased plans during the Campaign of Millela.

In 1912, the Italians would use the Drachenballon during the Italian-Turkish War for observing Turkish positions. These were purchased from Germany. The Italian-Turkish War was a major stepping stone in regards to aviation, being the first use of combat aircraft in war, and would serve as a prelude to what was to come in only a few years. Italian Drachenballons would also be used during their involvement in the First Balkan War. Aside from Italy, Bulgaria would also use Drachenballons during this war.

Romanian operated Drachenballon. [Imperial War Museum]
In 1914, Europe would be plunged into the First World War, with most armies across Europe participating in combat. Germany would enter the war only days after its start, first declaring war on Russia on August 1st, then against France on the 3rd. Despite declaring war in August, the first balloon companies wouldn’t see action until October. On the fronts, the Drachenballons were used as observation balloons and rangefinding for artillery. Each balloon company would be its own division in the army it was attached to. By the end of 1915, over 80 Drachenballons were in service with the German Army. The majority of the balloons used at this point were still 600 m³ volume, but newer 800 m³ and 1000 m³ volume models had begun production. The increase in size was to improve overall stability, and to allow greater altitude to be achieved. The largest type would be 1200 m³ volume. Austria-Hungary would receive several Drachenballons from Germany for their own armies to use. These balloons would be used on the Italian Front and several would be lost to enemy fighters. The Austria-Hungarian Navy would also use Drachenballons aboard ships. German Drachenballons saw mass deployment during the Battle of the Verdun in February of 1916, directing the large number of artillery regiment on the German side. Due to their success at Verdun, more balloon divisions were formed.

An interesting German Drachenballon. This particular example appears to be two tone colored [Imperial War Musuem]
The shape of the Drachenballon became iconic in World War One, earning itself many nicknames. The most common was “sausage” in reference to its overall shape, and maybe its German origin. Many other nicknames were spawned from its overall shape, most of them phallic references. Overall, Allied countries would simply refer to them as kite balloons or shorten the name to just “Drachen”

Underside of an Drachenballon, the two side fins are clearly visible. [US National Archives]
During the Battle of Flers, the first battle to use tanks operationally, the Mark I tank D17 “Dinnaken” fired once upon a German Drachenballon as it charged Flers. The shot is noted as either closely missing or hitting the kite balloon, but not destroying it. In response, the balloon was likely lowered by the observers and ground crew to avoid being fired upon again. The diary of the tank reported that Gunner Reiffer claimed that the balloon was brought down manually and that Gunner Boult was the one to claim the hit. This was later claimed by Reiffer as himself shooting down the balloon and destroying it in a 1963 book. This incident could be cited as the first “kill” of a tank in combat, but the balloon itself was not destroyed, making this claim untrue.

At the outset of the war, most Allied countries would still be using spherical balloons. France in particular had large numbers of the type in service, and Russia would still have their Drachenballons they had purchased from Germany in the early 1900s. Italy would also continue to use their Drachenballons from the previous war once they entered the fray. Belgium would start the war off with a single 800 m³ Drachenballon they had purchased from Germany years before. In late 1914, France would copy the Belgian Drachenballoon’s design and would begin mass producing the type under the name Ballon Captif Type H. The French would also begin selling the Type H to other allied nations. In February of 1915, British officials would do a test flight of a French Type H and would soon after make a purchase of an unknown amount of these balloons for their empire. After this, they would produce their own copied versions of this craft. Britain would make heavy use of Drachenballons on several of their fronts in the Royal Army, and with the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy would have several specially designed ships created solely for the purpose of carrying kite balloons during fleet operations. The early ships of this type would use Drachenballons. Several examples of these ships include the HMS Manica, HMS Hector and HMS City of Oxford, all of which were designed to carry and operate the Drachenballon. These balloons were used to not only observe and direct guns, but as the threat of submarines became more prevalent, the balloon operators began looking for submarines as well. Minesweeping also became a common use for RNAS (Royal Naval Air Service) Drachenballons, where the balloon would be raised to detect incoming mines from the air. Several other nations would end up using the Drachenballon, but the details of their acquisition and use are lacking. Romania and Switzerland are two such examples.

Balloon Observer jumps from a Drachenballon via parachute. The tail and its cups are clearly visible. [US National Archives]
As the war went on, the use of combat airplanes increased. In particular, fighters began being produced in larger numbers. This posed a problem to the Drachenballon, as these large and stationary balloons became easy targets. Taking down a balloon was considered the same as shooting down an enemy plane, so the Drachenballon became a prime target for aviators. Many of the special weapons employed against airships were used against observation balloons, such as incendiary rounds designed to ignite the flammable hydrogen gas, or the fabric skin of the balloon. It therefore became imperative that the balloons be protected and defensive measures be developed. German Drachenballons began to be defended by a number of anti-aircraft guns and patrolling fighters, to protect the observers as they did their duty. Another improvement made was enhancing the performance of the electric winches which lowered the balloons, allowing the balloon to be brought closer to its defensive guns more quickly. These countermeasures made ‘balloon busting’ a much more hazardous job than before, as pilots had to get in close to the balloon to avoid encountering enemy defenses, as defenders would likely stop shooting at close range to avoid friendly fire on their balloons. Despite these improvements to defenses, balloon busting was still a job many pilots had to undertake, and for some pilots this was their only duty. A handful of pilots would be given the title of ace on destroying observation balloons alone. Interestingly, Drachenballon observers were the first on all sides to use parachutes in war, starting with Germany in 1915.

A US-operated Drachenballon at Fort Omaha, Nebraska in 1919. [US National Archives]
America at some point would acquire or build their own versions of Drachenballons, however they also had their own kite balloon design. Ralph H. Upson, a balloon pioneer and engineer at Goodyear, designed his own improved kite balloon based on the Drachenballon. It would use his own stabilizing fin design, as well as remove the steering bag altogether, instead replacing it with an aerodynamic keel shaped bag that he thought would better flow with the wind. Two versions of this balloon exist, with the first essentially being a slightly modified Drachenballon. Despite this original design in use, America still operated a number of the standard Drachenballon copies. Two were stationed at the Fort Omaha Balloon school for training purposes. The first was nicknamed “Old Dutch” and its design differs from the standard appearance with it having an apparently different method of construction, and the side wings being much thicker. The second one stationed at Fort Omaha resembles the standard design of the Drachenballon. No evidence has been found that America’s Drachenballons were used in the First World War. By the time of their entry in the war, more advanced types had already been fielded, and the remaining Drachenballons would be used for training of the various balloon corps. Exactly how many Drachenballons were either built or used by the USA is unknown, as details are lacking.

The End of an Era: The Caquot and Type Ae 800

Type AE 800 in action. This was a copy of the French Caquot Type M balloon and would replace the Drachenballon in late 1916. [US National Archives]
Despite its success replacing the spherical balloon, the Drachenballon didn’t fix all of the issues of its predecessor. Although it was designed to face the wind, it was found that at higher altitudes, winds would still move the balloon around to an extent that would limit the maximum effective altitude. No attempts from the Germans would be made to address this problem, instead it would be the French who would come up with an improvement to the design. In 1916, a French officer by the name of Albert Caquot began working on an intended replacement. Using the Drachenballon as a base, Caquot would come up with a new, much more stable design, the Ballon Type L. The Type L resembled the Drachenballon but had a much bigger steering bag that wrapped all the way around the rear of the aircraft in a single big fin. The type was further improved on with the Caquot Ballon Type M. The Type M balloon would have a much rounder shape than the Drachenballon. Instead of a single large fin at the bottom and two smaller stabilizer fins on each side, Caquot’s balloon would instead have 3 large, air-inflated fins placed 120 degrees apart from each other at the rear of the balloon. Caquot’s new balloon design was found to be completely superior to the Drachenballon in terms of stability. The placement of the fins helped keep the balloon steady in high winds, allowing the type to be much more stable and able to fly much higher. In due time, Caquot balloons entered mass production and were sent to the frontlines, replacing both the spherical balloons still in service and the Drachenballons. Soon, Britain and other Allied countries like Romania, began operating Caquot balloons as well. America would start their entrance to the war using Goodyear-built Caquots for their observation role.

In the later months of 1916, the German Army would capture a British Type M balloon. Coming loose due to a broken mooring cable, the balloon managed to drift behind German lines where it was captured. The German Army was quick to study the new design, and like the Allies, found it a much more stable design over the Drachen. The Germans would copy the Caquot design under the name Type Ae 800 (English Type, 800m3 volume) and would begin mass producing the type to replace their older Drachenballons. The Type Ae 800 became the standard observation balloon from this point forward for the German Army, and the Drachenballon would be slowly retired from service. During the Second World War, Germany would use a derivative design of the Type Ae 800 in the early stages of the war, as well as on the Eastern Front against the USSR. No further work on the Drachenballon was done by Germany after this point.

The Aftermath: Postwar Use-1920s

Basket of an Austro-Hungarian Drachenballon. [US National Archives]
A total of 1,870 German balloons of both types were delivered to the front by the end of the war. With the signing of the armistice in 1918, all German observation balloons were ordered to be destroyed by the Allies under the Treaty of Versailles.With the primary user of the aircraft no longer able to operate it, and it already being replaced by a new type, one would think the story of the Drachenballon would end with the First World War. However, it would continue to be used in several countries for nearly a decade.

America would continue to operate their Drachenballons until at least 1919. By this point they had already been widely replaced years prior by the Caquot types. Because of this they were only used for training. Interestingly, at the Fort Omaha Balloon School, every type of balloon then in service was used, Drachenballons, Caquot, Goodyear/Upson, the Italian Avorio-Prassone, and even spherical balloons were still being operated until its closure in 1919.

In 1919, Poland would acquire a Drachenballon from a former German facility in Winiary, Poland. This Drachenballon would be used for training purposes for only a few months before being given to a museum in 1920.

Two USSR operated balloons in Red Square during a celebration, 1920. The foreground balloon appears to be a Caquot-type with its upper fins deflated while the background is a Drachenballon. [Waffen Arsenal 161]
After the fall of Imperial Russia and the rise of the USSR in 1922, the Drachenballons operated by the former Empire would end up in the hands of the Soviets. These Drachenballons were used until at least 1925, and would be seen in parades and other exercises. The USSR would use the Drachenballon for a very interesting purpose. On several of their armored trains, a Drachenballon would be deployed from the train and would direct its artillery from above. These were eventually phased out of service.

Conclusion

British Army operated Drachenballon. [Imperial War Museum]
Parseval and Sigfeld’s Drachenballon was an important evolutionary step in the design of the observation balloon, but it wasn’t the last. Although slightly mending the issue it was designed to solve, it would never completely overcome its stability problems, and was eventually replaced by a more advanced successor. Despite this, it served a crucial role in militaries across the world for the purpose of observation and artillery rangefinding for several decades, on land and sea.

