Category Archives: Fighter

Fighter

Fighter, Fighterbomber

Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8/R-1, II/JG 1 (Revell Models)

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TYPE: Fighter, Fighterbomber

ACCOMMODATION:  Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One BMW 801D-2 air-cooled radial engine, rated at 1,677 hp

PERFORMANCE: 405 mph at 9,420 ft

COMMENT: The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed Würger (Shrike) was a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulff Company in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the Messerschmitt Me 109, the Fw 190 became the backbone of the Jagdwaffe (Fighter Force) of the Luftwaffe. The twin-row BMW 801 radial engine that powered most operational versions enabled the Fw 190 to lift larger loads than the Me 109, allowing its use as a day fighter, fighter bomber, ground-attack aircraft and to a lesser degree, nught fighter.
The Fw 190A started flying operationally over France in August 1941 and quickly proved superior in all but turn radius to the Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V, the main front-line fighter of the Royal Air Force (RAF), particularly at low and medium altitudes. The 190 maintained its superiority over Allied fighters until the introduction of the improved Supermarine Spitfire Mk. IX. In November/December 1942, the Fw 190 made its air combat debut on the Eastern Front, finding much success in fighter wings and specialised ground attack units (Schlachtgeschwader – Battle Wings or Strike Wings) from October 1943.
The Fw 190A series’ performance decreased at high altitudes (usually 20,000 ft and above, which reduced its effectiveness as a high-altitude interceptor. From the Fw 190’s inception, there had been ongoing efforts to address this with a turbosuper-charged BMW 801 in the Focke-Wulf Fw 190B model, the much longer-nosed Focke-Wulf Fw 190C model with efforts to also turbocharge its chosen Daimler Benz DB 603 inverted V12 powerplant, and the similarly long-nosed Focke-Wulf  Fw 190D model with the Junkers Jumo 213. Problems with the turbocharger installations on the -B and -C subtypes meant only the D model entered service in September 1944. These high-altitude developments eventually led to the Focke-Wulf/Tank Ta 152, which was capable of extreme speeds at medium to high altitudes (469 mph at 44,300 ft. While these “long nose” Fw 190 variants and the Ta 152 derivative especially gave the Germans parity with Allied opponents, they arrived too late to affect the outcome of the war.
The Fw 190A-8 entered production in February 1944, powered either by the standard BMW 801 D-2 or the 801Q (also known as 801TU). The 801Q/TU, with the “T” signifying a Triebwerksanlage unitized powerplant installation, was a standard 801D with improved, thicker armour on the BMW-designed front annular cowling, which still incorporated the BMW-designed oil cooler, upgraded from 6 mm on earlier models to 10 mm. Changes introduced in the Fw 190 A-8 also included the C3-injection Erhöhte Notleistung emergency boost system to the fighter variant of the Fw 190 A (a similar system with less power had been fitted to some earlier Jabo variants of the 190 A), raising power to 1,950 hp for 10 minutes. The 10 minute emergency power may be used up to three times per mission with a 10 minute cooldown in “combat power” between each 10 minute use of emergency power.
The Focke-Wulf A-8/R-1 Zerstörer (Destroyer) had a quartette of underwing-mounted MG 151 cannon (Rüstsatz 1, Field conversion set), the standart twin fuselage mounted MG 131 and wing root-mounted MG 15.
Of the total of 23.823 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 built in all variants 6.655 aircraft were Fw 190A-8.
The Fw 190 was well-liked by its pilots. Some of the Luftwaffe’s most successful fighter aces claimed many of their kills while flying it. The Fw 190 had greater firepower than the Messerschmitt Me 109 and, at low to medium altitude, superior manoeuvrability, in the opinion of German pilots who flew both fighters. It was regarded as one of the best fighter planes of World War II .
The Focke Wulf Fw 190A-8/R-1 shown here belonged to the II. Gruppe (Wing) of JG 1 (Jagdgeschwader, Fighter Group) (Ref.: 24).

