Linke-Hofmann R.I

The Linke-Hofmann R.I was a German prototype bomber aircraft built during World War I, and probably the first attempt at a stealth bomber. It was an awkward looking bi-airplane with a fat high fuselage that completely filled the space between the wings. It looked like a whale that had sprouted wings. The rear of the fuselage was covered in Cellon, a type of celluloid to make the plane less visible. Unfortunately the Cellon reflected sunlight making in move visible, plus the Cellon would shrink and stretch depending on the weather causing troubles with trim.

The plane had a wing span of 105 ft., a length of 51 ft., and a height of 22 ft. The forward section of the fuselage was divided into three levels. The top was where the pilot cabin and wireless station, the middle level was the engine compartment and the bottom level was where the bombardiers cabin and fuel tanks.

The Linke-Hofmann R.I was powered by four 260 hp Mercedes D.IVa engines mounted inside the fuselage. These engines were tied into a gear-box assembly which transferred the power to mounted push, pull propeller assemblies between the wings via crankshafts giving the plane a maximum speed of Convert|140|km/h|mph|abbr=on.

The flight characteristics left much to be desired and was difficult to land due to the pilots inability to judge the ground elevation because of the flight cabin configuration. In addition the flight controls felt mushy due to the warping and flexing of the light wings. One pilot who looked back on flying it called it "not an aircraft but a sickness."

Even after the poor performance of the Linke-Hofmann R.I the company got a second contract to design and build a second R-Plane.

After the sad and humbling experiences with the Linke-Hofmann R.I, the designers took a radically different approach for the second R-Plane the Linke-Hofmann R.II.

ources

* The German Giants, The Story of the R-planes 1914-1919, G.W Haddow & Peter M. Grosz, 1963. Published by Putnam & Company 42 Great Russell Street London, ISBN 9780851778129