After creating the balloon back in 1898, the two creators August Von Parseval and H Bartsch von Sigsfeld would continue to work with each other designing lighter-than-air aircraft. The two began working on an airship together until von Sigsfeld’s death in 1902 due to a ballooning accident involving a Drachenballon. Parseval would continue creating and building airships, some would rival even the larger Zeppelin airships in size, but they did not capture the same level of success.

A Swiss-operated Drachenballon before liftoff around the time of the First World War [Swiss Federal Archives]
Italian Drachenballon being prepared for flight. [Imperial War Museum]
British Royal Navy Drachenballon. These would serve on designated balloon ships for observation duties. [Imperial War Museum]
A RNAS Drachenballon aboard the battleship HMS Benbow, 1916. [Wiki]
British Army operated Drachenballon. [Imperial War Museum]
To protect the balloon from weather, small sheds would be constructed in the field for cover. [Waffen Arsenal 149]

Variants

  • Parseval-Sigsfeld Drachenballon – The standard Parseval-Sigsfeld Drachenballon came in several volumes/sizes, but all retained the same shape and overall design.
  • Copied Drachenballon – The Drachenballon was copied by several countries without license. The designs of these copies may be consistent with the German design but some of these appear with details differing from the German version. The American “Old Dutch” Balloon appears to be one such example.
  • Ballon Captif Type H – French-built Drachenballons were given this designation.
  • Drakballong m/09 – Name given to five Drachenballons bought by Sweden.

Operators

  • German Empire – The Drachenballon was created by and widely used by the German Empire as a replacement for the spherical type. These would be produced through the 1890s until 1916 when the type would be replaced by the Type Ae 800 balloon.
  • Austro-Hungarian Empire – Austria-Hungary would use the Drachenballon as their main observation balloon during the First World War, being given to them by Germany.
  • British Empire – The United Kingdom would copy the Drachenballon for their own use. The type would be used by the British Royal Army and the British Royal Navy during the First World War. Several of the Empire’s Dominions would use the balloon as well, such as Canada.
  • France – France would begin copying the design in 1914 as the Ballon Captif Type H and would be used until 1916 in the First World War. These were tested to find out what could be improved on the design, which led to the creation of the Caquot balloons.
  • United States of America – The USA would operate Drachenballons until at least 1919. Several would be used during the Mexican Border War. The Drachenballon would serve as the basis of the Upson kite balloon.
  • Belgium – Belgium would operate a number of Drachenballons for observation use against the Germans in the First World War. They would purchase one years prior from Germany.
  • Romania – Romania would operate a number of Drachenballons during the Romanian campaign of the First World War.
  • Italy – Italy would use the Drachenballon during the Italian-Turkish War, First Balkan War and First World War.
  • Russian Empire – Imperial Russia would operate the Drachenballon by the White Army and the Imperial Navy. These would see combat operations during the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War.
  • Soviet Union – After the October Revolution, the USSR would use the Drachenballons used by the former Russian Empire for their own balloon corps. These would be used until at least 1925 when they were replaced by more advanced models.
  • Sweden –Sweden would purchase five Drachenballons from Germany in the early 1900s. These were given the designation of Drakballong m/09. Three would go to the Swedish Royal Army and two would go to the Swedish Royal Navy.
  • Poland – Poland would capture a single Drachenballon in 1919 and would use it for training purposes until 1920.
  • Spain –Spain would license build a single Drachenballon. It was used during the Campaign of Millelan.
  • Bulgaria – Bulgaria would operate the Drachenballon during the First Balkan War.
  • Switzerland – Switzerland operated an unknown amount of Drachenballons around the time of the First World War

Due to it being copied, several other countries could have ended up building their own versions or received some from the Allies or Germans.

Parseval-Sigsfeld Drachenballon Specifications

Diameter 22.4 ft / 6.8 m (800 m³ type)
Length 89.6 ft / 27.3 m (800 m³ type)
Height 65 ft / 19.8 m (800 m³ type)
Volumes 21188.8 ft³ (600 m³)

26486 ft³ (750 m³)

28251.7 ft³ (800 m³)

35314.7 ft³ (1,000 m³)

42377.6 ft³ (1,200 m³)

Gas Type Hydrogen
Material Rubber-infused and non-infused cotton fabric
Standard Service Ceiling 1640 ft / 500 m (Clear Weather)

984 ft / 300 m (Rough Weather)

Maximum Service Ceiling 6561.7 ft / 2000 m
Crew 1 Observer

48 Ground crew

Equipment
  • 2x Signal flags
  • 1x Telephone
  • 1x Notebook
  • Maps
  • 2x Magnifying lens
  • 10x Metal cases
  • 1x Barometer
  • 1x Signal Disk
  • Parachutes (During WWI)
  • Life Preservers (Naval use)
  • Signal flares(Optional)
  • Camera (Optional)

Gallery

Illustrations by Ed Jackson

A German Drachenballon, note the rope colors
Another example of German Drachenballon with a lighter colored balloon material

Credits

  • Written by Medicman11
  • Edited by Stan L. & Henry H.
  • Illustrations by Ed Jackson

Sources

 

DFW Floh

German Empire FlagGerman Empire (1915)
Fighter – 1 Built

The strange looking DFW T28 Floh. [DFW Aircraft of WWI]
The DFW T28 Floh (Flea) was an early biplane fighter designed for use by the German Empire. To get an edge over then current monoplane fighters, the T28 was designed with aerodynamics and speed in mind. The result was an aircraft that looked straight out of a cartoon. Despite its appearance, the aircraft performed well during testing, maxing out at 112mph (180 km/h). Although its speed was good, its large body and the placement of the wings reduced visibility for the pilot, making landings with the craft difficult. This was enough for officials to decline production of the type despite its respectable top speed.

History

In times of emergent technology, it goes without saying that many new endeavors are tested out. Many of these may seem strange to us now, but something odd looking to us could have been revolutionary for the time. This was no exception for aircraft in the First World War. Many different ideas were tested in the name of advancing aerodynamics. Some of these would end in blunders while others would be influential to aircraft design. A curious case of attempted aircraft advancement was the DFW T28, a plane that pushed records for speed, while looking downright comedic.

A frontal view of the Floh during taxxiing, the pilot had to stand up to even see while doing this. DFW C.Is are visible in the background. [DFW Aircraft of WWI]
The Deutsche Flugzeugwerke (DFW) was a German aircraft manufacturer formed in 1910 that license-built French aircraft before the war. During the early years of the First World War, they would design and produce a number of two-seater aircraft types, both armed (C-Type) and unarmed (B-Type). No work was done on a fighter aircraft by DFW at the beginning of the war. Fighter aircraft weren’t as common by this point in the war as they would soon be known, with most types in production being German Eindecker (monoplane) designs like the Fokker E.I. Very few actual biplane fighters (D-Type) had been developed at this time, aside from a prototype or two. Despite this, the Eindecker showed its effectiveness and led to a period of time in 1915 where the air was dominated by the Germans, known as the “Fokker Scourge” to the allies.

Herman Dorner with his Floh. [DFW Aircraft of WWI]
In mid 1915, a new head engineer, Dipl-Ing (Engineer) Hermann Dorner was appointed at DFW. Dorner was a German early aviation pioneer in the 1900s and 1910s, building gliders and powered aircraft alike. He had formed his own aircraft company in 1910, but due to poor business decisions on Dorner’s end, the company would be liquidated in 1913. He would go on to work as a teacher at the Adlershof flight school, as well as working for the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt (German Research Institute for Aviation) before finally being employed by DFW during the war. After joining DFW, Dorner began working on a new fighter aircraft project. Dorner took issue with the Eindeckers in service at the time, particularly relating to their speed. Despite their effectiveness, all of the Fokker Eindeckers built (E.I-E.IV), could not attain a speed faster than around 87mph (km/h). With newer Allied machines on the horizon, this speed wouldn’t give the Eindeckers an edge forever and a replacement was needed.

Dorner had speed in mind with his fighter design. His vision had the aircraft streamlined for aerodynamic flow. Overall the aircraft would be small and light in construction to reduce weight. Work began on a prototype of Dorner’s fighter in late 1915 at DFW’s facility in Lubeck-Travemunde. This facility primarily served as a flight school for DFW, and wasn’t their main factory. The construction of the aircraft, now known as the DFW T28 Floh, was supervised by Theo Rockenfeller at the plant. The final T28 looked like it flew straight out of a cartoon, possessing a very tall fuselage with small wings. This proportional difference made the aircraft appear more like a caricature than a combat aircraft of the time period. Despite its design, the aircraft was still designed for speed, and would have a 100hp (74.5kW) Mercedes D I engine, which was completely enclosed in the fuselage. Armament would be a single machine gun mounted in front of the pilot. The T28 would take flight shortly after its construction, but the exact date is unknown. The design choices of the aircraft to make it fly faster worked well, as it was able to achieve a top speed of 112 mph (180 km/h), which was extremely impressive for the time period. However, its design wasn’t perfect and the choices made to improve speed negatively affected other aspects of the aircraft, in particular, its landing characteristics. The tall profile of the craft, the location of the upper wing, and the placement of the pilot’s position, gave him a superb view above the plane but was severely restricted frontally and below. The prototype Floh would be damaged due to this reason upon landing on its first flight, due to the pilot misjudging his height, as well as having a fast landing speed. This issue also affected takeoff, as the high placement of the pilot required him to stand up during taxiing to see. The design was reworked a few times after its first flight, mainly with improving the tail surfaces. Despite achieving the speed Dorner wanted, the military officials showed little interest in the design, with some sources citing that it was just too fast for the military. Further work on the aircraft was stopped after this. Exactly what happened to the aircraft after being declined for production is unknown, whether it was simply scrapped or if it was continually used at DFW’s facilities for training and testing are possible theories. Many prototype German aircraft of the First World War would go on to serve as trainers for their various companies once production declined. The facility the T28 was built served as a flight training school for DFW after all.

