Dipl.-Ing. Adolf Rohrbach, senior designer at wartime Zeppelinwerke Lindau, was world’s greatest pioneer of metal stressed-skin construction. He could have stayed with Dornier, but in 1919 he designed Zeppelin-Staaken E.4250, world’s first modern airliner with 4 engines along leading edge of stressed-skin wing. In July 1922 he formed Rohrbach Metall Flugzeugbau GmbH, with subsidiary Rohrbach Metall-Aeroplan A/S in Copenhagen to evade Allied restrictions. Considering their superior structures, total number of aircraft produced (about 30) disappointing. All were high-wing cantilever monoplanes, some flying-boats with engines above wing (Ro II, Ro III and IIIa Roddra, Ro IV and Beardmore Inverness, Ro V Rocco, Ro VI Robbe and Ro X Romar) and others landplanes, notably Ro VIII Roland and VIIIa Roland II. By 1928 Allies no longer bothered. Kurt Tank designed final Copenhagen product, Ro IX Rofix fighter (1926), then went to Focke-Wulf. Tooling moved to Germany where Ro X boats were built before company taken over in April 1934 by Weser, Rohrbach becoming technical director.

Rohrbach aircraft

Ro.II ‘Rodra’; 1923; Number built: 15; Versions: 6
Ro.V ‘Rocco’; 1927; Number built: 1
Ro.VII ‘Robbe’; 1926; Number built: 2; Versions: 1
Ro.VIIb ‘Robbe II’; 1927; Number built: 1
Ro.VIII ‘Roland I’; 1926; Number built: 14; Versions: 1; Photo - Video
Ro.VIIIb ‘Roland II’; 1929; Number built: 12; Versions: 1
Ro.IX ‘Rofix’; 1926; Number built: 2; Versions: 1
Ro.X ‘Romar’; 1928; Number built: 3; Versions: 1
Ro.X ‘Romar II’; 1931; Number built: 1
Ro.XI ‘Rostra’; 1928; Number built: 1