DFW R.III

The DFW R.III was a heavy bomber () biplane aircraft to be built by the (DFW) during the First World War for the Imperial German Army's () Imperial German Air Service (). Design work had begun two months before the end of the war in November 1918, but was terminated at that time before construction began.

Development

The Inspectorate of Flying Troops ( ordered two improved versions of the company's preceding R.II bomber on 3 September 1918. That aircraft's flying performance was mediocre and more power was thought to be the answer. More powerful engines were not available so the number of engines was doubled to eight Mercedes D.IVas in the fuselage. Each was to be connected to a coaxial contra-rotating propeller in a push-pull configuration via a driveshaft. The propeller gearboxes were to be housed in a nacelle between the wings that also contained the fuel tanks. Another concept examined was use pairs of engines geared together to a single propeller, also in a push-pull arrangement. One or two auxiliary Template:Cvt Mercedes D.II engines would drive superchargers that could maintain the R.III's performance up to an altitude of Template:Cvt.

The pilots' cockpit was located under the trailing edge of the upper wing and the navigator had his own compartment forward of the wings. The aircraft was intended to be armed with eight machine guns in twin-gun mounts, fired by gunners located in upper nose, lower nose, ventral and dorsal positions of the double-decker fuselage. The R.III was required to be able to lift Template:Cvt of bombs.

External links

• "The German D.F.W. Commercial Four-Engined Biplane" Flight 25 September 1919, vol. XI, no. 39, pp. 1274–1278. The R.III is described and illustrated on pp. 1276–1277.