Design

Rear view of the aircraft. [DFW Aircraft of WWI]
The DFW T28 Floh was a biplane fighter designed in 1915 to supersede then in use Eindecker fighters. It had a length of 14ft 9in (4.3 m), a wingspan of 20ft 4in (6.2 m) and a height of 7ft 6in (2.3 m). The aircraft had a tall, flat sided fuselage constructed of wood. The fuselage would be sleek and rounded in design to reduce drag. Buried in the fuselage was a 100hp (74.5kW) Mercedes D.I engine. The aircraft had a large wooden propeller, with a relatively small landing gear mounted far forward with two wheels almost at the nose of, accompanied by a landing skid at the end of the tail. The short wings were fabric covered with wooden ribs. The wings themselves were single bay, meaning only one pair of support struts between the upper and lower wing. The upper wings were placed in a way that restricted the pilot’s vision downward and forward. Behind the wings and engine in the fuselage sat the pilot. Two cutouts were made into the left side of the fuselage for the pilot to climb up into the cockpit. Toward the rear of the fuselage the tail would taper. At the end were the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. The vertical stabilizer itself acted as the rudder and was completely movable. The elevators were originally the same width as the horizontal stabilizers but these were modified later into testing to be wider to increase performance.

For armament, a single synchronized machine gun was fitted in front of the pilot.

A side view of the Floh, its strange proportions are clearly evident. [DFW Aircraft of WWI]

Conclusion

The T28 Floh was a very interesting concept for a fast fighter at a time where biplanes weren’t yet used in such a role in German service. Its design choices might seem strange now, but they meshed together to create a truly fast aircraft of the time. The design however, was troubled by problems that would see it fail to enter widespread production, and eventually more conventional biplane fighter designs would enter service less than a year after the Floh was built. DFW would eventually produce several conventional biplane fighter prototypes later on in the war in 1917 and 1918, but these all performed very poorly. Aside from having structural problems and a poor field of view, the last of these, the D.II, was in fact slower than the Floh.

Dorner would continue working for DFW designing aircraft. His next project after the Floh would be the much more successful DFW R.I Reisenflugzeug (Giant Aircraft), which would first fly in 1916. Dorner, however, wouldn’t stay with the company to see the completion of this project and its success, as he would move to Hannover Waggonfabrik AG in October of 1916 as their chief designer. Here he would design several successful two-seater aircraft, the CL.I through CL.IV, which saw widespread use during the war. He would survive the war and continue working on civil air projects.

Interestingly, this wouldn’t be the only type of aircraft to share this strange design idea during the war. The Austro-Hungarian Lohner Type AA fighter of 1916 also had similar proportions, with a very tall body and small wings to increase speed. This aircraft would have poor flight performance and would be heavily reworked to resemble the more standard biplanes then entering service.

Variants

  • DFW T28 Floh – The T28 was a small fighter designed to outperform Eindecker aircraft in terms of speed. 1 was built and tested.

Operators

  • German Empire – The T28 Floh was designed for use by the German Empire but wasn’t adopted for service.

DFW T28 Floh Specifications

Wingspan 20 ft 4 in / 6.2 m
Length 14 ft 9 in / 4.3 m
Height 7 ft 6 in / 2.3 m
Wing Area 162 ft² / 15 m²
Engine 1x 100 hp (74.5 kW ) Mercedes D.I engine
Propeller 1x 2-blade wooden propeller
Weights
Empty 926 lb / 420 kg
Loaded 1,433 lb / 650 kg
Maximum Speed 112 mph / 180 kmh
Crew 1 pilot
Armament
  • 1x Machine Gun

Gallery

The DFW Flea – Illustration by Carpaticus

Credits

  • Written by Medicman11
  • Edited by  Ed J. and Henry H.
  • Illustrations by Carpaticus

Sources

  • Green, W. & Swanborough, G. (2002). The complete book of fighters : an illustrated encyclopedia of every fighter aircraft built and flown. London: Salamander.
  • Herris, J. (2017). DFW Aircraft of WWI : a centennial perspective on Great War Airplanes. Charleston, SC: Aeronaut Books.

 

Linke Hofmann R.8/15

Linke-Hofmann R.I

German Empire Flag German Empire (1917)
Heavy Bomber Prototype- 4 Built

Linke-Hoffman R.I 40/16 side view. [The German Giants]
The Linke-Hofmann R.I was an experimental heavy bomber developed by the German Empire in 1917. The R.I would be unique, as one of the first prototypes to be constructed mostly out of a translucent material known as cellon, with the idea that it aircraft would be harder to spot. Unfortunately for the designers, cellon is highly reflective and ended up making the craft a much more noticeable target. After the failure with cellon, more work continued on the prototypes, now of normal fabric skinned construction. Due to poor performance caused by several design choices, the type was not mass produced and was subsequently cancelled.

History

A drawing of the R.I done by Linke-Hoffman. Notice the 3 gun positions. [German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers Volume II]
During times of war, it is not too uncommon for companies, factories and other industrial firms to be drawn into the war effort and end up producing materials that are as far away from their specialty as possible. Sometimes, this can end in a surprise success or a total blunder. This was no exception in the first World War for the German Empire. The concept of the military airplane had seen its first successes early in the war,and the need for aircraft was on the rise, but a major problem came in the fact that there were few dedicated airplane companies in Germany at the time. Thus, the Empire would call upon many of its industrial manufacturers to begin designing and producing aircraft, even if they were not familiar with working in that field. Linke-Hofmannn would be one such company.

3-Way drawing of both versions of the R.I [The German Giants]
Linke-Hofmann, sometimes misspelled Linke-Hoffman, was founded in 1912 and was a manufacturer of railroad components, mainly locomotives and rolling stock. In early 1916, the company would enter the field of aviation by using their factories for aircraft repairs and for license built construction of aircraft. Some aircraft types they built under license were the Roland C.IIa, Albatros C.III, Albatros C.X and the Albatros B.IIa. At the same time, Linke-Hofmann was also awarded a contract to produce their own aircraft. The first of their home built aircraft would be an R-Plane type or Riesenflugzeug (giant aircraft), which was the designation given to the largest multi-engine bomber aircraft of the Empire. Linke-Hofmann’s R.I design would be a strange looking machine. Its fuselage was short and tear-drop shaped to streamline the design . Each pair of wings would be mounted extremely high and low on the fuselage in an attempt to increase lift. Four internal engines would be connected to four propellers, two in pusher configuration and two in puller configuration. Most interestingly, a majority of the tail of the aircraft would be made out of a material called Cellon. Cellon (Cellulose Acetate) is a translucent, plant-based material similar to film that was tested on several German aircraft in WWI, swapping out the normal fabric. The idea behind having the airframe covered in such material was that it was thought to make the aircraft harder to see. In addition to the Cellon, the R.I also had a very large cockpit with a number of windows to give much better visibility. Many of these design choices were made as it was thought they would make the design perform better in the long run, but they would ultimately lead to its downfall.

The R.I 8/15 under construction. The Cellon is clearly visible [German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers Volume II]
The Cellon tail of 8/15 [German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers Volume II]

The completed R.I 8/15

Work began on the first R.I in the later months of 1916 under Chief Engineer Paul Stumpf, who previously worked for the AEG aircraft works. The first R.I was completed in early January of 1917 and was named the R.I 8/15. Testing of the aircraft began, but its first flight was delayed due to the unconventional steel tires coming apart during taxiing attempts. Improved versions of the tires were built that were much more stable than the first. Shortly after, the R.I 8/15 would fly for the first time from the Hundsfeld Airfield near Breslau, but the exact date is unknown. Early test flights showed the design was flawed and as time went on, performance began to suffer, although the exact reason was not known. Noticeably, the wings seemed to be the root cause of the lag in performance. The aircraft’s controls would occasionally become heavy and unresponsive, resulting in a partial loss of control. To amend this to some degree, several additional struts were added to the main wings, but this would not save the aircraft from disaster. On May 10th 1917, during its 6th test flight, two of the wings on the R.I 8/15 would collapse mid-flight and the aircraft would slam into the ground at full speed. Remarkably, all of the crew of the aircraft would survive, but the airframe itself would be destroyed in a blaze of fire caused by the crash. Unfortunately, 1-2 ground crew would die from the flames while trying to put them out.

The destruction of the 8/15 would force Linke-Hofmann to look into designing an improved model. At this time, many of the design choices Linke-Hofmann made with the aircraft would show how ineffective and even detrimental they were. The wings themselves were the root cause of the crash, as they were not stable nor very well supported. The Cellon material, which was thought to make the aircraft invisible, actually ended up doing the exact opposite, as the material was highly reflective, especially while the aircraft was airborne. Cellon itself also was not the most stable material to make most of the tail section of the aircraft out of, as the material itself could easily bend and warp during rough weather. Even when the material worked as needed, it aged to a yellow color that would remove the translucency. Even before the aircraft took flight, Linke-Hofmann would be criticized for making an aircraft mostly out of the little tested material. In order to amend these issues, the Idflieg ,,the Imperial organization that handled aircraft development, ordered several improved models to continue the development of the type, as the 8/15 had crashed before most of the evaluation had completed. Linke-Hofmann would then begin construction on the improved models, serial numbers 40/16 through 42/16. These improved variants on the R.I attempted to fix many of the issues that plagued the 8/15. The wing structure was redesigned to be significantly more stable, with additional struts forming an overall better design. Most of the Cellon in the aircraft had been replaced with standard fabric, with only a few small patches of the tail containing it, likely to serve as observation windows. The landing gear was also heavily improved, something the Linke-Hofmann Engineers were quite proud of. Lastly, the new airframe was also built to accommodate three positions for machine gunners. These small improvements mended these few issues, but the aircraft’s design was still riddled with flaws.

40/16 in flight. [German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers Volume II]
Details regarding the history of the improved variants are, unfortunately, not well known. It is unknown exactly when the R.I 40/16 first flew or when it was even built, but the handling of the aircraft had been significantly improved upon over the 8/15. Maneuverability was especially stated to be superb compared to the older model, but its general performance was still considered to be unsatisfactory. Landing the aircraft was stated to be terrible due to the high location of the pilot and the slow landing speed.

The crashed 40/16 after a taxiing accident. [German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers Volume II]
During one landing attempt while testing the 40/16, the test pilot misjudged how close he was from the landing strip due to the height of the aircraft and damaged the landing gear. Due to the teardrop shape of the aircraft, the entire thing went nose down into the ground, crushing the entire cockpit section. It is unknown if anyone was killed or injured during the crash, but no attempt was made to repair the aircraft afterwards and it was likely scrapped. Details on the 41/16 and 42/16 are even more lacking. Some sources claim they were never completed, while other sources state they were complete and ready for inspection before the program concluded. 41/16, in particular, has virtually no information or photos of the aircraft, but two photos exist of a finished 42/16 sitting outside the Linke-Hofmann factory in Breslau.

Design

A direct frontal view of 40/16. The unique engine-propeller arrangement can be seen clearly, as well as the tall profile of the aircraft. [German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers Volume II]
Pilot’s position of the R.I [German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers Volume II]
The Linke-Hofmann R.I was a four engined R-Type aircraft with a large teardrop-shaped fuselage covered in fabric. The fuselage was designed in such a “whale” configuration to contain its engines and reduce drag, but this was only ever tested on smaller aircraft and likely detrimentally affected the R.I. The front of the aircraft was divided into three different floors. The first floor contained the pilot’s position and the wireless station for communication. This floor had extensive glasswork to provide a good view around the front of the aircraft. The large amount of glass used in the cockpit only helped during clear weather as, during rain or if illuminated by a searchlight, it would cause visibility to suffer from light reflection and condensation.

Engine Room containing the four Mercedes D.IVa engines

The second floor contained the four Mercedes D.IVa engines. The third and lowest level contained the bombardier’s station and four internal fuel tanks. The tail of the R.I differed between the two variants. On the earlier 8/15, the tail was composed mostly of Cellon, while on the later 40/16, it was covered in fabric. The tail of the aircraft had a biplane horizontal stabilizer and three vertical fins for vertical stabilizers. The two additional fins vertically and the upper wing of the horizontal stabilizers were used as control surfaces on top of the conventional placement of said control surfaces. The wings of the aircraft were placed high and low on the aircraft, with the fuselage height directly separating each wing. Only the upper wings had ailerons fitted. The wings on the 8/15 were actually the lightest of any R-Plane built, which was a likely factor in its crash. The 40/16 had improved and more stabilized wings compared to its predecessor. The aircraft originally was planned to have four propellers, two in tractor and two in puller configuration but this design aspect doesn’t appear to have ever left the drawing board. Instead, only two were used in tractor layout. The engines powered the propellers in a very unique way. Each side of the aircraft had one propeller, which was connected to a pair of engines via outrigger frames and powered through a drive shaft connected to a bevel gear. Each pair of engines powered one side. This was done so that, in the event one of the engines was disabled through either malfunction or combat, the propellers would still have power going to them. A disabled propeller would begin windmilling, or rotating without power, and cause significant drag. On larger aircraft, this would seriously alter performance and cause the aircraft to lose speed and airflow due to drag. This complex system was put into place to prevent this from happening.

R.I 40/16 outside of the Linke-Hofmann factory. [The German Giants]
No armament was carried aboard the R.I, but several proposals were made. Three machine-guns of unknown type and caliber were to be located at three positions around the aircraft. Two were located on the tallest point of the body, with one facing forward and one facing backward to cover all angles. The third gun position was located in the middle of the aircraft, with two open windows on each side to provide maximum firing range to each side. Given it was an R-Plane, the R.I would have used bombs had it entered mass production, but it’s loadout was never addressed, since the type was considered a failure.

Conclusion

The only two images of the Linke-Hoffman R.I 42/16 near the Linke-Hoffman factory [The German Giants]
With the destruction of two aircraft and the type severely underperforming to expectations, the Idflieg lost their faith in Linke-Hofmann’s R.I program and it was promptly cancelled before January 1918. The 41/16 and 42/16 were most likely scrapped before the end of the war. The type was riddled with flaws from the beginning due to the strange decisions made by Linke-Hofmann in designing their first aircraft. Despite their failure at the start of their aircraft manufacturing career, Linke-Hofmann would use the experience learned from the R.I to create an improved and much more traditional looking R-Plane aircraft, the R.II.

Variants

  • Linke Hofmann R.I 8/15 – First version of the R.I. This version’s tail and rear fuselage were constructed of the transparent material Cellon.
  • Linke Hofmann R.I 40/16 – Improved version of the R.I 8/15. This type had many slight modifications, such as a better wing structure, a more stable landing gear, and was no longer constructed of Cellon. 3 of this type were built.

Operators

  • German Empire – The Linke-Hofmann R.I was an R-type aircraft meant to be used in the heavy bomber role for the German Empire. However, due to poor performance, the type was never mass produced or sent into service.

Linke-Hofmann R.I 40/16 Specifications

Wingspan 108 ft 11 in / 33.2 m
Upper Chord 16 ft 5 in / 5 m
Lower Chord 15 ft 5 in / 4.7 m
Length 51 ft 2 in / 15.6  m
Height 22 ft / 6.7 m
Wing Area 2851 ft² / 265 m²
Engine 4x 260 hp ( 193.9 kW ) Mercedes D.IVa engines
Weights
Empty 17,640 lb / 8,000 kg
Loaded 24,969 lb / 11,200 kg
Climb Rate
Time to 9,840 ft / 3,000 m 2 Hrs
Maximum Speed 81.8 mph / 130 km/h 
Crew 4-5 crewmen
Armament
  • 3x planned machine guns of unknown type.

 

Gallery

Illustrations by Ed Jackson

The Linke Hofmann R.8/15 – Note the extensive use of transparent cellon for the aft portion of the fuselage.
The Linke Hofmann R.40/16
3-Way drawing of both versions of the R.I [The German Giants]

Credits

  • Written by: Medicman11
  • Edited by: Stan L. & Henry H.
  • Illustrations by Ed Jackson

Sources

  • Kosin, Rüdiger. The German fighter since 1915. Baltimore, Md: Nautical & Aviation Pub. Co. of America, 1988. Print.
  • Herris, Jack. German Aircraft of Minor Manufacturers In WWI Volume 2: Krieger To Union, Columbia, SC: Aeronaut Books, 2020. Print.
  • Haddow, G. W., and Peter M. Grosz. The German giants : the German R-planes, 1914-1918. London: Putnam, 1988. Print.

LFG Roland C.II

German Empire Flag German Empire (1915)
Reconnaissance Aircraft – 267 Built

A Roland C.II in flight. [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
The Roland C.II was a reconnaissance aircraft built by LFG Roland in 1915 as a new and innovative design. The type would see widespread use by the German Empire and, thanks to its highly advanced form, became the fastest and most maneuverable of its type when it was introduced. Overall improvements on the aircraft were done throughout the war to strengthen its performance, but by the end of the war, much more advanced aircraft had been deployed and made the Roland obsolete. The C.II was relegated to a training aircraft until the end of the war, when all were scrapped.

Development

In early 1915, the Luftfahrzeug Gesellschaft (L.F.G.), also known as Roland to avoid confusion with a similar sounding design firm, began building several Albatros aircraft under license. These aircraft were the Albatros B.I, B.II and the C.I, which were considered some of the most advanced in terms of aerodynamics for the current times. Around the same time, Dipl.-Ing. (Engineer) Tantzen would join Roland as chief designer. With Tantzen as the chief designer and their experience gained from license-building aircraft, Roland would begin designing a new and original plane, the C.II.

Work began on the C.II (C-types were two-seat armed aircraft) sometime in mid 1915. The C.II would have a very rounded, aerodynamic fuselage design, similar to the Albatros D.III fighters of the following year. The fuselage was created in a unique way, called Wickelrumpf (Wrapped body). Wickelrumpf involved using layers of veneer strips that were wrapped around a simple wodden frame. The shells created were then glued together around the wooden frame of the C.II and strengthened with fabric, making a very streamlined and sturdy fuselage. This whole process was an early attempt at monocoque construction, which involved having a shell built around a frame. However, the Wickelrumpf technique on the C.II used two stringers for the frame, a feature true monocoque aircraft don’t have. Like the fuselage, the wings were also designed to be very aerodynamic. Instead of having the wings connected with multiple spars and bracings, as was common with aircraft of the time, the wings of the C.II would be connected via a single wooden strut in a single bay wing.

The C.II prototype on October 24th, 1915, only hours before its disastrous test flight.

Before a prototype was completed, a C.II fuselage was mounted on a railcar for aerodynamic testing and other experiments. The train would swiftly go down a straight track between the cities of Schoneberg and Juterbog and data would be recorded on the aircraft. The first prototype C.II was completed in October of 1916 and its first test flight would happen between the 24th and 25th. This test flight would end in misfortune, with the D.III engine failing mid flight, resulting in a crash and subsequent damage to the aircraft. The prototype was quickly repaired and flying, with a second prototype completed soon after. In the test flights, it was found that, thanks to its aerodynamic design and powerful D.III engine, the C.II’s speed was extraordinary, surpassing all of the current C-type aircraft then in use. With such a feat, a production batch of 50 aircraft were ordered on December 23rd, 1915. Testing continued and it was found that the wing cells were slightly unstable, so an additional drag wire was added for stabilization. After this change was added to the design and prototypes, production of the type continued and, by March 7th, 1916, the first of the production aircraft were ready to be sent to the front.

Design

The last production batch of C.IIs [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
The interior frame of the C.II. This would be covered by the Wickelrumpf shells. [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
The Roland C.II was a two seat observation biplane. The body of the C.II was aerodynamic in shape and had a plywood frame, with the outer shell created via Wickelrumpf and made of veneer strips glued together and supported with fabric. Wickelrumpf produced a semi-monocoque fuselage. The body would have two seats, one for the pilot and one for an observer. On the sides of the fuselage were two pairs of celluloid windows for the observer to use. On several occasions, flight crews would paint curtains onto them. The windows themselves were modified by the crews to open by sliding backwards or downwards, but this was not a standard feature. Above the pilot’s position was a roll cage designed to prevent the pilot from being crushed in the event of a roll over on the ground. The initial design of the cage was circular but, once the frontal Spandau was added, the cage had to be redesigned and became more triangular in shape. No measure was given to protect the observer. The C.II used a Mercedes D.III engine mounted in the nose and driving a wooden propeller. The first two cylinders were exposed to the elements. The area surrounding the engine was the only part of the aircraft to have metal plating. Certain plates were hinged to allow for maintenance to the engine. For exhaust, the initial models used the “ocarina” style pipes, but later models would change between the ocarina style and others. The engines would have two ear radiators on each side of the craft. These protruding radiators obstructed airflow and caused drag. The tailfins were wooden and fabric covered. The control surfaces were made of steel tubes and covered in fabric. The tailfin was enlarged after the June 1916 batch to increase stability.

A sight all too common of the C.II. Due to its poor downwards visibility,
Pilots had trouble landing the aircraft. [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
The wings of the aircraft were made of wood and covered in doped fabric as was conventional at the time, with the control surfaces being made of steel tubes and also covered in doped fabric. The ailerons were originally in the lower wing but, starting with the C.IIa, these would be located in the upper wing. The wings themselves were the exact same length, shape and chord. Unique I-struts connected the wings together. The I-struts were of plywood construction and would have interior bracings in the shape of an X. The C.II would have a landing gear connected to the aircraft with v-shaped connectors. At the rear of the aircraft would be a landing skid.

