The Rohrbach Ro VIII Roland was an

airliner An airliner is a type of aircraft for transporting passengers and air cargo. Such aircraft are most often operated by airlines. Although the definition of an airliner can vary from country to country, an airliner is typically defined as an ...

produced in Germany during the 1920s. It was a conventional strut-braced, high-wing monoplane, based loosely on the

Zeppelin-Staaken E-4/20 The Zeppelin-Staaken E-4/20 was a revolutionary four-engine all-metal passenger monoplane designed in 1917 by Adolf Rohrbach and completed in 1919 at the Zeppelin-Staaken works outside Berlin, Germany. The E-4/20 was the first four-engine, all- ...

that Adolf Rohrbach designed in 1920. It had a fully enclosed flight deck and passenger cabin, and featured fixed, tailskid undercarriage. Power was supplied by three engines, one in the nose, and two mounted in nacelles on the wings. Construction was of metal throughout.

Design and development

In 1926

Deutsche Luft Hansa ''Deutsche Luft Hansa A.G.'' (from 1933 styled as ''Deutsche Lufthansa'' and also known as ''Luft Hansa'', ''Lufthansa'', or DLH) was a German airline, serving as flag carrier of the country during the later years of the Weimar Republic and th ...

purchased the prototype Roland, followed by five production examples over that year and the next.Munson 1982, p.138 The production machines were built with open flight decks, although they were later enclosed, as on the prototype. These were put to work servicing a route between

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

via

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

and

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. In July 1927 the Roland held the world endurance record for a payload of 1,000 kg with a flight of 14 hours 23 minutes, and the world distance record for a payload of 2,000 kg of . At different times, the Roland held twenty-two world records. In 1928, Luft Hansa replaced three of its Rolands with new machines of slightly different design. Designated Ro VIIIa, these had a fuselage that was stretched by 30 cm (1 ft) and were powered by the more powerful

BMW V __NOTOC__ The BMW V was a six-cylinder, water-cooled inline aircraft engine built in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe a ...

engines in place of the

BMW IV The BMW IV was a six-cylinder, water-cooled inline aircraft engine built in Germany in the 1920s. Power was in the 180 kW (250 hp) range. World record On 17 June 1919 Franz Zeno Diemer flew a DFW F37, powered by a BMW IV engine to ...

s fitted to the prototype and first production batch. A new Spanish airline,

Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

, purchased the three Rolands that Luft Hansa retired, and put them into service on its inaugural service between

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. In 1929, Rohrbach produced nine examples of a substantially updated Roland for Luft Hansa. These featured a major redesign of the flight deck, and a new wing design. Dubbed the Roland II, these aircraft continued in service with the airline until 1936 on its

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

–

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

and

–

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

routes. Luft Hansa sold at least three of these aircraft to

Deruluft Deruluft (, or Deruluft) was a joint German-Soviet airline, established on 11 November 1921.Allaz, Camille. ''History of Air Cargo and Airmail from the 18th Century''.Christopher Foyle Publishing, 2005. p. 139. Deruluft opened its first permanen ...

upon retirement. The

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

acquired another one, armed it, and operated it at the clandestine school at

Lipetsk Lipetsk ( rus, links=no, Липецк, p=ˈlʲipʲɪtsk), also romanized as Lipeck, is a city and the administrative center of Lipetsk Oblast, Russia, located on the banks of the Voronezh River in the Don basin, southeast of Moscow. Populatio ...

to train bomber crews. During his 1932 election campaign,

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

hired a

Rohrbach Ro VIII Roland The Rohrbach Ro VIII Roland was an airliner produced in Germany during the 1920s. It was a conventional strut-braced, high-wing monoplane, based loosely on the Zeppelin-Staaken E-4/20 that Adolf Rohrbach designed in 1920. It had a fully enclose ...

aeroplane from Deutsche Luft Hansa for his two first series of campaign flights in March and July. The aeroplane was named ''Immelmann I'' after World War I pilot

Max Immelmann Max Immelmann (21 September 1890 – 18 June 1916) '' PLM'' was the first German World War I flying ace.Shores, 1983, p. 10. He was a pioneer in fighter aviation and is often mistakenly credited with the first aerial victory using a synchr ...

. Hitler switched to a

Ju 52 The Junkers Ju 52/3m (nicknamed ''Tante Ju'' ("Aunt Ju") and ''Iron Annie'') is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by German aviation company Junkers. Development of the Ju 52 commenced during 1930, headed by German aeron ...

in November 1932.

Popular culture

The

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...

Tibidabo Tibidabo () is a hill overlooking Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. At , it is the tallest hill in the Serra de Collserola. Rising sharply to the north-west, it has views over the city and the surrounding coastline. The summit of the hill is occupie ...

(

) got a real-size replica of that plane, painted red. It is the most famous ride in the park, opened on September 23, 1928, sometimes referred to as "the first

flight simulator A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

in the world", and called "L'avió" (

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

for "the plane").

Variants

''Data from:''German Aviation 1919 - 1945 ;Ro VIII Roland I:Initial version powered by three

6-cylinder in-line water-cooled engines. ;Ro VIIIa Roland Ia :Three aircraft purchased by

, with a fuselage stretch, powered by three

6-cylinder in-line water-cooled engines. ;Ro VIII Roland II: A significantly up-graded version for Deutsche Luft Hansa, with revised cockpit and re-designed wing, powered by three BMW V engines; nine built.

Specifications (Ro VIIIa Roland Ia)

References

External links

Rohrbach Ro VIII Roland
{{Kurt Tank aircraft 1920s German airliners

Roland Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the ...

High-wing aircraft Trimotors Aircraft first flown in 1926