Fighter, Projects

Horten Ho X, 3D-Print (my3dbase)

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TYPE: Interceptor, Project

ACCOMMODATION:  Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One BMW 003 turbojet engine, rated at 950 kp thrust, later one Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engine, rated at 1.300 kp thrust

PERFORMANCE: 684 mph

COMMENT: Due to the rapidly deteriorating war conditions in Germany in the last months of WWII, the RLM (Reichs Luftfahrt  Ministerium, German Air Ministry) issued a specification for a fighter project that would use a minimum of strategic materials, be suitable for rapid mass production and have a performance equal to the best piston engined fighters of the time. The Volksjäger (People’s Fighter), as it became known as, was issued on September 8, 1944 to Arado, Blohm & Voss, Fiesler, Focke-Wulf, Junkers, Heinkel,  Messerschmitt and  Siebel. The new fighter also needed to weigh no more than 2000 kg have a maximum speed of 457 mph, a minimum endurance of 30 minutes, a takeoff distance of 500 m (1604′), an endurance of at least 30 minutes and it was to use the BMW 003 turbojet engine.
Although not chosen to submit a design, the Horten Brothers came up with the Ho X that met the specifications laid out by the RLM. Using a similar concept that they had been working on with their Horten IX (Ho 229) flying wing fighter,  the Ho X was to be constructed of steel pipes covered with plywood panels in the center section, with the outer sections constructed from two-ply wood beams covered in plywood. The wing featured two sweepbacks, approximately 60 degrees at the nose, tapering into a 43 degree sweepback out to the wingtips. Control was to be provided by combined ailerons and elevators at the wingtips, along with drag surfaces at the wingtips for lateral control. A single BMW 003E turbojet engine with 900 kp of thrust was housed in the rear of the aircraft, which was fed by two air intakes on either side of the cockpit.  One advantage to this design was that different jet engines could be accommodated, such as the Heinkel-Hirth He S 011 with 1300 kp of thrust, which was to be added later after its development was complete. The landing gear was to be of a tricycle arrangement and the  pilot sat in a pressurized cockpit in front of the engine compartment. Armament consisted of a single MK 108 30mm cannon or a single MK 213 30mm cannon)in the nose and two MG 131 13mm machine guns, one in each wing root.
In order to determine the center of gravity on various sweepback angles, scale models with a 3.05 meter wingspan were built. A full-sized glider was also under construction but was not completed before the war’s end. Further development would have been to add an 240 horsepower Argus As 10C piston engine in a pusher configuration and later the more powerful Heinkel-Hirth He S 011 with 1300 kp of thrust. Due to the ending of hostilities in 1945, the Horten Ho X was not completed (Ref.: 17).

Fighter, Projects

Messerschmitt Me P.1112, 3D-Print, (my3dbase)

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TYPE: Fighter, Project

ACCOMMODATION:  Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011A0 turbojet engine, rated at 1.300 kp thrust

PERFORMANCE: 680 mph (estimated)

COMMENT: The Messerschmitt P.1112 was a proposed German turbojet fighter, developed by Messerschmitt AG during the closing stages of World War II, and intended for use by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). The progress of the war prevented the completion of a prototype before the fall of Nazi Germany. Its design, however, had a direct influence on postwar US Navy carrier fighters.
The work on the  Me P.1112 started on February 1945 ( Ten weeks before the unconditional surrender of the Reich!!!!!) after Willy Messerschmitt decided to halt the development of the Messerschmitt Me P.1111, which would have required, as standard equipment, a pressurized cockpit and ejection seat. Designed by the head of the Messerschmitt Project Office W. Vogt, between 3rd and 30th March 1945 as an alternative to the Me P.1111, the Messerschmitt Me P.1112 design was less radical than the Me P.1111 and incorporated the lessons learned from the development of the Messerschmitt Me P.1110 design. Voigt estimated that the Me P.1112 would commence flight testing by mid-1946.
Intended to be powered by a single Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engine, three design concepts of the Me P.1112 were developed. The last proposed design was the Me P.1112/V1 using a V-tail design and fuselage lateral intakes; the two first were the Me P.1112 S/1, with wing root air intakes, and the Me P.1112 S/2, with fuselage lateral intakes, both with a larger, single fin; both designs lacked conventional horizontal stabilizers. All three had a fuselage maximum diameter of 1.1 metres.The aircraft’s wing design was similar in appearance to that of Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket fighter. The pilot was seated in a semi-reclined position, and was equipped with an ejection seat.
A partial mockup of the Me P.1112 V/1, consisting of the aircraft’s forward fuselage section, was constructed in the “Conrad von Hötzendorf“ Kaserne at Oberammergau, Bavaria, but the Messerschmitt facilities there were occupied by American troops in April 1945, before construction of the prototype could begin
Although the Me P.1112 was never completed, follow-on designs were already proposed, even as design work on the type itself was done. These included a proposed night fighter version, which was intended to be fitted with twin engines mounted in the wing roots of the aircraft.
Following WW II, Voigt’s experience in tailless aircraft design was put to use by the Chance Vought Company in the United States, where he was involved in the design of the Chance Vought F7U Cutlass fighter (Ref 24).

