The Zeppelin-Staaken E-4/20 was a revolutionary four-engine all-metal passenger monoplane designed in 1917 by Adolf Rohrbach and completed in 1919 at the Zeppelin-Staaken works outside Berlin , Germany . The E-4/20 was the first four-engine, all-metal stressed skin heavier-than-air airliner built.
8-463: At a time when most aircraft were small, single-engine biplanes made of wood and canvas, the E-4 was a large (102-foot wingspan), all-metal, four-engine, stress-skinned , semi-monocoque , cantilevered-wing monoplane , with an enclosed cockpit , and accommodation for 18 passengers plus a crew of five, including two pilots, a radio operator, an engineer and a steward, as well as radio-telegraph communications,
16-456: A series of R-Planes . Zeppelin was one of the first aeronautical pioneers to apply stringent scientific principles to the design of aircraft, focusing on issues like power-to-weight ratios of engines and using the then new metal alloy aluminium for structural components. Zeppelin heard of the success in Russia of Igor Sikorsky 's pioneering 4-engined Le Grand and Ilya Muromets aircraft. From
24-574: A toilet, a galley and separate baggage and mail storage. With a maximum speed of 143 mph, cruising speed of 211 km/h (131 mph), a range of about 1,210 km (750 mi), and a fully loaded weight of 8,500 kg (18,739 lb), it outperformed most other airliners of its day. The E-4 included numerous innovations, including its all-metal monocoque construction, onboard facilities such as lavatory, kitchen and radio communications, and its notable and sturdy monoplane load-bearing box-girder wing constructed of dural metal which formed both
32-594: The R-VI . Adolf Rohrbach went on to found his own aircraft company, Rohrbach Metall-Flugzeugbau where he designed and built a number of innovative civil all-metal airliners, such as the Ro-VIII trimotor as well as some groundbreaking flying boats . The Smithsonian Institution 's " Airspace Magazine " suggested that Rohrbach could have been Germany's Boeing or Douglas but that the Inter-Allied Commission deemed
40-564: The E-4/20 too much of a threat as a potential bomber to be allowed to go into serial production and ordered its destruction, even declining offers to sell it to allied countries. The 1932 Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta used a very similar configuration, differing in construction details and more powerful engines. Data from General characteristics Performance Stressed skin Too Many Requests If you report this error to
48-670: The orders of the Inter-Allied Commission . The Zeppelin-Staaken E-4/20 was a product of the innovative Zeppelin Airship company. Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin , founder of the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH (Zeppelin Airship Construction Co.) was himself a major aeronautical innovator, creator of the groundbreaking giant aluminium alloy framed Zeppelin lighter than air dirigible airships and later developer of
56-453: The outbreak of war in 1914 the 4-engined Ilya Muromets class of aircraft were used as heavy bombers. The German government saw the potential for large strategic bombers and issued a design standard which was used by several manufacturers to produce Riesenflugzeuge ("Giant Aircraft") or R-Planes. The most successful design and manufacturing company of R-Planes was Zeppelin which was also the only company to manufacture them in series production,
64-407: The wing's main girder and the structure of the wing itself. Skinned with thin sheets of dural metal to give the aerofoil shape necessary for a wing, the girder section wing had fabric covered leading and trailing edges attached to it. This superb and innovative wing was robust and self-supporting. The E-4 was completed in 1919 and test flown between 30 September 1920 and 1922 when it was broken up on
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