The Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.IV (known incorrectly postwar as the Dornier Rs.IV) was a ''

Riesenflugzeug A ''Riesenflugzeug'' (plural ''Riesenflugzeuge'', German for "giant aircraft"), sometimes colloquially referred to in English as an R-plane, was any member of a class of large World War I German bombers, possessing at least three aircraft engines, ...

'' (Giant aircraft)

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

all metal flying boat with a

stressed skin In mechanical engineering, stressed skin is a type of rigid construction, intermediate between monocoque and a rigid frame with a non-loaded covering. A stressed skin structure has its compression-taking elements localized and its tension-taking ...

hull and fuselage developed for the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Kaise ...

to perform long range patrols over the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

. It had been developed by

Claudius Dornier Claude (Claudius) Honoré Désiré Dornier (born in Kempten im Allgäu on 14 May 1884 – 5 December 1969) was a German-French airplane designer and founder of Dornier GmbH. His notable designs include the 12-engine Dornier Do X flying boa ...

while working for Zeppelin in the town of

Lindau Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major town and island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the county (''Landkreis' ...

Development

Two aircraft were ordered by the German ''

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

'' (Imperial Navy) in January 1918. The first flight was made on 12 October 1918 and was converted shortly thereafter into a passenger aircraft sometime between October 1918, following damage sustained during its first flight, and June 1919. When it was modified the pilot's position was moved to the hull instead of in the overhead fuselage in 1919. The sole completed example was scrapped on 17 April 1920 on orders from the

Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control The term Military Inter-Allied Commission of Control was used in a series of peace treaties concluded after the First World War (1914–1918) between different countries. Each of these treaties was concluded between the Principal Allied and A ...

, after a detailed examination of its construction had been made; the second example was never completed.

Design

Its design was based on the previous Rs.III, differing primarily in having a narrower hull fitted with

sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercraft On watercraft, a spon ...

s and

structure, with some minor tidying of the design. It was a braced

parasol An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy (building), canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunburn, sunlight. The term ''umbr ...

monoplane with the fuselage mounted on the wing above both engine nacelles and hull. The four engines were mounted in push-pull pairs in nacelles large enough to allow in flight access (a requirement of the original ''Riesenflugzeug'' giant aircraft type specification by IdFlieg in 1915) between the hull and the wing. These were staggered to allow propeller disks to overlap slightly so as to reduce adverse yaw when an engine was not running. It had the distinction of being first seaplane to have an all-metal stressed skin hull, and the first seaplane to be fitted with Dornier's patented sponsons.

Operators

; :''

'' - evaluation only

Specifications

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{Idflieg R-class designations 1910s German patrol aircraft Military aircraft of World War I Flying boats RS.4 Parasol-wing aircraft Four-engined push-pull aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1918