Mannesmann Poll

Mannesmann Poll


After long-range bombing by airships proved to be a somewhat risky and dangerous act of the enemy as well as its own air force, the command of the German Imperial Air Force sought a suitable replacement. This was to become the category R - ie Riesenflugzeuge, in other words giant aircraft. A number of projects were created, some of which were also implemented and deployed. Aircraft of this type, from today's point of view classifiable to the category of strategic long-range bombers, were also dealt with by designers on both sides of the battlefield - see, for example, Russian machines Ilja Muromec, English Tarrant Tabor apod. The structures usually did not save engines and bearing surfaces, which reflected the current development of materials and technologies. Nevertheless, some of the projects looked really extreme. An example is the German project Mannesmann Poll.


This huge triplane appears to be a swan song of the dying German Imperial Air Force. He came up with his name by chance. The name is unofficial, given by one of the English members of the Allied Air Control Commission, which in 1919, after signing an armistice agreement, found the machine in its unfinished state in a hangar at Mannesmann Airport in Poll, near Cologne.


Due to the lack of documents, no clear judgment can be made about the real purpose and deployment. Initially considered a giant bomber, capable of bombing New York, it was later evaluated as a transatlantic airliner. It was later announced that the mission of the triplane was to drop propaganda leaflets over the United States before the country entered the war, and so the United States was shown the technological superiority of the German Empire.

It is also unclear who was responsible for the design and construction of the bomber. Someone from the audit committee allegedly found the name Chief Engineer Forstman on the documents. But the man of this name, plus an aircraft designer, was nowhere to be seen. Thus, although the designer's name seems a bit of a mystery, there is a belief that the aircraft was the work of Villehad Forssman, who originally worked for Siemens-Schuckert and was involved in the design of R-category aircraft. as an unsuccessful four-engine large aircraft that Forssman built for Siemens-Schuckert in 1914/15, but due to incomplete information, Forssman's authorship is probably already unprovable. The construction was initially financed by Deutsche Bank, and Bruning&Sohn A. G., owners of the four largest high-quality plywood factories in Germany. Therefore, it is not surprising that plywood has been widely used in this construction.


When several missing parts were found, leading to the conclusion that they were made elsewhere, the I.A.A.C.C. he was amazed by both the overall concept and the detailed design of their findings. Nevertheless, they were skeptical of the overall structural concept, given the significant overweight, accompanied by efforts to reduce it as much as possible. The whole construction was heavy but at the same time extremely reduced. No internal or external reinforcements were used, but everything was covered with two layers of three-layer plywood. Such a construction resembled a boat where no kiln would come down than an aircraft structure. At the same time, it did little to increase strength. In addition, the ailerons were too small, the center of gravity too far behind, and the elevators would be ineffective. It is therefore problematic whether the aircraft would really be able to fly if it was completed.


The center wing span was 165 feet (50.3 m); the upper and lower wings were the same range, but somewhat smaller. On the middle wing were located eight engines, mounted in tandem two in gondolas in a pull-push arrangement, and a pair of equally arranged engines were also in the middle of the lower wing under the fuselage.The fuselage was 45.70 meters long and slender, as if deployed on the middle wing.


The projected flight time was eighty hours at a speed of 80 miles per hour (130 km/h), which in 1919 represents an almost unthinkable range of 10,500 kilometers. To this end, tanks were created capable of carrying a corresponding load of fuel.


Part of the aircraft and one wheel 8 feet (2.2 m) in diameter were sent by the commission to England for study. Time has consumed most of the parts, but one giant wheel has survived to this day. It was carefully restored in 1994 and is a prized exhibit at the British Imperial War Museum in Duxford.


Note - there is a view that the ten-engine triplane used by filmmakers in one of the episodes ( Attack of the Hawkmen) TV series Young Indiana Jones is more than strongly inspired by this particular machine. Everyone can make their own opinion, picture attached.


sources:
it.wikipedia.org
newsgroups.derkeiler.com
www.nurflugel.com
www.aeropedia.info
de.wikipedia.org
www.theaerodrome.com
www.secretprojects.co.uk
www.rcgroups.com
www.innermind.com

And the promised illustrations:


note - the film triplane, of course, does not have arcuate trailing edges. This is a fantasy of filmmakers, who obviously find this form reasonably ancient .