TYPE: Interceptor, fighter. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: Two Lorin-Pabst ramjet engines, rated at 4375 kp thrust each

PERFORMANCE: 621 mph

COMMENT: Heinkel designed this ramjet-powered fighter after receiving ramjet data from DFS near the end of WWII. Two 900 mm (2′ 11.5″) diameter Lorin-Rohr ramjets were mounted on each side of the fuselage with their outer surfaces faired into the wing, so that the large surface area of the ramjets were exposed to the airstream for cooling purposes. To save design time, the swept-back wing with the elevon controls were based on those of the He P.1078, but a single orthodox fin and rudder was used instead of wingtip anhedral. The cockpit was located in the forward section of the fuselage, along with a radar unit and two MK 108 30mm cannon. The fuel tanks were located in the rear of the fuselage. Take-off power was accomplished with the aid of four solid-fuel rockets of 1000 kp of thrust each. An undercarriage trolley that could be jettisoned was used for take-off. The aircraft landed on an extendable skid. Like the other Heinkel projects He P. 1078 and He P.1079, the Heinkel He P.1080 was never submitted to the RLM. It is known that members of Heinkel construction bureau were working on these designs under U.S. supervision after WW II during the summer of 1945 (Ref.: 17, 19).

TYPE: Interceptor, fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Daimler-Benz DB 603L liquid-cooled engine, rated at 2,100 hp

PERFORMANCE: 491 mph

COMMENT: In autumn 1944 the Blohm & Voss team worked on a high performance, piston engine powered fighter aircraft under the internal designation P.208. From the onset the design was a tailless aircraft, the engine imbedded in the aft fuselage behind the cockpit. The advantage of the design was seen in a reduction of the fuselages surface to reduce drag, the abstinence of an extension shaft to drive the pusher propeller, and lower costs and production time. The engine was fed by an air intake located on the starboard side of the fuselage, with the radiator mounted beneath the fuselage.  The cantilevered wings were swept back at 30 degrees and were of a constant cross section. Downturned wingtips were connected aft of the main wing trailing edge by small booms, which served the purposes of elevators and rudders. A tricycle undercarriage was used, with the wide-track main wheels retracting inwards into the center section and the nose wheel retracting forwards. All armament was in the aircraft’s nose, and consisted of three MK 108 30mm cannon. Three different designs were finalized differing solely in the engine used. Design Bv P.208.01 should be powered by a Junkers Jumo 222E piston engine, Bv P. 208.02 utilized an Argus As 413 engine, and Bv P.208.03, which was the favored design, was to be powered by a Daimler-Benz DB 603L engine. Wind tunnel experiments showed excellent performance but the RLM was convinced of the future of the oncoming turbojet engines (Ref.: 16, 21).

TYPE: Interceptor, fighter. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

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

PERFORMANCE: 612 mph

COMMENT: Henschel submitted this design Hs P.135 in autumn 1944 to the OKL (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe, Luftwaffe high-command) based on specification for a single-seat fighter to be powered by a HeS 011 turbojet. This aircraft design was intended to achieve better high speed performance through the reduction of air resistance. The aircraft was tailless and featured an innovative wing design, a compound swept back wing with different angle of sweep: inner wing 42, mid-wing 38, and again positive about 15 degree for the outer wing. This had the effect of reducing turbulent flow by spreading out the compression effect along the length of the wing as Mach speed was approached, enabling the aircraft to carry more weight at higher speed. The wing was thus thicker in both height and width, as well as heavier, which made the aircraft more structurally strong without adversely affecting performance. The cockpit was relative high positioned, the pilot sat on an ejection seat which was in normal position during cruise flight and could be tilted back during aerial combat. The design was considered as “Zweitlösung” (second solution), while an “Optimallösung” (optimal solution) was expected from Messerschmitt( Me P.1101) (Ref.: 16, 21).

