Zeppelin-Lindau CL.I & CL.II

Role	Reconnaissance Type of aircraft
Manufacturer	Zeppelin-Lindau
Designer	Claude Dornier^[1]
First flight	3 November 1917 (CL.I) and 17 August 1918 (CL.II)^[1]
Status	Abandoned prototype
Primary user	Luftstreitkräfte
Number built	1

The Zeppelin-Lindau CL.II was a German single-engine two-seat biplane with an all metal structure, built by Zeppelin-Lindau during World War I.^[1]

Design

The CL.I was an all-metal single-bay wire-braced biplane, with a stressed skin fuselage, and fabric covered flying surfaces and represented an intermediate step which would lead to the similar but smaller and more refined D.I.

Development

Following the failure of the CL.I to reach the specified altitude of 5,000 m (16,000 ft), and its crash in February 1918 at Berlin Adlershof,^[1] the CL.Ia was built with a number of changes, which resulted in it being re-designated as the CL.II.^[2] The CL.II had the chord of the top wings increased by 100 mm (3.9 in) and the top wing was raised, increasing the height from 2.835 to 2.95 m (9 ft 3.6 in to 9 ft 8.1 in), while the rudder was redesigned to resolve the sole complaint from the test pilot.^[2] The radiator in the CL.I had been located between the wing spars in the upper wing, offset to the pilot's right, however as the plumbing obstructed the pilot's view, and the radiator reduced the efficiency of the wings, it was relocated to the nose of the aircraft.^[3]

With the Zeppelin-Lindau CS.I monoplane and Zeppelin-Lindau D.I showing more promise, development of the CL.II was abandoned and the last test flight was made on 14 September 1918.^[4]

Specifications

Data from Cross & Cockade^[5]

General characteristics

Crew: Two
Length: 7.46 m (24 ft 6 in)
Upper wingspan: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)
Lower wingspan: 9.0 m (29 ft 6 in)
Height: 2.95 m (9 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 15.84 m² (170.5 sq ft)
Empty weight: 727 kg (1,603 lb) Approximate, based on CL.I
Gross weight: 1,067 kg (2,352 lb) Approximate, based on CL.I
Fuel capacity: 130 L (29 imp gal; 34 US gal)
Oil capacity: 14 L (3.7 US gal; 3.1 imp gal)
Powerplant: 1 × Mercedes D.IIIa ^[2] 6-cylinder inline water-cooled piston engine, 120 kW (160 hp)
Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch wooden propeller^[a], 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) diameter

Performance

Endurance: 128 minutes longest test flight, full endurance likely 2 hours.^[3]
Service ceiling: 5,200 m (17,100 ft) maximum altitude reached during test flights^[3]

Armament

Guns: 1 × trainable 7.92 mm (0.312 in) Parabellum MG14 machine gun in observer's cockpit and 1 × fixed forward-firing 7.92 mm (0.312 in) LMG 08/15.^[1]

Notes

References

A Class	LZ 1
B Class	LZ 2 LZ 3
C Class	LZ 4 LZ 5
D Class	LZ 6
E Class	LZ 7 LZ 8
F Class	LZ 9 LZ 10 LZ 12
G Class	LZ 11 LZ 13
H Class	LZ 14 LZ 15 LZ 16 LZ 17 LZ 19 LZ 20
I Class	LZ 18
J Class	skipped
K Class	LZ 21
L Class	LZ 22 LZ 23
M Class	LZ 24 LZ 25 LZ 27 LZ 28 LZ 29 LZ 30 LZ 31 LZ 32 LZ 33 LZ 34 LZ 35 LZ 37
N Class	LZ 26
O Class	LZ 36 LZ 39
P Class	LZ 38 LZ 40 LZ 41 LZ 42 LZ 43 LZ 44 LZ 45 LZ 46 LZ 47 LZ 48 LZ 49 LZ 50 LZ 51 LZ 52 LZ 53 LZ 54 LZ 55 LZ 56 LZ 57 LZ 58 LZ 60 LZ 63
Q Class	LZ 59 LZ 61 LZ 64 LZ 65 LZ 66 LZ 67 LZ 68 LZ 69 LZ 71 LZ 73 LZ 77 LZ 81
R Class	LZ 62 LZ 72 LZ 74 LZ 75 LZ 76 LZ 78 LZ 79 LZ 80 LZ 82 LZ 83 LZ 84 LZ 85 LZ 86 LZ 87 LZ 88 LZ 89 LZ 90
S Class	LZ 91 LZ 92
T Class	LZ 93 LZ 94
U Class	LZ 95 LZ 96 LZ 97 LZ 98 LZ 99
V Class	LZ 100 LZ 101 LZ 103 LZ 105 LZ 106 LZ 107 LZ 108 LZ 109 LZ 110 LZ 111
W Class	LZ 102 LZ 104
X Class	LZ 112 LZ 113 LZ 114
Post-war	LZ 120 LZ 121 LZ 126 LZ 127 LZ 129 LZ 130
Unbuilt	LZ 70 LZ 115–LZ 119 LZ 122–LZ 125 LZ 128 LZ 131–LZ 132

