This company, located formerly at Gotha, built the largest
aircraft to see service in the First World
R.IV
War, the Riesenflugzeug
(giant aeroplane) "R" series bombers. The Staaken
design team evolved four-, five- and six-engined bombers,
leading to the four-engined R.VI which was built by Automobil
and Aviatik, Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke and
Luftfahrzeugbau Schütte-Lanz and carried out successful
raids
E-4/20
against Allied territory, dropping bombs as
large as 1,000kg. A floatplane version of the
R.VI, the Staaken L, was wrecked during trials in 1918. An advanced four-engined all-metal monoplane airliner,
the E.4/20, flew successfully in 1920 but was then
destroyed by order of the Allied Control Commission under
the terms of the Armistice.