Fighter, Fighterbomber, Projects

Focke-Wulf Single-Seat Fighter with BMW P.8011 (My3dbase.com)

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TYPE: High-altitude Interceptor

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot in pressurized cockpit

POWER PLANT: One BMW P.8011 radial engine with two turbochargers, rated at 2.900 hp

PERFORMANCE: 451 mph in 26.215 ft

COMMENT: By the beginning of 1942, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190A was established in production and service, and most of the more serious shortcomings that has revealed themselves during the fighter’s gestation had been ironed out. A solution had still to be found out. However, the performance of the aircraft at high altitudes was inadequate. So one of the preproduction airframe was fitted with a nitrous oxide injection or GM 1 system for use above the rated altitude of the engine. The nitrous oxide, which was retained under pressure in liquid form in a tank aft of the cockpit, provided additional oxygen for the engine, but sometimes also acting as an antidetonant.
Flight testing proved disappointing. Effective combat altitude was boosted to some 26.000 ft, but insufficient nitrous oxide could be carried to increase power for more than brief periods, difficulties were experienced in lagging the pipelines, and the weight of the system, with its compressed air cylinders and heavily-lagged GM 1 tank, was almost as much as the total gun armament of the standard fighter.
Focke-Wulf was convinced that the desired performance could not be achieved with the BMW 801, and that the engine should be replaced by a liquid-cooled power plant. The design team with Prof. K. Tank favored the Daimler-Benz DB 603, but this engine was viewed with disfavor by the RLM, having been developed by Daimler-Benz without official sanction. Tank was informed that the improved performance now being sought should be achieved with developments of the BMW 801 air-cooled radial.
Meanwhile BMW was working on the BMW 802, a large air-cooled radial engine consistig of two rows of nine cylinders. It was essentially an 18-cylinder version of the 14-cylinder BMW 801. The BMW 802 emerged with an almost identical displacement to the American 18-cylinder Wright R-3350 Duplex Cyclone and somewhat larger than the British Bristol Centaurus. Although promising at first, development dragged on and the project was eventually cancelled.
Another idea to improve the performance was to bolt two BMW 801s back to back. Although seemingly a simple concept, the resulting, 83.5 litre displacement BMW 803 was in fact fantastically complicated. The power of the engine could only practically be used in extremely large propellers, or, as selected, a contra-rotating pair of propellers. This required a large gearbox on the front of the engine, which combined with the layout of the cylinders, left no room for airflow over the cylinders. This demanded the addition of liquid cooling.
Based on this concept of a twin-engine a further improvement led to the BMW P.8011. This engine was, able to produce 2.900 hp at take-off. The supercharger was replaced by two gas turbines enclosed in an aerodynamic engine cowling and driving two contra-rotating three-bladed propellers.
These engines were too heavy and powerful for the standard Focke-Wulf Fw 190 airframe. It was necessary to design a heavier airplane. The answer was a 125% scaled-up version of the Fw 190 with a wing of 42,7 ft span ad 371 sqft surface. The BMW P. 8011 was 38.7 ft long and the maximum weight was more than 11.900 lbs.
This new fighter was provided with an armored pressure cabin and used as high-altitude interceptor. Due to the war situation the project was cancelled in late 1944.
This monster fighter lacked any official designation and was only known as “Focke-Wulf Einsitzer mit BMW P.8011” (Focke-Wulf Single-seater with BMW P. 8011). By the end of 1944 in an article by General “Hap” Arnold, USAAF, published on 29 May 1944 in “Aviation News” refers it as Focke-Wulf Fw 290. But that is an error because the RLM Number “290” was given to the Junkers Ju 290 four-engine maritime control and transport aircraft (Ref.: 7, 24).

