TYPE: Interception fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: Two Junkers Jumo 004C turbojet engines, rated at 980 kp each and one Walter HWK 509S-2 liquid-fueled rocket engine, rated at 1,700 kp

PERFORMANCE: 510 mph at 32,800 ft

COMMENT: The major disadvantage displayed by the ‘Heimatschützer I’ had been the strict limitation imposed on J2 tankage (for the Jumo 004 turbojet engines) by the internally mounted rocket motor, and the need to use some of the available tankage for its propellants. The Messerschmitt Me 262C-3a ‘Heimatschützer IV’, therefore, had a Walter R II-211/§ rocket motor slung beneath the fuselage with ‘C-Stoff’  and ‘T-Stoff’ tanks  mounted on modified bomb carriers immediately ahead of the power plant. The rocket motor was jettisonable, and was to be dropped by parachute after the fuel had been consumed. Fuel was fed to the power plant by means of a flexible line, but difficulties were encountered with the fuel feed as a level of tanks was slightly below that of rocket combustion chamber, and these had not been resolved when further work on the Messerschmitt Me 262C-3a ‘Heimatschützer IV’ terminated.
Another ‘Heimatschützer’, the Messerschmitt Me 262C-3 ‘Heimatschützer III’ was a proposed version of the basic Me 262A-1a with Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engines replaced with Walter HWK RII-211 liquid-fueled rocket engines (Ref.: 7).

TYPE: Short-range interceptor. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Walter HKW 509A-1 liquid-fueled rocket, rated at 1,600 kp

PERFORMANCE: 435 mph

COMMENT: In 1944, according to the RLM’s ‘Miniaturjägerprogramm’ (Miniature fighter program) the Messerschmitt Me P.1103/III was designed as a small, cheap, easy to build, short-range, high speed interceptor fighter. Competitors were Focke-Wulf Fw ‘Volksjäger’, Junkers EF 126 ‘Lilli’, Junkers EF 127 ’Walli’ and Bachem Ba 349 ‘Natter’. Construction was to be simple, the airframe mainly built from wood. The wings were mid-mounted and un-swept so as the tail-plane. For take-off the fighter set on a simple pair of wheels and a front skid. Both were jettisoned when the aircraft was airborne. The tiny plane was towed by a Messerschmitt Me 109G or Messerschmitt Me 262A-1 towards the enemy, released when in right position and ignited the rocket motor. After attack the aircraft glided back to its base and landed on retractable skids. All design work was cancelled in favour of the Bachem Ba 349 ‘Natter’ (Ref.: 17).

TYPE: Interceptor, Project.

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engine, rated at 1,300 kp thrust

PERFORMANCE: 617 mph

COMMENT: At the end of 1944, when the construction drawings of the Messerschmitt Me P. 1101 were completed, and in the light of the critical situation of Germany it became obvious that the production of that new fighter was too complicated and too expensive. Messerschmitt’s design bureau began work on a less advanced design that should be an intended improvement to the Messerschmitt Me P.  1101. This Messerschmitt Me P. 1106 based on the Me P. 1101 but went through several redesigns. The first version (Me P. 1106/I) had a short fuselage and a T-tail plane with cockpit faired into the vertical stabilizer, similar to the Lippisch Li P. 13a. The second (Me P. 1106/II) design had a short fuselage, too, the tail plane of butterfly style and the cockpit far aft. A third and final design (Me P. 1106/III) had a longer and slim fuselage with a V-tail plane and the cockpit moved slightly forward. In all designs the wings were swept back at 40 degrees. The planned power plant was a Heinkel HeS 011turbojet engine, and armament was to be two 30 mm MK 108 cannon. Since the cockpit had poor visibility and calculated performance had not been improved compared to the Me P. 1101, the Messerschmitt Me P. 1106/III project was abandoned (Ref.: 17, 22).

TYPE: Fighter, project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet engine, rated at 950 kp thrust or one Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engine, rated at 1,300 kp thrust

PERFORMANCE: 598 mph at 25,800 ft (with HeS 011 turbojet)

COMMENT:  In early 1944, the RLM (Reichsluftfahrtministerium, Reich Air Ministry) became aware of Allied jet developments, and were particularly concerned that they might have to face the Gloster Meteor  over the continent. In response, they instituted the Jägernotprogramm (Fighter emergency program) which took effect on July 3, 1944, ending production of most bomber and multi-role aircraft in favour of fighters, especially jet fighters. Additionally, they accelerated the development of experimental designs that would guarantee a performance edge over the Allied designs, designs that would replace the first German jet fighters, the Messerschmitt Me 262  and Heinkel He 162. Focke-Wulf Company proposed its design Focke-Wulf Ta 183 Huckebein, powered by the advanced Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet, although the first prototypes were to be powered by the Junkers Jumo 004B. The wings of the new design were swept back at 40° and were mounted in the mid-fuselage position. The wings appear to be mounted very far forward compared with most designs, a side-effect of attempting to keep the center of pressure (CoP) of the wing as a whole as close to the middle of the fuselage as possible. The original design used a T-tail, with a notably long vertical stabilizer and a seemingly undersized horizontal stabilizer. The vertical tail was swept back at 60°, and the horizontal tail was swept back and slightly dihedralled. Many problems beset the project, work therefore concentrated on the much less problematical Focke-Wulf Projekt VII “Flitzer”. However, when the RLM eventually rejected that design and in late 1944 the Focke Wulf Ta 183 Huckebein was again brought to the fore. Detailed blue-prints were readied in beginning of 1945 and construction of several prototypes began immediately. The first flight of the aircraft was scheduled for May 1945, but none aircraft was completed by 8 April 1945, when British troops captured the Focke-Wulf facilities.
The name “Huckebein” is a reference to a trouble-making raven (Hans Huckebein, der Unglücksrabe) from an illustrated story in 1867 by famous cartoonist Wilhelm Busch. (Ref.:24).

TYPE: High altitude fighter. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engine, rated at 1,300 kp thrust

PERFORMANCE: 615 mph

COMMENT: As part of the “Jägernotprogramm” (Fighter emergency program), at the beginning of 1945 a programme was launched by the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe, (OKL, Luftwaffe High Command) in order to replace the Heinkel He 162 “Salamander”
(“Volkskjäger”, “Peoples fighter” ). The new aircraft was intended to have superior performance in order to deal with high altitude threats such as the Boeing B-29 “Superfortress”, first missions expected in summer 1945. To meet this requirement, power was to be a single Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet. Proposals were brought forward by other German aircraft makers so as the Blohm & Voss Bv P.212, Focke-Wulf Ta 183, Heinkel He P.1078,Junkers EF 128, and Messerschmitt Me P.1110. The designs of the official winner of the competition, the Junkers EF 128, were submitted in February 1945. This more advanced fighter attracted more interest than the austere Miniaturjäger (Midget fighter) among German aircraft manufacturers, but at the time of the end of WWII only models had been built. It had swept wings of 45 degrees which included wood in their construction. The air intake for the turbojet was with boundary layer suction aerodynamically refined, the air left the fuselage behind the cockpit. A model for wind-tunnel experiments and a mock-up of the fuselage are built. Estimated flight characteristics and performance were optimistic and led to an order for mass production starting in mid1945. There was a projected variant of a two-seater all-weather and night fighter with a lengthened fuselage, pressure-cabin and FuG 240 “Berlin” radar. (Ref.: 22, 24).