Operator's
identification

Names	Bodensee Deutschland Deutschland II Dixmude Esperia Graf Zeppelin Graf Zeppelin II Hindenburg Hansa USS Los Angeles Méditerranée Nordstern Sachsen Schwaben Viktoria Luise
Army Z designations¹	Z I Ersatz Z I Ersatz Z I (2) Z II Ersatz Z II Z III Z IV Z V Z VI Z VII Z VIII Z IX Z X Z XI Z XII
Army LZ designations²	LZ 34 LZ 35 LZ 37 LZ 38 LZ 39 LZ 72 LZ 74 LZ 77 LZ 79 LZ 81 LZ 85 LZ 86 LZ 87 LZ 88 LZ 90 LZ 93 LZ 95 LZ 97 LZ 98 LZ 101 LZ 103 LZ 107 LZ 111 LZ 113 LZ 120
Navy L designations	L 1 L 2 L 3 L 4 L 5 L 6 L 7 L 8 L 9 L 10 L 11 L 12 L 13 L 14 L 15 L 16 L 17 L 18 L 19 L 20 L 21 L 22 L 23 L 24 L 30 L 31 L 32 L 33 L 34 L 35 L 36 L 37 L 38 L 39 L 40 L 41 L 42 L 43 L 44 L 45 L 46 L 47 L 48 L 49 L 50 L 51 L 52 L 53 L 54 L 55 L 56 L 57 L 58 L 59 L 60 L 61 L 62 L 63 L 64 L 65 L 70 L 71 L 72

Heavier-than-air
(aeroplanes)

Zeppelin-Staaken	8301 VGO.I VGO.II VGO.III R.IV R.V R.VI R.VII R.XIV R.XV R.XVI E.4/20
Zeppelin-Lindau	CL.I CL.II CS.I D.I Rs.I Rs.II Rs.III Rs.IV V1
Zeppelin Flugzeugebau	C.I C.II C.IV
Other	L 1 Rammer Fliegende Panzerfaust ZMe 323 ZMe 423 ZSO 523

¹Early Army designations, used pre-war. ²Wartime Army LZ designations were not always matched to Zeppelin's LZ hull number.

Idflieg C-, CL-, and CLS-class aircraft designations

C-

AEG	C.I C.II C.III C.IV C.V C.VI C.VII C.VIII
AGO	C.I C.II C.III C.IV C.V C.VI C.VII C.VIII C.IX
Albatros	C.I C.II C.III C.IV C.V C.VI C.VII C.VIII C.IX C.X C.XI C.XII C.XIII C.XIV C.XV
Aviatik	C.I C.II C.III C.IV C.V C.VI C.VII C.VIII C.IX
Caspar	C.I
DFW	C.I C.II C.III C.IV C.V C.VI
Fokker	C.I C.II C.III
Friedrichshafen	C.I
Germania	C.I C.II C.III C.IV
Halberstadt	C.I C.II C.III C.V C.VII C.VIII C.IX
Hannover	C.I C.IV
LFG Roland	C.I C.II C.III C.V C.VIII
LVG	C.I C.II C.III C.IV C.V C.VI C.VII C.VIII C.IX
OAW	C.I C.II
Otto	C.I C.II
Pfalz	C.I
Rumpler	C.I C.II C.III C.IV C.V C.VI C.VII C.VIII C.IX C.X
Sablatnig	C.I C.II C.III
Schütte-Lanz	C.I
Zeppelin	C.I C.II

CL-

BFW	CL.I CL.II CL.III CL.IV
Daimler	CL.I
Halberstadt	CL.II CL.IV
Hannover	CL.II CL.III CL.V
Junkers	CL.I
Zeppelin-Lindau	CL.I CL.II

CLS-

Albatros	CLS.I
Halberstadt	CLS.I CLS.II CLS.X
Junkers	CLS.I

Design

Development

Specifications

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading