Dornier Rs.II

The Dornier Rs.II was a large German maritime patrol flying boat developed during the final years of World War I. Although the design originated in the Dornier workshops, production was taken over by the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin factory in Friedrichshafen, which supplied the wooden hulls and assembled the final aircraft for the Kaiserliche Marine. First flown in 1917, the Rs.II featured a multi‑engine layout with four 260 hp Maybach Mb.IVa inline engines mounted in push‑pull pairs on the upper wing, giving it a distinctive twin‑boom silhouette. Its 31‑meter wingspan and 21‑meter hull provided ample space for a crew of six and a payload of up to 800 kg of bombs or torpedoes, while the hull’s stepped design allowed relatively smooth take‑offs from water. The aircraft set several records for range and payload in 1918, demonstrating the potential of large seaplanes for long‑distance reconnaissance and anti‑shipping missions. Though only a handful were completed before the armistice, the Rs.II’s engineering solutions—especially its distributed engine arrangement and robust hull construction—directly influenced later Dornier and Zeppelin maritime aircraft, marking an important step toward the development of interwar and World‑II flying boats.

Luftschiffbau Zeppelin

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