Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI

The Zeppelin-Staaken R.XVI(Av) was a very large bomber (Riesenflugzeug), designed and built in Germany during 1918.

Development
The R.XVI, an incremental improvement to the Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI, was one of a series of large bombers called Riesenflugzeuge, intended to be less vulnerable than dirigibles in use at the time. The R.XVI had four engines in a push-pull configuration, mounted in nacelles large enough for some inflight maintenance by flight mechanics, housed in nacelles between the engines.

Three aircraft were ordered to be completed by Automobil & Aviatik A.G., at Leipzig-Heiterblick. Only two R.XVIs were completed and only one of these, (R.49), flew before the Armistice on 11 November 1918. The third R.XVI (R.51) was 3/4 complete at the Armistice but was never completed.



Operational history
Flight testing was carried out by R.49 during the war from September 1918, until a landing accident in October caused significant damage which was unlikely to have been repaired. The second aircraft, (R.50), was completed in 1919 as a civilian airliner, continuing the flight test programme until being flown to Döberitz for storage in November 1919.