Zeppelin-Staaken VGO.III

The Zeppelin-Staaken VGO.III was a heavy bomber built in Germany in 1916 by Versuchsbau Gotha-Ost and bought by the Army, and it was the first six-engined aircraft in the world. Only one was built. It shared the wings of the VGO.I and VGO.II but replaced their troublesome Maybach HS engines with six Mercedes D.III units mounted in pairs, each pair joined by a gearbox and clutch to drive one propeller so that the surviving engine could keep it turning if its partner failed. One pair sat in the nose and two pairs in nacelles in the interplane gap, and the aircraft also carried a radio set, which was unusual for the time. Construction began in October 1915, the first flight came between 29 May and 4 June 1916 and it was accepted into Army service on 28 August as R.10/15. Assigned to Rfa 500, it flew around seven combat missions near Riga before a training landing at Auce on 24 January 1917 ended in a fire that killed five crew, the first fatal accident involving an R-plane.