Fighter, Projects

Lippisch Li P.01-117, (A+V-Models, Resin)

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TYPE: Interceptor, Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot, in prone position

POWER PLANT: One BMW 109-510 or one Walter HWK 109-509 liquid-fuel rocket engine, each rated between 300 and 1,500 kp thrust

PERFORMANCE: 550 mph (estimated)

COMMENT: This Lippisch Li P.01-117 project dates from July and August 1941 after Alexander Lippisch and his design team moved to the Messerschmitt A.G. in Augsburg in early 1939. At that time a trio of Lippisch Li  P. 01 designs were conceptualized within three weeks – the P.01-117 on July 22, the P.01-118 on August 3 and the P.01-119 on August 4.
The first design P.01-117 featured a cockpit where the pilot laid on a couch, chin up and head forward, the second boasted a novel tilting seat arrangement to improve the pilot’s visibility during a steep near-vertical climb, and the third had a pressure cabin for high altitude operations. Each of them was to be powered by a BMW or Walter HWK rocket engine but only the P.01-118 also had a second rocket engine to provide greater endurance for level flight. From this point on, all mention of the P.01 ceased and the project continued as the Messerschmitt Me 263.
The Lippisch Li P.01-117 was a tailless aircraft, with a swept wing at approximately 35 degrees. The overall plan resembled the later Messerschmitt  Me 163 “Komet” rocket-powered fighter. The fuselage held the fuel tanks and a rocket engine was mounted in the rear fuselage. A pressurized cockpit was located in the aircraft’s extreme nose, and the pilot faced the front in a prone position and looked out through a blister of bulletproof glass. Up to six MG 151/20 20mm cannon were mounted around the nose of this aircraft. Take-off was accomplished by means of a releasable trolley, sometimes additionally boosted by two solid fuelled Schmidding 109-563 take-off rockets with 500 kp thrust each. Additional jettisonable solid-fuelled rockets could be attached to the fuselage. Landing was to be accomplished on a retractable skid, as was later done on the Messerschmitt Me 163. This design went no further than the preliminary design phase, but the Messerschmitt Me 163 went into production and was used operationally by the Luftwaffe (Ref.: 20).

Fighter, Projects

Lippisch P.01-115, (Unicraft Models, Resin)

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TYPE: Interceptor, Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One BMW P-3304/109-002 turbojet engine and an undetermined Walter rocket engine, thrust of each engine unknown

PERFORMANCE: No data available

COMMENT: The Lippisch Li P.01-115 was another design under the Li P.01 series, all designed by Alexander Lippisch and his team while at Messerschmitt A.G.
Dated July 2, 1941, the Li P.01-115 had a similar plan form to the others in the P.01 series (which were similar to the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket fighter). The fuselage held the armament, fuel and power plants. This was one of the first designs to feature a dual powered fighter. A small BMW P-3304/109-002 turbojet engine was located in the upper rear fuselage and was fed by an air intake on top of the fuselage. In addition, a BMW 109-510 rocket engine was mounted beneath the turbojet and provided takeoff and perhaps emergency power. The wings were swept back at 27 degrees, and only a single vertical tail and rudder was to be fitted. In this tailless configuration, the pilot sat in a cockpit in the front of the plane.  For take-off, a pair of wheels, each mounted onto the ends of a specially designed cross-axle, were needed due to the weight of the fuel, but the wheels, forming a take-off dolly under the landing skid, were released shortly after take-off. and landing was accomplished on a retractable skid. Two forward-firing fixed MG 151 15mm cannon located in the forward lower fuselage comprised the armament.
As with other designs in the Lippisch P.01 series, this design went no further than the drawing board stage. All work was later devoted to the Messerschmitt Me 163 “Komet” and later variant rocket fighters (Ref.: 20).

Fighter, Fighterbomber

Messerschmitt Me 509 (RS Models)

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TYPE: Fighter, Fighter bomber, Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Daimler-Benz DB 605B liquid-cooled engine, rated at 1,455 hp

PERFORMANCE: 470 mph (estimated)

COMMENT:  Although the Me 509 can trace its roots back to the Messerschmitt Me 309, very little information has survived. The aircraft was to be of an all-metal construction. A new fuselage was designed, with the pressurized cockpit being moved well forward near the nose.  The Daimler Benz 605B 12-cylinder engine was buried in the fuselage behind the cockpit, and drove a three-bladed, Me P 6 reversible-pitch propeller by an extension shaft which passed beneath the cockpit (similar to the US Bell P-39 Airacobra).  The wing was tapered and had rounded wingtips, and was mounted low on the fuselage.  Other Me 309 components were to be used, such as the tricycle landing gear, and the vertical tail assembly was similar to the one used for the Me 309 V1.  Armament was not decided upon for the 509, but it is thought that two MG 131 13mm machine guns and two MG 151 20mm cannon were to be used. Although there were advantages of better cockpit visibility and relocation of the engine weight from the nose gear. That was important, since the Me 309’s nose gear often collapsed. The Messerschmitt Me 509 design and development was stopped when the Me 309 program was ended in mid-1943.
In April 1945, the Japanese completed a very similar project, the Yokosuka R2Y Keiun. Although no firm evidence exists, it is possible that the Messerschmitt Me 309/509 information was licensed to the Japanese military, as were a number of other German designs (Messerschmitt Bf 109, Heinkel He 100, Messerschmitt Me 163, Messerschmitt Me 410, among others). (Ref.: 17).

Fighter, Fighterbomber

Arado Ar 240A-2, JG 5 Eismeergeschwader, (Revell Models)

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TYPE: Heavy fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Crew ot two

POWER PLANT: Two Daimler-Benz DB 601E liquid-cooled  engines, rated at 1,175 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 385 mph

