Friedrichshafen G . III The Friedrichshafen G . III ( factory designation FF . 45 ) was a medium bomber designed and manufactured by " Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen " . They were used by the German Imperial Air Service ( the " Luftstreitkräfte " ) during World War I for tactical and limited strategic bombing operations . After the end of the war a number of Friedrichshafen bombers were converted into transport aircraft while a small number also saw service as dedicated airliners . Development . The earlier G . II paved the way for the larger and more powerful G . III , which entered service in early 1917 . While it looked somewhat similar to the G . II , the G . III was longer and had a greater wingspan which caused its designers to increase the number of interplane struts to three pairs on each side of the fuselage . Operational experience with the G . II had revealed a tendency for the aircraft to " nose over " during landings with deadly consequences for the nose gunner and possibly also the pilot . Friedrichshafen engineers solved this problem by equipping the G . III with an auxiliary wheel mounted under the nose gunner ' s position . The G . III also used the more powerful six - cylinder 190 kW ( 260 hp ) Mercedes D . IVa engines . The extra power increased the bomb carrying capability enabling the aircraft to carry a bomb load of up to 1 , 000 kg ( 2 , 200 lb ) , though this severely reduced operational range . In practice , the heaviest bomb load rarely exceeded 600 kg ( 1 , 320 lb ) . Some of the bomb load could be carried internally but most of it was carried on removable external bomb - racks and usually consisted of streamlined P . u . W bomb s but specialized munitions such as air - mine s could also be carried . As production continued modifications were made to the G . III series that resulted in further two sub - variants : Variants . Friedrichshafen G . IIIa . This sub - variant reintroduced a box - shaped biplane tail unit which improved the aircraft ' s control response when it was being flown on one engine . Another modification was the installation of a third 7 . 92 mm ( . 312 in ) machine gun to combat British night fighter s , which often attacked German bombers from below where they were hard to spot but the bomber ' s silhouette was easy to see against the night sky . This gun was mounted on a tubular , sliding mounting bolted to the floor of the rear gunner ' s position and was fired downward through a small sloping gun - tunnel cut into the bottom of the rear fuselage . By the last year of the war , the G . IIIa had replaced the G . III in production . Friedrichshafen G . IIIb . Towards the end of the war , the G . IIIa was further modified by re - designing the rear gunner ' s position , which was connected to the pilot ' s cockpit by an open passageway . Operations . The Friedrichshafen G . III series was ordered in large numbers from Friedrichshafen ( 709 ordered ) , Daimler ( 75 ordered ) and " Hanseatische Flugzeug Werke " ( 280 ordered ) and most of these aircraft were delivered before the war ended . A license for the production of the Friedrichshafen G . IIIa was acquired by the " Oesterreichische Flugzeugfabrik A . G . " ( " Oeffag " ) for the Austro - Hungarian " Luftfahrttruppe " but the project was cut short before production began by the end of World War I . In front - line service with the " Luftstreitkräfte " , the G . III series equipped a large portion of the bomber force until the end of the war . The G . III series bombers served mainly on the Western Front where they were used to great effect . Being the most numerous German bomber type , Friedrichshafen G . III / IIIa bombers would have been responsible for much of the damage done by the German bomber force . Friedrichshafen bombers were used for attacks on tactical targets behind the Allied lines as well as for strategic air raid s on major urban centers such as Paris . As far as is known no Friedrichshafen bombers of any type ever participated in strategic air raids on Britain . The attacks on Britain were conducted exclusively by Gotha G . IV and G . V medium bombers , Zeppelin Staaken R . IV heavy bomber s and Zeppelin airships . The G . III was generally well liked by its military crews for its load carrying capability , reliability and robustness . These same qualities also made it popular with commercial operators during its short post - war career as a transport aircraft and airliner . Transport and airliner conversions . After the end of World War I , the German government and at least one commercial airline , " Deutsche Luft - Reederei " ( DLR ) , operated a fleet of Friedrichshafen G . III series aircraft which were used to transport mail , high priority cargoes and the occasional passenger to and from a variety of destinations including some long distance flights to Ukraine . For this purpose , a standard bomber , usually a G . IIIa or G . IIIb , was subjected to a set of modifications ranging from the simple disarmament to fitting a rudimentary cargo compartment in place of the rear gunner ' s position . Some of the DLR aircraft had the rear gunner ' s position replaced with a fully enclosed , glazed passenger cabin . Eventually , all these operations were stopped by the Allies in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles .