Zeppelin-Staaken VGO.II

The Zeppelin-Staaken VGO.II was a heavy bomber built in Germany in 1915 by Versuchsbau Gotha-Ost, a division of Gothaer Waggonfabrik. It was developed from the VGO.I that the Imperial German Navy had bought, but the Army purchased the VGO.II instead, and only one was built. Construction began in December 1914, the first flight took place on 25 October 1915 and it was accepted into Army service on 28 November with the serial R.9/15. It added a redesigned tail with a larger gap between the horizontal surfaces and machine-gun positions in the fronts of the engine nacelles, changes later fitted to the VGO.I. Assigned to Rfa 500 at Auce in February 1916, it became the first R-plane to see combat, the earliest substantiated raid being on 13 August against the railway junction at Sloka. A downward-firing 130-millimetre cannon was tried in it but removed because it was inaccurate. It became a training machine in January 1917 and was eventually damaged beyond repair in a hard landing.