COMMENT: The Arado Ar 240 was a German twin-engine, multi-role heavy fighter aircraft, developed for the Luftwaffe during WW II by Ardo Flugzeugwerke. Its first flight was in 1940, but problems with the design hampered development, and it remained only marginally stable throughout the prototype phase. The project was eventually cancelled, with the existing airframes used for a variety of test purposes.
The Ar 240 came about as the response to a 1938 request for a much more capable second-generation heavy fighter to replace the Messerschmitt Bf 110, which was becoming outdated. Both Arado and Messerschmitt responded. Messerschmitt’s response, the Me 210, was a totally new design, but thanks to Messerschmitt’s experience with the Zerstörer (“Destroyer”) concept, it would be able to enter service quickly. Arado’s design was considerably more ambitious for the smaller firm, a dream project of Arado’s chief designer, Walter Blume, since the mid-1930s. While it would take some time before deliveries of the Arado design could begin, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM, German Aviation Ministry was nevertheless interested enough to order prototypes of both designs.
Prior to this point, Arado had invested heavily in several lines of basic research. One was the development of the “Arado travelling flap” which offered excellent low-speed lift performance. Another was ongoing work in the design and construction of pressurized cockpits, which dramatically lowered pilot fatigue for any flight above about 14,760 ft. Finally, they had also invested in a technically advanced remote-control defensive gun system, which they had been experimenting with for several years. The system used a gunsight located in the rear cockpit, operated by the navigator/gunner, which had optics on both the top and bottom of the aircraft, allowing aim in any direction. The gunsight was hydraulically connected to well-streamlined pancake-shaped, remotely-operated turrets on the top and bottom of the aircraft. For the Ar 240 design, the Arado engineers combined all this research into a single airframe.
For outright performance, they used as small a wing as reasonable, thereby lowering parasite drag (at the expense of greater lift-induced drag). Normally this would make the plane have “impossibly high” landing speeds, but this was offset by the use of a huge travelling flap and leading edge slats for high low-speed lift. When the flaps were extended, the upper portion of the ailerons would remain in place while the lower portion extended rearward, essentially increasing the wing area. A Jumo 222-powered Junkers Ju 288 prototype with ducted spinners, of a similar type to that intended for the Ar 240.
The Daimler-Benz DB 601 inline engines were conventionally installed and equipped with three-blade, fully adjustable propellers. The radiators were somewhat unusual however, quite similar to those fitted to the Junkers Ju 88 which pioneered them – but much more closely resembling the intended installation of the radiators intended for the junkers Ju 288, when powered by its intended multibank Junkers Jumo 222 liquid-cooled 24-cylinder engines – for both types, consisting of an annular block located in front of each engine, but with the Ar 240 partially covering each of them with an oversized, ducted flow-through propeller spinner forward of each radiator unit, with air entering through a large hole in the front of the spinner and exiting out of the cowl flaps, as the Jumo 222-powered Ju 288 design was intended to have. As with the Jumo inline-powered versions of the Ju 88, this made the plane look as if it were mounting a radial engine, and the Ar 240, like later Jumo inline-powered fighter aircraft from the Focke-Wulf firm (the Fw 190D, Ta 152 and twin-engined Ta 154) also benefitted from the simpler setup of an annular radiator just forward of the engine.
The fuel cells in the wings were provided with a newly developed self-sealing system that used thinner tank liners, allowing for more fuel storage. The liners could not be easily removed as they stuck to the outer surface of the tank, so in order to service them, the wing panelling had to be removable. This led to a complex system for providing skinning stiff enough to be handled in the field, complicating construction and driving up weight.
As with all German multi-use aircraft designs of the era, the aircraft was required to be a credible dive bomber. The thick wing panelling was not suitable for piercing for conventional dive brakes, so a “petal”-type brake was installed at the extreme rear of the fuselage — appearing much like what had been trialled with the Dornier Do 217 — which, unlike the Do 217’s vertically-opening “petals”, opened to the sides instead when activated. When closed the brake looked like a stinger, extending beyond the horizontal stabilizer and twin fins.
Finally, the cockpit was fully pressurized. This would not have been easy if the armament had to be hand-operated by the gunner, as it would have required the guns to penetrate the rear of the cockpit canopy. However, the remote control system allowed them to be located in turrets in the unpressurized rear of the fuselage.
All of this added weight, and combined with the small wing, led to a very highwing loding of 330 kg/m2, compared to an average of about a 100 for a single-seat fighter.
Technical specifications were first published in October 1938, followed by detailed plans later that year. In May 1939, the RLM ordered a batch of six prototypes. The first Ar 240 V1 prototype took to the air on 25 June 1940, and immediately proved to have poor handling in all axes, also tending to overheat during taxiing.
The handling was thought to be the result of the ailerons being too small, given the thick wing, so the second prototype was modified to have larger ones, as well as additional vertical fin area on the dive brakes to reduce yaw. In addition, small radiators were added to the landing gear legs to improve cooling at low speeds, when the gear would normally be opened. Ar 240 V2, first flew on 6 April 1941, and spent most of its life at the factory in an experimental role.
Ar 240 V3 followed, the first to be equipped with the FA 9 rear-firing armament system, developed jointly by Arado and DVL, armed with a 7.92 mm MG 81Z machine gun. Ar 240 V4 was the first to include an operational dive brake, and flew on 19 June 1941. Ar 240 V5 and the V6 followed in December and January, including the upgraded FA 13 system, using two 13 mm MG 131 machine gun in place of the MG 81Z for a considerable boost in firepower. Ar 240 V7 and V8 acted as prototypes for the planned Ar 240 B, which was to use two Daimler Benz DB 605As, while Ar 240 V9, V10, and V11, and V12 served as prototypes of the Ar 240 C.
The Ar 240’s excellent performance quickly led to the V3, V5 and V6 being stripped of their armament, including the defensive guns, and used as reconnaissance aircraft over England, where no other two-seater could venture by 1942. A number of pre-production Ar 240As served on the northern part oft he Eastern Front overflying Soviet military positions. In grand total 14 Arado Ar 240 were built (Ref.: 24).

Fighter, Projects

Dornier Do P…. “Kleinstjäger”, (Miniature Fighter”), (Unicraft Models, Resin)