TYPE: Interceptor, fighter. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engine, rated at 1300 kp thrust

PERFORMANCE: 614 mph

COMMENT: In context with the “Volksjäger Projekt” (Peoples fighter project) designers of the Blohm & Voss Company projected a turbojet engine powered fighter under internal designation Bv P.209. The design was a cantilever shoulder wing airplane with strong forward-swept wing. This was an effort to alleviate compressibility problems of straight wings at high speed, while helping to avoid the instability at low speeds suffered by swept-back wings. The wing was made from steel and the main spar formed the fuel tank. A steel tube formed the fuselage and was used as air intake for the turbojet engine. A second steel tube formed the tail boom with normal and positive swept back tail-plane. Expert’s report from the DVL (Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt, German Aviation Experimental Establishment) was negative concerning forward-swept wing concept and Blohm und Voss cancelled further work on that project in favour of the Blohm und Voss Bv P.212 (Ref.: 16, 17).

TYPE: Interceptor fighter. Project.

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: Two Pabst-Lorin ramjet engines, rated at 1.500 kp thrust each and one Walter HWK 109-509A liquid-fueled rocket engine, rated at 3.000 kp thrust

PERFORMANCE: 683 mph

COMMENT: In March, 1944, the team of Focke-Wulf worked on a design of a ramjet-powered fighter. The wings were mounted low on the fuselage and were swept back at 45 degrees. It had along, pointed nose and the cockpit was set back into the large vertical fin. The aircraft sat very low on a retractable nose wheel undercarriage and main wheels with extreme short track. The ramjets were located on the tips of the sharply swept tail planes. For take-off a Walter HWK rocket engine, located in the back fuselage was needed as well as to reach speed high enough to operate the ramjets. Ceiling of 36.000 ft should be reached within less than five minutes. Neither detailed design drawings nor models for wind tunnel testing are readied when the defeat of Germany stopped any further studies (Ref.: 16, 18).

TYPE: Interceptor, fighter. Project.

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Kronach-Lorin coal burning ramjet, power output unknown

PERFORMANCE: 650 mph (estimated)

COMMENT: The Lippisch Li P.13b was a follow-on design from the Lippisch Li P.13a, and was also a ramjet fighter. Designed in December 1944, it featured Lippisch’s favorite wing plan, a delta design (sweepback was 60 degrees) with downturned wingtips. A double fin and rudder was chosen to provide steady flight, and the cockpit was moved forward for better pilot’s visibility, ahead of the delta wing’s apex. On each side of the cockpit on the wing’s leading edge were the air intakes which fed the ramjet. For take-off a liquid-fuel rocket driven trolley was used; additional rockets were necessary to accelerate the aircraft to speed for operating of ramjets. The main landing gear was a retractable landing skid, and the rear rested on the reinforced downturned wingtips. No armament was planned at this stage. Because of the fuel shortage in Germany at this stage in the war, an ingenious plan to use coal (or paraffin coated lignite dust) for fuel was to be tried. A centrally installed round or hexagonal heat-resistant ceramic combustion chamber was fitted in the interior of the wing, and was fillable from above. No tests were ever carried out with this design or with the unique power source and the project only stayed in stage of concept sketches on the drawing board (Ref.: 16).

TYPE: Interceptor fighter, experimental aircraft

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Heinkel/Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engine, rated at 1.300 kp

PERFORMANCE: 530 mph

COMMENT: End of 1943, the Arado Aircraft Company began work on a series of delta shaped, turbojet powered bombers, to fulfill the request of a “Long Range/High Speed Flying Wing Aircraft”.  In fact, most of the (in total 14) projects, designated Ar E.555-1 to -14, had a flying wing configuration because it  was thought to be the best design to fulfill a requirement of high speed, heavy loading and long-range aviation. Power was delivered by four to six turbojet engines. Due to the design acceptance by the RLM in early 1944, the Arado design team scaled down the projected, six turbojet engines equipped Arado E.555-1 bomber in same layout to design a smaller size fighter version, the Ar E.581-4. It was a single-seat fighter with a deep fuselage, and was powered by the single HeS 011 turbojet engine fed by a divided air intake under the cockpit. The wing was of a delta shape with the twin fins and rudders on the trailing edge, and the landing gear was of tricycle arrangement. Although work on the project was in progress Arado was ordered to cease all work on the  Ar E.581 for concentrating all facility resources on the existing fighter production (Jäger-Notprogramm, Fighter emergency program)  (Ref.: 16).