Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.II

The Zeppelin-Lindau Rs.II, wrongly called the Dornier Rs.II after the war, was a biplane flying boat that Claudius Dornier designed as the successor to the Rs.I and built on the German side of Lake Constance. Although it resembled the Rs.I it had little in common with it: the hull was much broader and shorter, the upper wing had a low aspect ratio and the tail rode on an open lattice of tubular booms. The first version had three Maybach HS engines inside the hull driving pusher propellers through clutches, gearboxes and shafts. After it left the hangar on 17 May 1916 and a first successful take-off on 30 June 1916, a transmission failure on 17 July wrecked the tail. The rebuilt second version flew on 6 November 1916 with four Maybach Mb.IVa engines in two push-pull nacelles above the hull. Engine trouble continued, the Seaplane Testing Command evaluated it in June 1917, and a practice delivery flight ended when a propeller disintegrated and the damage was judged uneconomical to repair.