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TYPE: Fighter, Interceptor

ACCOMMODATION: Only Pilot in prone position

POWER PLANT: One BMW 003 A-1 turbojet engine, rated at 800 kp thrust

PERFORMANCE: No data available

COMMENT: During November 1944, the RLM issued a requirement for the simplest possible type of fighter which could be more rapidly produced than the Heinkel He 162 Salamander (“Volksjäger”), (People-fighter) then being built. The design was not, however, to be a semi-expendable weapon in the manner of the Bachem Ba 349 Natter, because conventional landings and take-offs were to be made. Much had already been done in the Volksjäger competition to simplify airframes, so attention now turned towards simplifying the power unit, though without losing too much in the way of performance. Thus, the power unit was to be a simple pulse-jet as produced by Argus for the Fieseler Fi 103 V 1) flying bomb, a turbojet engine  or a liquid-fuelled rocket. The Kleinstjäger or Miniaturjäger was to employ the minimum of strategic materials, dispense with refinements such and electronic equipment and, by virtue of quick production, increase the chances of intercepting the enemy by flying in large numbers.
The problem of supplying all the new pilots was common to both Miniatur- and Volksjäger programmes whichever was adopted. Only three firms, which also participated in the Volksjäger competition, put forward Miniaturjäger projects, Blohm und Voss, Heinkel and Junkers.
There is also some evidence that the Dornier Company was working on a design for a Miniaturjäger. In literature a three-view thumbnail sketch of a design is known, the in-house project designation is given as Do P…. The little aircraft was to be powered by a BMW 003 turbojet engine. A high-mounted wing with light swept leading edge was envisaged, the air intake was located in the nose with the pilots seat in prone position above it. The turbojet engine was located at the fuselages end, the conventional tail plane was mounted on a boom protruding from the fuselages end. For take-off probably a trolley was used, the landing was provided by means of a retractable skid. No further facts or details are reported. (Ref.: 22 and

J. R. Smith, Antony L. Kay: German Aircraft of the Second World War. Putnam & Company, London, 1972)

Fighter, Nightfighter, Projects

Horten Ho XIIIb, (Sharkit Models, Resin)

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TYPE: Supersonic fighter, project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot and Navigator/radar-operator

POWER PLANT: One BMW 003R combined turbojet, rated at 1.000 kp thrust and one BMW 109-718 liquid fuel rocket, rated at 410 kp thrust

PERFORMANCE: 1.118 mph (estimated)

COMMENT: By 1943, the Horten brothers were discussing the possibility of supersonic flight. While this remained unchartered territory, the decided to experiment with a highly swept glider that would provide an understanding of slow speed handling with a highly swept configuration that might be capable of reaching or exceeding Mach 1.
The glider was designed as Horten Ho XIIIa and construction is believed to have begun in early 1944. The aircraft used wings from the Horten Ho III attached to a new central section which provided a span of 40 ft and a sweep of 60 degrees. The design was very clean with few protrusions apart from a dorsal spoiler and there were no vertical control surfaces. The pilot was housed in a gondola arrangement, mounted below the center section, with access via a tail cone cover. In an emergency, the pilot would jettison his cover and slide out the back of the unit.
The first test flight took place at Göttingen Airfield on 27 November 1944 and further 19 flights were conducted at Homberg by test pilot Hermann Strebel who reported that the glider handled well although he complained about poor roll control, limited forward visibility and landing problems caused by the extended skid.
Nevertheless, the Hortens were contemplating the construction of a more advanced prototype that would be powered by an Argus As10 piston engine in a pusher configuration. But this never came about ans at the end of the war a group of Russian soldiers who had just been liberated from a prison camp discovered the Ho XIIIa and destroyed it.  Furthermore, all the plans and research material for this project vanished without a trace. It now appears that the Ho XIIIb was the anticipated final development of this program and it was expected to have a supersonic performance under certain conditions. Looking very much like an advanced Lippisch design, this fighter would have been about the same size as the HoXIIIa with the same 60 degrees wing sweep. But unlike the glider there would have been a substantial upright fin containing the cockpit in very similar fashion to the proposed supersonic Lippisch P. 13a.
This similarity has often been remarked on although Reimar Horten denied any knowledge of Lippisch’s work during this time in post-war London. However, this seems highly unlikely and there was almost certainly wartime contact between the Hortens and Lippisch. The supersonic Ho XIIIb would have been powered by mixed propulsion system. This could have been either a BMW 003R combined turbojet linked to a BMW 718 rocket engine or a Heinkel/Hirth HeS 011 turbojet and a supplementary Walter rocket engine.
Presumably, a two seater version of the supersonic Horten Ho XIIIb was on the drawing board when in 1945 the “Third Reich” collapsed.

Bill Rose: Secret projects. Flying wings and Tailless Aircraft, Midland Press, Reprint of Ian Allan Publishing Ltd., Hersham, Surrey KTI24RG, 2010.