The LVG G.III was a large, twin engine triplane bomber built in Germany near the end of World War I. Only one was completed.

Design and development

The LVG G.III is sometimes known as the Schütte-Lanz G.V or Schütte-Lanz Schül G.V as it was a Schütte-Lanz design but built by

LVG Luftverkehrsgesellschaft m.b.H. (L.V.G. or LVG) was a German aircraft manufacturer based in Berlin- Johannisthal, which began constructing aircraft in 1912, building Farman-type aircraft. The company constructed many reconnaissance and light bombe ...

. It was a triplane, the only one of its kind designated G or twin engined by the Idflieg. Only one example of this very large aircraft was built. It was a three bay triplane, the bays separated by parallel pairs of interplane struts. The fabric covered wings were unswept and had constant

chord Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord ( ...

and blunt tips. The spans decreased a little from top to bottom plane, so the outer interplane struts leaned outwards; there was little stagger. There were externally connected

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

s on each plane. The

Maybach Mb.IV The Maybach Mb.IV, originally designated Maybach HS, (only related to the Mb IVa by layout and size), was a six cylinder in-line piston engine of output, originally developed for use in airships. It was also used for large aircraft such as the Ze ...

six cylinder inline engines were mounted in the inner bay on the central plane, neatly and fully cowled. The fuselage of the G.III was round in section and smoothly covered in

plywood Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...

. There was an open gunner's position in the blunt extreme nose. It had a

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

tail, with the lower tailplane attached to the underside of the fuselage and the upper one raised a little above it. Twin fins and rudders were positioned between the two tailplanes, near to their tips. it had a wide track, conventional, fixed undercarriage with double mainwheels and a tailskid mounted below the fuselage on a small extension. The G.III first appeared just before the war's end.

Specifications

References

Bibliography

* {{Idflieg G, GL, K, L and N-class designations Triplanes 1910s German bomber aircraft LVG G.III Aircraft first flown in 1918 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft