林克-霍夫曼
A Breslau railway-wagon giant that dabbled in giant bombers during the First World War and built an aircraft turning the largest single propeller ever fitted to any plane.
Linke-Hofmann: the company and the aircraft that made its name
Railway wagons, then giants
Linke-Hofmann was a railway company first, last and almost always. Its roots go back to the wheelwright shop that Gottfried Linke took over in Breslau in 1834 and turned into a wagon works in 1839. In 1912 it merged with its local rival Gebr. Hofmann & Co. to form the Linke-Hofmann-Werke. When the First World War came, the firm was one of many German industrial houses drawn into aviation with no aeronautical experience, repairing and licence-building Roland and Albatros two-seaters before winning a 1916 contract for a four-engined Riesenflugzeug, or giant aircraft.
A bomber you could see through
Designer Paul Stumpf’s first answer, the R.I, was startlingly odd. Its tall fuselage filled the whole gap between the wings, housing four Mercedes engines that mechanics could tend in flight, and the first prototype was skinned in transparent Cellon to make it harder to see. The idea backfired: the film reflected sunlight, yellowed and sagged. One pilot remembered the R.I as not an aircraft but a sickness. One prototype’s wings collapsed at low altitude; another nosed over and was never repaired.
The biggest propeller in history
The R.II went the other way: essentially a single-engined biplane scaled up about three times, with all four engines driving one Garuda propeller 6.90 metres across, the largest single propeller ever used to propel an aircraft. Flown after the Armistice in 1919, it handled well, even on two engines. Plans for a 12-passenger airliner died under the Versailles restrictions, and Linke-Hofmann went back to trains. As Linke-Hofmann-Busch it later built metro and S-Bahn stock, and today it is part of Alstom.
Linke-Hofmann in numbers
公司
- 简而言之
- Founded 1912 (roots 1839)
- Railway wagon and locomotive builder in Breslau
- Formed by the 1912 merger of the Linke works with Gebr. Hofmann & Co.
- Aircraft work only during and just after the First World War
生产
- 最出名的是
- RI 和 R.II 巨人
- Licence-built Roland and Albatros two-seaters
- Four R.I and two R.II heavy bombers completed
- None entered squadron service
今天
- 现在
- Part of Alstom
- Became Linke-Hofmann-Busch after the war, re-established in Salzgitter
- GEC Alsthom took a 51 percent stake in 1994
No aircraft activity since 1919.
这些数字
- Linke-Hofmann R.I built
- 4
- Linke-Hofmann R.II built
- 2
- R.II propeller diameter
- 6.90 m
Every notable Linke-Hofmann aircraft
| 飞机 | 角色 | 首航 | 建造 | 地位 | 笔记 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roland C.IIa (licence) | Reconnaissance two-seater | 已退休 | Licence production and repair work | ||
| Albatros B.IIa, C.III and C.X (licence) | Two-seat trainers and reconnaissance | 已退休 | Licence production | ||
| Linke-Hofmann R.I | 重型轰炸机 | 1917 | 4 | 已退休 | Fuselage filled the wing gap; first prototype covered in transparent Cellon |
| Linke-Hofmann R.II | 重型轰炸机 | 1919 | 2 | 已退休 | Four engines driving one 6.90 m propeller |
Where Linke-Hofmann built, who led it, what it achieved
工厂
- Mochbern works · Breslau (Wrocław) — Main wagon and locomotive works from 1906–1912; nationalised in 1945 as Pafawag
人们
- Paul Stumpf · designer — Designed both Riesenflugzeug types
- Gottfried Linke · founder of the original wagon works — Took over his father’s wheelwright shop in 1834
纪录和第一
- R.II turned the largest single propeller ever used to propel an aircraft, 6.90 m in diameter
Linke-Hofmann, year by year
Gottfried Linke takes over the family wheelwright shop in Breslau
Wagon works Gottfried Linke founded
Merger with Gebr. Hofmann & Co. creates the Linke-Hofmann-Werke
Contract to design and build a four-engined Riesenflugzeug
R.I flight testing begins; both early prototypes are lost
R.II flies after the Armistice; airliner plans blocked by the Allies
Breslau works nationalised by Poland as Pafawag; company re-established in Salzgitter
GEC Alsthom acquires a 51 percent shareholding
Everything people ask about Linke-Hofmann
What aircraft did Linke-Hofmann build?
Why is the Linke-Hofmann R.II famous?
Why was the R.I covered in transparent material?
Does Linke-Hofmann still exist?