Mid Production C.II [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
For armament, the C.II initially only had a single Parabellum 7.92 mm for the observer to use. After the first 50 aircraft, a forward firing synchronized Spandau 7.92 mm was added for the pilot. If needed, four bomb racks could be fixed to the underside of the wings to carry small bombs. The aircraft also carried several flares. A radio could also be carried on the aircraft and used by the observer. This was powered by an airscrew-powered dynamo located near the landing gear.

The “Walfisch” In Action

Otto Czernak’s C.II. This aircraft was modified with a rudimentary machinegun mount and an input system for the observer to request certain flight movements. [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
The Roland C.II arrived on the frontline in late March of 1916 and the effort put into its aerodynamic design was noted almost immediately. The C.IIs were the fastest aircraft used by the Luftstreitkräfte (German Air Force) at their introduction, outpacing all of their operational aircraft and almost all opposing Allied aircraft, only being superseded by a handful of Allied fighters. Because of its impressive speed, the Roland C.II was flown in special groups, as other two seater C-type aircraft could not keep up with the type. The Roland C.II was initially used as a reconnaissance plane, with the second crewman acting as the observer, but its speed allowed it to be used on escort duties as well. Despite its good speed, however, the C.II was not without its flaws. In the observer role, thanks to the crewmen being seated above the body, visibility above the plane was superb, but visibility in front of the aircraft was lacking, and visibility beneath the aircraft was poor. An attempt to fix this early on, before production began, was placing cutouts in the base of the wings, but this solution still do not provide adequate visibility. This flaw became fatal later on, once enemy pilots learned of this massive weak spot, as they would now dive beneath a C.II, then fly upwards towards it, firing their guns while the Roland crew had no means of detecting threats from that angle. This visibility issue also made landings especially dangerous, as the pilot had difficulty calculating how close the ground was. Aircraft of the time were well known to have difficulty upon landing, but the Roland C.II exhibited worse than average landing performance due to the visibility issue. Maneuverability and stability of the C.II was also lackluster at times and would need improvement.

Initially, the Roland C.II only had a single Parabellum 7.92 mm machine gun for the observer to use. The first fifty of these aircraft would have this small armament. Many of the pilots found this weak armament lacking. One pilot in particular, Lt. Otto Czernak of Schusta 28, would fix this issue on his own. He would rig up a forward firing apparatus for another Parabellum machine-gun that would allow the pilot to fire. Due to the propeller and machine-gun not being synchronized, the rig placed the gun well above the rotating radius of the propeller, making the rig very tall. Czernak’s own plane was modified in other ways as well, having a unique input system for his observer that would allow the 2nd crewman to communicate to Czernak to maneuvering instructions. No other C.II would have this system. After the first fifty aircraft, all C.II’s would have a synchronized Spandau machine-gun for the pilot to use. This gave the C.II some dogfighting ability, which is how it would end up being used for escort duties, along with its excellent speed.

A Linke-Hoffman produced C.IIa(Li). This particular aircraft has bomb racks installed. [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
At some point, either during its career or while it was still being developed, the C.II was given the unofficial nickname of Walfisch (Whale). The origin of this name has been told many times but there is no concise point that has been confirmed. The most common of these origins is said to have come while it was still in development, from a German official observing the type. Another reason could have been its overall round shape and how the early models were painted a silver-white color. Nonetheless, the name stuck around. The name Walfisch did not seem to have any negative connotation for its pilots, as many of them would paint fish or shark faces on their aircraft. Some would even paint scales. The previously mentioned Otto Czernak would paint a fish face onto his aircraft. This tradition was seen throughout its lifespan, even after the later two-toned camouflage models were introduced with green and brown paint.

A production of 24 aircraft, after the initial batch, with the modified machine-gun was ordered in March of 1916. Another batch of 45 aircraft was ordered in April. However, the batch of Roland C.IIs after this set would aim to fix many of the stability issues found with the aircraft in the field. The tailfin was enlarged to improve flight performance. The wings were shortened and the I struts were moved inward to compensate for the wing flexing. These made the wings much more structurally sound. This reworked design of the C.II was known as the C.IIa and testing of the type began in April and May of 1916. The type would be sent to the frontline by the summer. All C.II aircraft after this point would be of the C.IIa model. A batch of 19 C.IIa was ordered in April of 1916 and another batch of 36 C.IIa was also ordered, but with the ailerons in the upper wing. All aircraft after this would have the ailerons this configuration. A batch of 40 C.IIas was ordered in June of 1916 and would have a larger vertical fin to improve stability.

Production C.II [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
Most of the production Roland C.IIs were flying by the mid summer of 1916. The C.II was used extensively at the Battle of the Somme, where it was used in large numbers for recon and escort duties. On the second day of the Battle of the Somme, June 2nd, the soon-to-be-famous Albert Ball would go on a sortie in a Nieuport scout aircraft. While flying, his squadron would encounter 6 Roland C.IIs on patrol. The Allied squadron would begin their attack, while the Roland formation scattered. Ball was able to catch up to one and shoot it down, causing the C.II to plummet near the Mercatel-Arras road. This would be the first aircraft Ball completely destroyed in flight (There were several confirmed victories before this, but this was the first confirmed complete destruction of an aircraft). Many of Ball’s early kills were Roland C.IIs. Ball himself went on to compliment the C.II, stating it was the best aircraft the German’s had at the time, with a good defense to compliment its speed.

A C.IIa in two tone colors. This particular aircraft has been decorated by its crew, including painted on curtains over the celluloid covers and a shark mouth. [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
The Roland C.II was continually used through the rest of 1916. By summer, the Linke-Hofman company would begin license building C.IIs. An initial batch of 16 aircraft was ordered. The aircraft built under license were known as C.IIa(Li). In July of 1916, a batch of 40 aircraft was ordered to be produced by Linke-Hofman. This would be the last batch of C.IIs built and would be sent to the front in the beginning of 1917. By this time, however, the C.II had lost its performance edge. The Allies had fielded newer and improved aircraft that were able to easily keep up with the C.II, and the Germans had also produced newer aircraft that performed better. The C.II was instead returned from the front lines and used as a trainer for the C-type in flight schools. The C.II would perform this duty until hostilities ended in 1918. The fate of the remaining C.IIs is unknown, but they were most likely scrapped. No aircraft survive to this day.

The Roland C.III: A Derivative Design

The Roland C.III. It is apparent its design is based off of the C.II. Very little is known about this aircraft. [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
In mid-1916, a derivative design of the C.II emerged; the Roland C.III. The C.III shared many of the same design features of the C.II, such as a two-seat aerodynamic body with two windows on each side for observation purposes. However, most of the similarities stop there. The C.III was designed to use the more powerful 200 hp (149 kW) Mercedes D.IV engine over the C.II’s D.III. Based on the few pictures available, the prototype C.III appears to still use a D.III engine, most likely to test the airframe before the larger engine was placed. To compensate for a stronger engine, the wings of the C.II were made larger. The wings themselves were also reworked. Instead of having single bay wings with flat strut connectors, like the C.II, the C.III instead had the standard two bay wings typical of aircraft of the era. This was most likely done as the single struts of the C.II happened to obscure the vision of the frontal windows. The tail design of the C.III also differed from the C.II. Very little is known of the C.III outside of these few details, including whether or not it even flew or any further testing. The single C.III prototype was lost when LFG’s facility in Adlershof was destroyed in a fire on September 6th, 1916. This incident is cited to be caused by sabotage from British Special Forces. After the loss of the prototype, no further work on this type was done.

Conclusion

A lineup of several early C.IIs [Roland Aircraft of WWI]
At the time of its introduction, the C.II was one of the most advanced aircraft Germany had. Its powerful engine and aerodynamic construction allowed it to outperform most of its opposition. As the war continued, more advanced machines eventually outpaced the Roland C.II. The aircraft did manage to influence other companies to attempt more aerodynamic designs. Roland would continue building planes, including newer C-types (C.V and C.VIII) and fighter types, both of which would use Wickelrumpf. Two other aircraft were built off of the C.II’s design, the D.I fighter and the WD floatplane. Despite continuing to make newer aircraft, none of Roland’s designs would ever garner the same fame as their “Walfisch”, and it would remain their most iconic design of the war.

Variants

  • LFG Roland C.II Prototype – The prototype model of the C.II differed from the production version in several ways. Notably, it only had one set of windows. Two of these were built.
  • LFG Roland C.II – Standard model for the Roland C.II. After the initial batch, all aircraft would use a synchronized machine-gun in the nose.
  • Otto Czernak’s LFG Roland C.II – A modified early production C.II used by Otto Czernak of Schusta 28. It had a makeshift machine-gun mount and a unique input system for the observer to request movements from the pilot.
  • LFG Roland C.IIa – Later modified model of the C.II, had improved wings and a larger tailfin.
  • LFG Roland C.IIa(Li) – Designation given to C.IIa planes license-built by Linke-Hofman.
  • LFG Roland C.III – Derivative aircraft based on the C.II. Heavily reworked the wings and was given a Benz B.IV engine.

Operators

  • German Empire – The Roland C.II served as a reconnaissance aircraft and an escort aircraft in several squadrons of the Luftstreitkräfte from 1916 to 1918

LFG Roland C.II Specifications

Wingspan 33 ft 10 in / 10.33 m
Length 25 ft 3 in / 7.7 m
Height 9 ft 6 in / 2.9 m
Mean Aerodynamic Chord 4 ft 11 in / 1.5 m
Wing Area 91.7 ft² / 27.96 m²
Engine 160 hp (119.3 kW) Mercedes D.III 6-cylinder inline engine
Propeller 2-blade Wooden Propeller 
Weights
Empty 1739.5 lb / 789 kg
Loaded 2885.9 lb / 1309 kg
Climb Rate
Time to 3280 ft / 1000 m 7 minutes
Time to 6560 ft / 2000 m 14 minutes
Time to 9840 ft / 3000 m 26 minutes
Maximum Speed 103 mph / 165 km/h 
Flight Duration 4-5 hours (Varies on fuel load)
Crew 1 pilot

1 gunner

Armament
  • 1x Forward facing Spandau 7.92mm machine-gun
  • 1x Rear mounted Parabellum 7.92mm machine-gun
  • Multiple Bomb Racks (Not Standard)

Gallery

Illustrations by Ed Jackson

Roland C.II Prototype
Roland C.II Schusta 28 – Lt. Otto Czermack
Note the forward firing Lewis Gun mounted high to clear the propeller arc.
Roland C.II – Black Stripes over Pre-Production Paint
Roland C.II featuring a Shark Mouth
Roland C.IIa – Note the Larger Rudder
Roland C.III Prototype

Credits

  • Article written by Medicman
  • Edited by Stan Lucian & Ed Jackson
  • Illustrations by Ed Jackson
  • Herris, Jack. Roland Aircraft of WWI : a centennial perspective on Great War Airplanes. Charleston, SC: Aeronaut Books, 2014. Print.
  • Gray, Peter L., and Owen Thetford. German aircraft of the First World War. London: Putnam, 1970. Print.

Junkers D.I

German Empire flag German Empire (1918)
Monoplane Fighter – 40 built

The first Junkers D.I prototype J.9/I [Nhungdoicanh]
The German Air Force was responsible for several great revolutions in the development of aviation during both World Wars. While the development of jet technology in the Second World War is probably the best known, during the First World War, one of the most important such evolutions was the development of the first all-metal planes. The man responsible for this was the famous Hugo Junkers. The corrugated metalwork first seen on the D.I would become a hallmark of later Junkers aircraft.

The first all-metal projects

Aviation technology before the First World War revolved around wood as the main building material. Wood was used as it was easy to process and was easily available in great quantities and simple carpenters could be put to work on airplane construction.

One of the first persons who ever experimented with the idea of building an all-metal plane was the well-known German aviation designer and inventor Hugo Junkers (1859-1935). While working as a professor of thermodynamics at the Technische Hochschule (Technical University) in Aachen in 1907, he met a colleague, Professor Hans J. Reissner. Professor Reissner was involved in experiments with many novel ideas, such as aerodynamics in aviation. This moment would have a big impact on Hugo Junkers, as he would develop a great interest in aviation.

One of the few produced J 2 prototype which lead to the D.I [Wikimedia]
Hugo Junkers’ initial efforts were focused on solving the problem of poor aerodynamics of already existing aircraft. In 1912, his preliminary research showed that planes had better aerodynamics properties if they were designed to have an airfoil structure. In essence, this means that the whole plane, wing, body, and control surfaces had to have curved surfaces specially designed to give the best possible ratio of lift to drag. In order to perform even more experiments in aerodynamics, Junkers financed the construction of a wind tunnel at the Frankenberg laboratory. In the following years he continued his research, and by 1914 he had performed around 4,000 different tests and built 400 test models.

In 1914, Junkers had the first indications that an all-metal monoplane with thick wings was a feasible idea. While metals, like iron, were available in large quantities, lighter metals, like duralumin, an aluminum alloy, were more desirable for this purpose. The negative aspect of duralumin was the fact that it was difficult to work with. The techniques and technology of the day were inadequate, and the process of forming duralumin was slow and crude. As this could delay his work for years, Hugo Junkers decided to use the iron plates as a replacement, as they were much easier to work with.

After having constructed one all-metal wing prototype with a 9.18 ft (2.8 m) wingspan, Hugo Junkers made a request on the 2nd of February, 1915 to the German War Ministry for funds so he could build an all-metal prototype plane. This request was rejected, but it did not discourage Junkers from continuing his research. His second request was accepted in July 1915. With these funds, Hugo Junkers was able to construct a working prototype by December 1915.

The base of the prototype was made of iron ribs which were covered with iron sheets which were only 0.1 to 0.2 mm thick, held in place by electric welding. A second layer of sheet metal was added to reinforce the whole construction. The first prototype, designated the Junkers J 1, was ready by the end of 1915. It was powered by a Mercedes D.II 125 hp engine. After some ground testing, the new plane was shipped to Döberitz, the main German aviation training and test site in December 1915. Once there, the first test flight took place on 18 January, 1916. This was the first flight of a plane with an all-metal frame. The Idflieg (Inspektion der Fliegertruppen – Inspectorate of Flying Troops) was impressed with this prototype and ordered six more all-metal planes for future testing as a fighter plane. The J 1 design was not without problems, as there were some issues with the wing connection to the fuselage. During one test landing, one of the wings separated entirely.

Hugo Junkers began working on a second improved prototype named J 2. The problem with the wing-fuselage connection was solved by changing the internal design. The wings were divided into a couple of parts. The main section was connected directly to the fuselage and the others were affixed by screws. In only a few months, the first Junkers J 2 was ready to be tested. The J 2 was powered by a single Mercedes D.II 120 hp engine which was later changed to a stronger Mercedes D.III 160 hp. It made its first flight on 11 June, 1916. However, unlike the first prototype, the flying performance of the Junkers J 2 was poor. The speed was good, but the plane was simply too heavy at 2,480 lbs (1,160 kg) and thus useless as a fighter. Some six were ordered and built for future testing but the Idflieg lost any interest in it. Despite being rejected for operational service, it was still deemed important for testing construction methods and acquiring additional research.

After Hugo Junkers and his team analysed the Junkers J 2, they concluded that the plane could be vastly improved if lighter materials were used. Their solution was to undertake a study of how to make duralumin easier to work with. In time, specialized tooling and machines were developed and designed in the hope of producing adequate duralumin parts that could be used for aircraft construction. Despite the use of the duralumin in Zeppelin construction, the Junkers team made many improvements to these processes.

Thanks to these developments with aluminum processing, Junkers tried to build a fully operational all-metal monoplane. This was a private venture marked as the Junkers J 3. It was short lived, as the Idflieg refused to finance its development and only a single incomplete airframe was built. The Idflieg was more interested in all-metal ground attack biplanes.

The improved J 7 prototype

Side view of the J 7 prototype. [Wikimedia]
Hugo Junkers and his team continued to develop their own all-metal plane project. The J 4 served as a prototype for the J.I biplane and J 5 was never completed. Next in line was the Junkers J 7 as a single seat fighter and the J 8 two-seat close ground-support version. The J 8 prototype would eventually lead to the J 10 and the CL I. As the the J 7 and J 8 were developed, tests done in the wind tunnels showed that the low wing design provided good performance. One extra benefit of this design was the fact that the low wing would provide some extra protection for the pilot during a harsh landing. However, the weakest point in the design was the fuselage. Hugo and his team had significant problems designing a structure that would be strong enough to support all the necessary equipment, engine, and fuel tanks while still being light enough to maintain fighter maneuverability. They eventually reached a achieved a design that met most of the requirements.

The Junkers J 7 was constructed by using steel bars to form the structures of the plane and these were then covered in duralumin sheets. This method was copied from the J 4, with the only difference was that parts of the surface of J 4 were covered with fabric, while J 7 was all-metal. The J 7, piloted by Feldwebel Arved Schmidt, made its first test flight on 17 September, 1917. As the tests continued, Schmidt was generally pleased with how the plane behaved. In his report he said that the plane “.. made a good impression and possessed no serious fouls but the unique rotating wingtip ailerons were somewhat overbalanced…”. The J 7, despite its large front mounted radiator to accommodate the Mercedes D III 160 hp engine, managed to reach a speed of 77 mph (124 km/h). Many further trial flights were conducted, and in early October 1917 Schmidt managed to reach an altitude of 16,400 ft (5,000 m) in 17 minutes. This was a great result especially considering that the J 7 had a weight of 1,572 lbs (713 kg) and with added military equipment, the same altitude could be reached within 24 minutes.

For the next series of test flights, the J 7’s wings were equipped with conventional ailerons. These trials were held in late October 1917. The pilots were Leutnant Gotthard Sachsenberg and Theo Osterkamp. This time, the J 7 was pitted against the Albatros D.III. The J 7 proved to be a better fighter but the problems with the ailerons persisted. Both pilots gave a “green light” for the J 7 to go into production.

On 20th October, 1917 Idflieg made a decision to establish a new cooperation between Hugo Junkers and Anthony Fokker. Junkers-Fokker Werke AG was thus founded. It was hoped that the lack of production capacity of Junkers’ team would be supplemented by Fokker’s. This meant that there were two companies working on the J 7 project, Junkers (Jco) and Junkers-Fokker (Jfa). Despite the Idflieg’s hopes for good cooperation, this was never achieved as both sides sought control of the project.

Pilot and his assistant are starting the D.I. in front of the ‘Zeppelin’ hangars at Wainoden. [flyingmachines.ru]
In December, new modified ailerons were tested and the large nose radiator was also changed. While flying the J 7, the pilot, Tonny Fokker, had an accident upon landing. The plane was damaged but quickly repaired in time for the inspection made by Hauptmann Schwarzenberger from the Idflieg. He gave positive reviews of this plane and suggested that it should be used in the First Fighter Competition held in Germany. For this purpose, it was equipped with a new Mercedes engine and received new aerodynamically-balanced ailerons.

This competition was held from January to February 1918. Many front line pilots flew the J 7, including the famous Red Baron. He had positive comments for the J 7, in his report the plane being rated as having better climb rate and speed than other fighters in field use. However, he also noted the presence of some oscillation in the wings during sharp turns.

In January, Fokker once again had an accident during landing, but the damage was minimal. The plane was damaged again during its flight to Dessaou for wing modifications, but was repaired and ready for further testing by early February. These accidents also proved that its construction was much more robust than that of ordinary wooden planes. In March 1918, the last tests took place, with Leutnant Krohn as the pilot. His report read “.. On take-off the aircraft accelerates quickly and leaves the ground in a short time. It reacts instantaneously to the control. After ten degrees of control-stick movement, which suffices for an 80-degree bank, the control becomes very heavy. In a spiral, the aircraft reacts quickly to the controls. On the whole, the aircraft is at least as manoeuvrable as the new Albatros D.III or D.VI when diving at 155 mph (250 km/h) airspeed without any vibration in the wings..”

The ailerons were modified for the last time, which solved all previously mentioned problems with the controls. The J 7 prototype plane was used by a Fligertruppe in late March 1918. The J 7 was also used in the Second Fighter Competition held in July 1918. Despite proving to be an adequate fighter, the J 7 would never be accepted for service.

The J 9 and the D.I

The J 9/II rear view. [Militär Wissen]
At the same time as the J 7 was developed, Junkers began work on an improved model named J 9. Two prototypes were built, simply marked as J 9/I and J 9/II, the first of which was ready by April 1918. The J 9 was similar in construction to the J 7, but it was better suited for possible mass-production. By March 1918, Idflieg was negotiating with Junkers about the possible production of six planes for more testing. Hugo Junkers was disappointed with this, as he expected the signing of a major production contract. He thought it was a waste of precious time and that the plane did not need further testing. By early May, he managed to convince military officials to put the J 9 into production. A contract was signed for the production of 100 all-metal planes, including other Junkers models CL.I and the J.I, with around 20 copies of the J 9, now officially designated as the D.I. The first group was to be built by late July, with 6 in June and 14 by July.

