Albatros Publications Ltd.

Windsock Datafile No. 123: Staaken At War

by  Ray Rimell

Reviewed By  Brian R. Baker, IPMS# 43146

MSRP: £10.75 ($22.45) Review copy provided by Albatros Pruductions www.windsockdatafilespecials.co.uk Synopsis The Giant bombers known as R-Planes used by the German Army Air Service during World War I were some of the most remarkable aircraft used in any conflict in history. Since Roden came out with their kit of the R.VI, and Windsock published their first volume on the subject (Datafile No. 95), it is only appropriate to tell, as Paul Harvey used to say, "The Rest of the Story". That is what this publication does. I have always been impressed by the R-Planes, which were essentially very heavy bombers with engines that were accessible in flight by mechanics who were carried on board. The airplanes were gigantic by any standard, and my Roden model of the Zeppelin Staaken R.VI is no smaller than the B-29 it is parked next to in my model cabinet. These planes were seriously underpowered, being as large as a B-29 but having engines only developing between 980 and 1500 hp, less than the power of a SINGLE engine on a Superfortress. And this was with a gross weight of about 30,000 pounds and a prodigious amount of drag. Although they were slow, very few were destroyed by enemy action, but they must have been very difficult and tiresome to fly during the long missions over England that was their reason for existence. But then, serving in these aircraft was probably better duty that being in the infantry. Since the previous Datafile dealt with the R.VI, the most produced version and subject of Roden's kit, this publication deals with the others, although I did not see any mention of the very odd Linke-Hoffman R.1 (a whale-like enclosed biplane) and the R.II, which was essentially a scaled up Albatros-like biplane with a biplane tail unit, a 138 foot wingspan, and four engines geared to a single prop which was 22 feet 8 inches in diameter and which turned at a maximum 545 rpm. But these were prototypes, and the book deals mainly with production aircraft which saw service against the Allies, although all of these airplanes were basically hand-made. The book covers the operational careers of the R.IV, R.V, R.VII, R.XIV, R.XV, and R.XIVa. The fact that only two of them were lost to enemy action speaks well of the design, although it is true that these aircraft operated by night in an era when radar didn't exist and a night interceptor had very little chance of ever coming in contact with one of these giant raiders, and if one was intercepted, the rifle caliber machine guns used by the R.A.F. fighters probably didn't have the power to significantly damage the target aircraft. These aircraft came into service when the Germans decided that the hydrogen-filled zeppelins had become too vulnerable for further operations. Where the zeppelins failed, the R-Planes, along with the Gotha and Friedrichshafen medium bombers, carried the war to England and France until the end of hostilities in 1918. A number of them actually survived the war, and a few were even completed after the war, and commercial development was contemplated until the terms of the Versailles Treaty put an end to German civil aviation. This publication is excellent in all respects. I have not seen any of the photos before, and they are clear and useful for modeler and historian alike. There is considerable information on color schemes and markings, although not much information survives on the subject, and the non-existence of color photography means that we will probably never know the exact colors. The 1/72 scale drawings are very well done, and there is even a photograph of an instrument panel. If you have any interest in World War I aviation, especially in German aircraft, this book is worth getting. It can be obtained from www.windsockdatafilespecials.co.uk. Thanks to Albatros Productions and John Noack of IPMS/USA for the review copy. Highly recommended.

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