Zeppelin E 4/20
| Zeppelin E 4/20 "Staaken" | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Airliner |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
November 9, 1920 |
| Production time: |
May 1919 - September 1920 |
| Number of pieces: |
1 |
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The Zeppelin-Staaken E 4/20 was a German airliner made by Zeppelin-Werke GmbH Staaken after the First World War. It could hold up to 18 passengers and was the world's first four-engine airliner in all-metal construction . It was scrapped in November 1922 on the instructions of the Inter-Allied Control Commission .
history
The Zeppelin works in Staaken had already developed and manufactured multi-engine bombers during the First World War . Building on this experience , Adolf Rohrbach , who moved from the Zeppelin works in Seemoos to Staaken in 1917, designed a four-engine all-metal aircraft for passenger transport after an order placed by Zeppelin General Director Alfred Colsman in May 1919, although he drew from the previously used double-decker composite construction and turned to the metal monoplane . One requirement included maintaining the ability to fly in twin-engine flight with a full payload. The prototype was completed in September 1920 and made its maiden flight with Carl Kuring on November 9, 1920 . In the subsequent flight tests, a top speed of 225 km / h and with throttled drives still 211 km / h could be achieved. The trial was so successful that Colsmann was already planning a deployment on the Friedrichshafen – Berlin route from the end of 1920. However, the Inter-Allied Control Commission, which critically monitored the construction and testing of the E 4/20, saw a camouflaged bomber aircraft in the E 4/20 and, since the German Reich was prohibited from building military aircraft on the basis of the Versailles Treaty , finally ordered it on May 21 November begins its destruction. Undesired competition between the advanced design and Allied designs certainly contributed to this decision. On their orders, the aircraft was scrapped in November 1922.
construction
The E 4/20 was an all-metal aircraft and designed as a cantilever high-wing aircraft. The load-bearing outer skin consisted of smooth duralumin sheets with riveted stiffeners and recessed transverse walls for internal stiffening. In order to save weight, the wings had for the first time been given box spars designed as hollow bodies with reinforcements made of truss ribs . Since their strength was not yet sufficiently known, a cable ran from the underside of the wing to the fuselage on each side to absorb the vibrations. The four six-cylinder in - line engines from Maybach were embedded in the wings, which in turn were equipped with crawler gears, from which a mechanic could observe and repair the engines during the flight.
The passenger cabin offered space for a maximum of 18 people on short trips. Twelve seats were provided for longer flight times. There was also a washroom with toilet in the rear area, as well as storage space for luggage and the radio system. In the bow area there was a viewing room with a small galley. The cockpit was located above the passenger cabin and had double controls . The baggage compartment was loaded through a hatch on the top of the aircraft.
The rudders of the tail unit and the ailerons embedded in the wings were aerodynamically balanced. The rigid chassis consisted of the main wheels connected by swing axles and hinged to the fuselage with telescopic rods, as well as a grinding spur on the stern.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 3 |
| Passengers | 12-18 |
| length | 16.50 m |
| span | 31.00 m |
| height | 4.50 m |
| Wing area | 106 m² |
| Wing extension | 9.1 |
| Wing loading | 80.18 kg / m² |
| Power load | 8.17 kg / PS (11.12 kg / kW) 9.81 PS / m² (7.20 kW / m²) |
| Empty mass | 6072 kg |
| Preparation mass | 7522 kg |
| payload | 978 kg |
| Payload | 2428 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 8500 kg |
| Engines | four 6-cylinder in-line Maybach Mb IVa engines with 191 kW (260 hp) each |
| Top speed | 225 km / h near the ground |
| Cruising speed | 200 km / h near the ground |
| Landing speed | 110-130 km / h |
| Rate of climb | 3.00 m / s |
| Service ceiling | 5500 m |
| Range | 1200 km |
| Max. Flight time | 6 h |
| Take-off run | 150 m |
| Landing runway | 200 m |
See also
literature
- Wolfgang Wagner: German air traffic - the pioneering years 1919–1925. In Die deutsche Luftfahrt Volume 11, Bernard & Graefe, Koblenz 1987, ISBN 3-7637-5274-9 , pp. 124-126.
- Wilfried Copenhagen , Jochen K. Beeck: The large aircraft type book. , Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-613-02522-6 , p. 110.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Wagner, p. 81