This is the J 9/II prototype that was powered with the Benz Bz. IIIbo V-8 195 hp engine . Due to some mechanical problem with this engine prevent it from participating in the Second Fighter Competition. [Militär Wissen]
The D.I (J 9/I) prototype made its first flight on 12 May, 1918 (Some sources incorrectly state April), piloted by test pilot Leutnant Krohn. The D.I prototype was ready to participate in the Second Fighter Competition. For this, it was equipped with the Mercedes D. IIIaü engine. During this competition, the D.I prototype presented itself well. The second D.I prototype (J 9/II) was equipped with the Benz Bz. IIIbo V-8 195 hp engine. Due to problems with this engine, it was not used in this competition. During these tests, the J 9/I was equipped with two Spandau machine guns located above the engine compartment, with one on each side. At the end of the Second Fighter Competition, several front fighter pilots were asked to test these new models. As most pilots, such as Oberleutnant Goering, thought that biplanes were the future, they marked the D.I as a complete failure.

A second commission rejected the notion that it was a complete failure, referencing its demonstrated performance. One demerit marked by this commission was the lack of downward visibility from the cockpit. This was based on the German air fighting tactics which had been adopted due to Allied air superiority. This tactic involved attacking Allied planes using high speed dives from above, and thus downward vision was deemed critical. The D.I lacked this due the to the large low-placed wings, but it compensated with the metal construction that made it more resilient to low caliber rounds.

On the 21st August 1918, Idflieg place an order for 100 more Junkers all-metal planes, including the CL.I and the J.I, of which around 20 were D.I fighters. At the beginning of August 1918, three D.Is were ready for static machine gun testing. Three more were almost completed with five more to be constructed by early September 1918. For more firing tests, two were sent to Adlershof. Due to the installation of the offensive armament, some small modifications were needed.

Despite entering production, there were still some modification that were needed. The first D.I produced had a longer fuselage and larger wings. As it was tested, there were problems with vibrations of the fuselage and maneuverability. As this could endanger the entire production, a series of quick modifications were done to the remaining four, possibly five, produced aircraft. These were built with modified, shortened fuselages and smaller wingspans. In total, around nine operational fighters and two prototypes were ready by the war’s end.

Construction

The first four D.I planes still under construction. The plane on the right is the J.7 prototype. [Nhundoicahn]
The D.I was designed as a single seat, all-metal low-wing fighter plane. It consisted of a metal airframe of steel ribs covered with corrugated duralumin sheets. Duralumin is a trade name for one of the earliest types of aluminum alloy. The corrugated surface of the duralumin offered increased strength, rigidity, and projectile resistance without a significant weight penalty. This method of aircraft skin construction would later be used in larger Junkers bombers in World War II becoming an iconic hallmark of the company, going on to inspire the look of the Citroen H van of the late 1940s. Aluminum construction low wing monoplane designs in would later come into widespread adoption, becoming the standard by World War II. In this way, the C.I’s design was truly ahead of its time.

The airframe was designed by Hugo Junkers, but it said that even he was never completely satisfied with its design. It nevertheless did its job and was robust, durable, and easier to maintain and repair. It offered the pilot a greater chance of survival during a forced landing than a wooden airframe. The D.I’s metal airframe provide good protection from most weather conditions in comparison to standard wooden built planes. The D.I could be left out in the elements and exposed to strong rain and wind without fear of damaging the plane. Due to use of lighter metals, the D.I’s total weight was 1,835 lbs (843 kg).

The main engine chosen for this plane was the BMW III water-cooled 6-cylinder inline, supplying 185 hp (138 kW). With this engine, the maximum speed that could be achieved was 118 mph (185 km/h).

The pilot was located behind the engine and had a good visibility of the to the front, sides, above, and rear, but the downwards visibility was somewhat limited due to the plane’s large and low wings. The wing’s design was similar to previous prototypes, as it was divided into a few parts. The central part of the wings was directly connected to the fuselage and the remaining were connected by fasteners. Under the pilot there were two fuel tanks. The total fuel capacity is not precisely known.

The landing gear was fixed, like on all planes of the era. The landing wheels were mounted on an axle that was connected to the plane by triangular-shaped steel bars. The main armament consisted of two Spandau (7.92 mm) machine guns mounted above the engine compartment.

Production

Around 40 aircraft were ordered by Idflieg to be built by Junkers, 20 in May and a second group of 20 in August. Junkers completed around 27 planes before production was stopped in February of 1919.

The Junkers-Fokker joint company was also involved in the planned production of the D.I. The exact production details are not known. The Junkers-Fokker company was given an order to produce 20 more D.I, but it only produced 13. During the production run from June 1918 to February 1919, around 40 D.I fighters were built in total by both companies in addition with two prototypes..

What is interesting is the lesser known fact that Idflieg wanted to give a contract for the production of 50 D.I planes to Hansa-Brandenburg but, as the war ended in November 1918, this never took place.

In combat

This D.I was captured on the Western Front, note the two color stripe behind the pilot cockpit, suggest that it was used in combat. [Pinterest]
The war ended before more could be produced, and thus only limited numbers were sent to the front. These were given to front line units, possibly in the Flanders sector in October 1918. Later, in early 1919, during the Entente advance after the Armistice, five D.I fighters were captured. Four were found at Hombeek in Belgium. Of these four, only one was in flying condition, two were badly damaged, and the condition of the fourth is unknown. One more was found(missing half of its parts at an airfield near Brussels. There is little information about their use in combat.

However, there is evidence that gives some indication of the D.I seeing some combat. On the plane captured at Hombeek in Belgium, there were markings behind the pilot’s cockpit that may have been kill markings, but this is at best just speculation. The aircraft captured near Brussels had machine gun bullet holes, but the origin of these is unknown.

At the war’s end, the US Air Service, after analyzing the collected data and field reports, made a report “.. no one was found who had ever seen one of these airplanes in flight …. Some of the RAF pilots, however were sure that it had been used in service..”

The Junkers D.I did see combat action after the war against Soviet Bolshevik forces in the Baltic countries. The D.I was used by Kampfgeschwader Sachsenberg (under the command of Leutnant Gotthard Sachsenberg), being mostly used in the air support role, covering the German Freikorps units that remained there after the war.

Leutnant Gotthard Sachsenberg was very impressed with the D.I’s overall performance. His report reads: ”.. The Junkers aircraft have proven themselves beyond all expectations. The weather resistance of the aircraft is so great that it was possible to allow the aircraft to stand for weeks on end in the open during snow, rain, and thaw of the March season. A tarpaulin cover over the propeller and the engine sufficed to provide protection. Since neither tents nor hangars were available, no other aircraft except the Junkers would have been able to serve in Russia at that time.. the advantage of the weather resistance, the exceptional speed and the invulnerability of the aircraft outweighed the small disadvantages. In crashes and emergency landings relatively little occurred …. the Junkers aircraft, with improvement, will without doubt, take first place as a combat type…”.

Today, only a single D.I has survived the War and can been seen at the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace near Paris.

Junkers D.I Specifications:
Wingspan 28 ft 6 in / 9 m
Length 23 ft in / 7.25 m
Height 7 ft 4 in / 2..25 m
Wing Area 159 ft² / 14.8 m²
Engine One BMW III water-cooled 6-cylinder, 138 kW (185 hp)
Empty Weight 1.440 lbs / 654 kg
Maximum Takeoff Weight 1.835 lbs / 834 kg
Climbing speed 3.280 ft / 1 km in 2 to 3 minutes
Maximum Speed 118 mph / 185 km/h
Range 185 mi / 300 km
Maximum Service Ceiling 19.700 ft / 6,000 m
Crew 1 pilot
Armament Two 7.92 mm machine guns

Gallery

Side profiles by Ed Jackson – www.artbyedo.com

Junkers D.I 5029/18
Junkers D.I in Brown
Junkers D.I 5999/18
Junkers D.I 5185/18
Junkers D.I Camouflage Livery w/ Brass Radiator & Panels

This is one of the four Junkers D.I captured by the Allies in Belgium after the war. Due to the marking on the wheels, it can be ascertained that this one was built by the Junkers company. [Nhungdoicanh]
This D.I was powered by a 185 hp engine and was used in the Third Fighter Competition held in October 1918. [Wikimedia]
Sources

 

The Red Baron's Fokker Dr.1 475/17 - March 1917

Fokker Dr.I

German Empire Flag German Empire (1917)
Fighter Plane – 320 Built

The Fokker Dr.I was a triplane built by Fokker-Flugzeugwerke during the First World War. The design, based off of Britain’s Sopwith Triplane, is well known thanks to the Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, for being the plane in which he scored his final kills.

A Borrowed Idea

In the early part of 1917 the Sopwith Triplane of the Allies began appearing on the battlefield, quickly trouncing German Albatros D.III fighters with its superior maneuverability and climbing ability. The Idfleig, the German bureau overseeing aircraft design immediately ordered development of a triplane, known as dreidecker (3 winged) in German.

Nearly all of the German aircraft manufacturers followed suit. Fokker set about to develop its own triplane by modifying an unfinished prototype biplane. This initial prototype, like Sopwith’s design, utilized a rotary engine and steel tube fuselage. However the initial prototype, the V.4 did not have external interwing bracing. The next prototype, the V.5 introduced bracing between the wings to minimize flexing on the upper wing. The prototypes were met with much excitement for their exceptional maneuverability and climb rate over anything else the Germans had previously produced. The Red Baron himself, Manfred von Richthofen was believed the Dr.I held much promise for the fortunes of German air power and demanded his superiors to commence production immediately, as well as promising his men that they would soon be able to “move like devils and climb like monkeys.”

Construction

Replica Dr.1 in a Black and White Striped Livery
Replica Dr.1 in a Black and White Striped Livery

The appearance of the Dr.1 is characterized by its three-wing design – therefore dubbed a ‘triplane.’ The design also featured small sustentation surface of an aerofoil shape mounted between the wheels of the landing gear. The tail was also completely mobile with unbalanced ailerons possessing more surface area than the ailerons of the upper wing. The wings had deep section hollow box-spars that provided lightweight strength to the wings. The lack of interplane struts on the initial prototype resulted in excessive wing vibration during flight, so interplane struts were added. The ribs were of plywood, as well as the leading-edges covers at the spar, with the leading-edges made of wire. The middle wings had some cut-outs to improve downward visibility of the pilot. The fuselage was constructed using welded steel-tubing bracing with diagonal wires to create the rigid box-shaped structure, being a fabric-covered with triangular plywood fillets, except the undercarriage and center-section, which were made of steel streamlined tubing.

The tail-plane had a triangular shape, being framed in steel tubing the same way as the balanced rudder and elevators. The wheels featured an elastic shock cord, while a steel-tipped tailskid was installed at the rear.

Evaluation

The first prototype Dr.1 flew in July of 1917. Production of the Dr.I commenced on August 11th of 1917. In preproduction the triplane carried the designation F.I. Two were made and issued to Richthofen and Leutenant Werner Voss. These two aces promptly used these planes on the battlefield, scoring kills within the first few days of flying in early September. Voss took to the skies on August 28th and by September 11th had scored 8 kills.

The result of this evaluation period led Voss and Richthofen to recommend the Dr.I for production as soon as possible, declaring it superior to the Sopwith Triplane. Orders were placed for 300 Dr.I’s.

On September 14th the commander of Jasta 11, OberLeutnant Kurt Wolff was shot down whilst flying Richthofen’s F.I by a new Sopwith Camel of Britain’s Naval 10 squadron. Voss, whilst flying on September 23rd, scored his 48th victory just before being shot down in an epic dogfight wherein he managed to damage all 7 of his opponent’s SE-5a’s in the skirmish.

The Fokker Dr.I in Use

Replica Dr.1 in Flight
Replica Dr.1 in Flight

The Dr.I, upon its arrival to the battlefield in October was well regarded for its climbing ability and light controls. The ailerons were not very effective, however the tailplane elevator and rudder controls were very yielding. Rapid turns to the right were very quick thanks to the directional instability afforded by the rotation of the rotary engine, a characteristic that was taken advantage of by pilots.

Although not a particularly fast plane, it balanced this shortcoming with great maneuverability thanks to its light weight, while also having good upward visibility. It also had a decent climb rate, characteristics that all seemingly made the Dr.I a formidable adversary to its Allied opponent, the Sopwith Camel. This made of the Dr.1 a good aircraft for dogfights, yet structural and construction problems in the wings would hamper the aircraft’s promising initial assessment.

The Dr.I was armed with twin 7.92 Spandau machine guns, which could fire simultaneously or independently in synchronization with the propeller.

The Dr.I, for all its improvements over previous German aircraft, had numerous  shortcomings. Among them was its tendency to ground looping upon landing. This occurs when the aircraft tilts on landing such that one wing makes contact with the ground. For this reason skids were attached to the wingtips of the lower wing on the production version. Also while the Dr.I had excellent climbing ability, its dive and level flight speed were less than desirable, leaving it vulnerable to faster Allied planes in many situations.

Wing Problems

Following the proper introduction of the production model Dr.I in October, by the end of the month two consecutive top wing failure accidents promptly caused all triplanes to be grounded. The wing structure of the Dr.I was thoroughly investigated and numerous problems were discovered, the first of which was weak attachment of wingtips, ailerons, and ribs. Further, the doping of the fabric and wood varnishing was found to be of poor and inconsistent quality, leading to water absorption and premature rot in crucial wing spars.

Fokker’s corrective action was to improve quality control on the production line, as well as modifying and repairing existing models. The problem was believed to have been solved, and the Dr.I continued to see use well into 1918, but later the wing failures returned.

Much later in 1929, research at NACA revealed that a triplane configuration like the Dr.I’s exerted as much as 2.5 times more lift coefficient on the upper wing. The extreme difference in this force no doubt contributed to many of the wing failures seen in the Dr.I over its operational lifespan. Examples such as this show the importance of research and competence in advanced aerodynamics during the design phase of an aircraft.

Legacy

As had been seen in September 1917, the Dr.I was inferior to the capabilities of the British Sopwith Camel by the time production had commenced. Despite this, German production went on for the initial 300 ordered.

Fokker D.VII would eventually replace the Dr.1 on the battlefield, with surviving dreideckers relegated to training and home defence units, re-powered with a Goebel Goe II 100 hp engine. By the time of the armistice was signed, the Dr.1 was tested by Allied pilots at fighter flying schools in Nivelles (Belgium) and Valenciennes (France), being deemed as an aircraft with impressive performance.

Variants

  • V.4 – The initial prototype
  • V.5 – First production prototype
  • V.6 – Enlarged prototype powered with a Mercedes D.II engine
  • V.7 – Prototype with Siemens-Halske Sh.III engine

Dr.1 Specifications

Top Wingspan 7.12 m / 23 ft 4 in
Mid Wingspan 6.23 m / 20 ft 5 in
Lower Wingspan 5.7 m / 18 ft 8 in
Length 5.77 m / 18 ft 11 in
Height 2.95 m / 9 ft 8 in
Wing Area 18.66 m² / 200.85 ft²
Engine 1  9-cylinder rotary Oberursel UR II engine (110 HP), or a LeRhône Type 9Ja (110 HP)
Maximum Take-Off Weight 586 Kg / 1,291 lb
Empty Weight 406 kg / 895 lb
Loaded Weight 586 kg / 1,291 lb
Climb Rate 5.7 m/s (1,122 ft/min) or 1000 meters in 2’45’’
Maximum Speed 185 km/h / 115 mph at sea level; 165 km/h / 102,5 mph at 4000 m
Range 300 Km / 186 miles
Maximum Service Ceiling 6100 m /20,000 ft
Crew 1 (pilot)
Armament 2 X 7.92 mm Spandau 08/15 with 500 rounds each

Gallery

The Red Baron's Fokker Dr.1 475/17 - March 1917
The Red Baron’s Fokker Dr.1 475/17 – March 1917
Fokker Dr.1 217/17 - March 1917
Fokker Dr.1 217/17 – March 1917
Fokker Dr.1 152/17 - March 1917
Fokker Dr.1 152/17 – March 1917
Replica Dr.1 in a Black and White Striped Livery
Replica Dr.1 in a Black and White Striped Livery
Replica Dr.1 Ready for Takeoff
Replica Dr.1 Ready for Takeoff
Closeup of Replica Dr.1's Cockpit
Closeup of Replica Dr.1’s Cockpit
Fokker Dr.1 9 Cylinder Rotary Engine
Fokker Dr.1 9 Cylinder Rotary Engine
Replica Dr.1 in Flight
Replica Dr.1 in Flight

Sources

Guttman, R. (2011). The Triplane Fighter Craze of 1917. HistoryNet., Berger, R (Ed.). Aviones [Flugzeuge, Vicenç Prat, trans.]. Colonia, Alemania: Naumann & Göbel Verlagsgessellschaft mbH., Donald. D. (2009). Aviones Militares, Guia Visual [Military Aircraft. Visual Guide, Seconsat, trans.]. Madrid, Spain: Editorial Libsa.Dwyer, L. (2013). Fokker Dr.I Triplane. The Aviation History Online Museum.Leivchentritt, L. (2013). Fokker Dr.I Specifications. Fokker Dr.I.com., Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome (2016). Fokker Dr.1 Triplane. Cole Palen’s Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome.The Aerodrome (2016). Fokker Dr.I. The Aerodrome.Fokker Dr.I. (2016, June 19). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. [Images] Dr1 Black-White Livery by Neal Wellons / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Dr1 Dark Red by Geoff Collins / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Dr1 Cockpit by Phil Norton / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Dr1 Flight by Ian / CC BY 2.0, Dr1 Engine by Erik Wessel-Berg / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0Plane Profile Views by Ed Jackson

Spandau LMG08/15 1918 - Side Profile View

Spandau LMG 08

German Empire Flag German Empire (1915)
Machine Gun – 23,000 built

The Spandau LMG 08 was the air cooled aircraft version of the German Army’s MG 08 machine gun. The infantry version of the MG 08, like the Vickers Machine Gun, was water cooled and based on the design of Hiram Maxim’s famed Maxim Gun.

Design

After the success of the MG 08 in infantry use, Spandau set about lightening the weapon and adding large slots to the water jacket for aircraft use.  The first letter in lMG 08 is actually a lowercase L which stands for luftgekühlt meaning air cooled. From the beginning the lMG was designed to fire in a fixed position from an aircraft.

Early Spandau LMG 08 Triple Mount
Early “Overlightened” LMG 08

Early designs had so many cooling slots that the weapon was considered “over-lightened” and the rigidity of the cooling jacket was considered “fragile.” Various slot patterns were experimented with until the final design of the LMG 08/15, a refined version of the weapon with many improvements as well as a lighter weight. The final weight for the refined lMG 08/15 came out to 26 lbs compared with 57 lbs for the original iteration of the MG 08. The various versions of the lMG were all designed to be interchangeable so aircraft could be easily upgraded to newer versions. Like the Vickers, the closed bolt design lent itself to easy synchronization with the propellers, with most German fighters appearing with twin LMGs by late 1916 with the introduction of the Albatros D.I and D.II.

The ammunition belt of the lMG 08 utilized the design of the Parabellum MG14 for its light weight, rather than that of the infantry version of the MG 08. After a cartridge was fired the belt was fed into a side chute on the side of the breech block. The chute would guide the empty belt into a storage compartment to prevent the empty belts from interfering with any aircraft mechanisms.  Empty cartridge cases however were expended out of a round hole on the receiver just under the barrel on all version of the MG 08. In most aircraft the empty cases were guided out of the aircraft.

Use of the Spandau lMG 08

The lMG 08 was used on almost all German fighter aircraft of the WWI period. After its introduction in 1915, synchronization technology was rapidly being developed. On the Fokker E.I the introduction of the synchronizer system with a single mounted lMG 08 led to a period of German air superiority over the Western Front known as the Fokker Scourge. Later aircraft almost universally used a twin synchronized setup, including Germany’s most famous ace, Baron von Richthofen ‘The Red Baron.’

Twin Synchronized lMG 08s on a replica Fokker DR.I
Twin Synchronized lMG 08s on a replica Fokker DR.I

There were various styles of cocking handles in use, seemingly dependent upon pilot preference. Safety interlocks were also introduced to ensure the safety of the ground crew who at times could be in the line of fire. Another modification seen in aircraft use was a countdown style rounds counter.

Spandau lMG 08 Gun Specifications

Weight 12 kg / 27 lb
Length 1.45 m / 4 ft 9 in
Barrel Length 720 mm / 28 in
Cartridge 7.92mm x 57
Action recoil with gas boost
Rate of Fire 400 to 500 rounds/min
Muzzle Velocity  860 m/s  /  2,821 ft/s
Effective Firing Range 2,000 m / 2,200 yd
Maximum Firing Range 3.500 m / 3,800 yd (indirect fire)
Feed System 250 round fabric belt

Gallery

Spandau LMG08/15 1918 - Side Profile View
Spandau lMG 08/15 – 1918

Sources

Fokker E.I. (2016, April 21). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.Synchronization gear. (2016, May 15). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.MG 08. (2016, March 22). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.The Vintage Aviator (n.d.), The Spandau LMG 08/15, Images: Fokker DR.I Spandau Guns – 2013 by Julian Herzog / CC BY 4.0