Fighter, Fighterbomber, Projects

Henschel Hs P.75 (CMK, Resin)

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TYPE: Fighter, fighter bomber, Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Daimler Benz DB 613 liquid-cooled engine, rated at 3,500 hp

PERFORMANCE: 491 mph

COMMENT: In early 1941 the OKL asked for a possible successor for the Messerschmitt Me 110 heavy fighter. Among others the Henschel Aircraft Company proposed a design of a futuristic and unusual configuration. This design, the Hs P.75, featured a tapered fuselage with slightly swept-back wings set back to the rear fuselage of the aircraft and a pair of slightly swept-back canards located on the nose. The widened fuselage housed a powerful engine that drove three-bladed contra-rotating pusher propellers at the rear via an extension shaft. As power unit a Daimler Benz DB 610 engine, which were two DB 605 liquid-cooled engines joined side-by-side, was proposed. These were the same engines that the Heinkel He 177 bomber used and became known for overheating and catching fire.  So it was decided to install the Daimler Benz DB 613, in fact two coupled DB 603 liquid-cooled engines, rated at 3,500 hp. A vertical tail unit was mounted beneath the fuselage additionally functioning as a tail bumper and protected the propellers from stroking the ground during take-off. A tricycle landing gear arrangement was chosen and a single pilot sat in the cockpit located about midway along the fuselage. All weapons were mounted in the nose. The advantage of the pusher propeller and the forward canard design was the excellent view of the pilot and concentration of weapons in the nose. The disadvantage would be the engine cooling and the pilot’s safely exit in case of emergency. Although good results were obtained in wind tunnel testing this design was not followed up further.
Notable is the fact that this basic design was realized in several WW II aircraft design such as Curtiss XP-55 “Ascender” and Kyushu J7W1 “Shinden” (Ref.: 17).

 

Reconnaissance, Cargo

Tachikawa Ki-77 (A+V Models, Resin)

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TYPE: Long-range Transport and communication aircraft

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of five in sealed oxygen cabin

POWER PLANT: Two Nakajima Ha-115 radial engines, rated at 1,170 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 273 mph at 19,100 ft

COMMENT: The Tachikawa Ki-77 was a Japanese very long-range experimental transport and communications aircraft of World War II derived from a civil design commissioned by the Japanese newspaper “Asahi Shinbun” (“Asahi Press”) to break the flight distance record set by an Italian Savoia-Marchetti S.M.75G.
Ki-77 was the Japanese Army Air Force designation for the civil A-26. The “A” stood for the name of the sponsor Asahi press and “26” for the first two digits of the current Japanese year, 2600 (A. D. 1940).
The overall design was developed by the Aeronautical Research Institute of the University Tokyo together with Tachikawa. It was a clean, slim low wing twin-engine monoplane, and was finalized in autumn of 1940 with the first flight expected in late 1941. But this was canceled with the start of the war against the United States and the reallocation of priorities. The design included a number of novel features, including a high aspect ratio laminar flow wing for reduced drag and a sealed but unpressurized cabin to reduce the need for oxygen masks at its intended operating altitude as well as special low drag cowlings.
In mid 1942, the Japanese decided to forge a link with Europe, but wished to avoid Russian-controlled airspace and development on the Ki-77 was restarted. The first of two prototypes flew on 18 November 1942. The Ki-77 suffered from persistent oil cooling problems which required many changes before being solved, delaying any flight into July 1943. While working on the problem, Tachikawa built a second aircraft that was ready in mid 1943. After several flight trials it was readied for a “Seiko” (Success) mission between Japan and Germany. The aircraft departed Japan on 30 June 1943 for Singapore, where the airstrip had to be lengthened by 1,000 meters to assure a safe take off. Finally, the Ki-77 took off at 7:10 on 7 July 1943 with eight tons of fuel, ample to reach Europe. Their intended destination was a German airfield. The aircraft never reached its destination but disappeared over the Indian Ocean, probably intercepted by British fighters thanks decoding intercepted German communications.
Even if in 1944 the usefulness of record breaking flights was overshadowed by the necessities of war, the Japanese needed a propaganda coup and the surviving Ki-77 was available. On 2 July it flew 19 circuits over a triangular route off Manchuria, landing 57 hours 9 minutes later and covering 10,212 mi at an average speed of 179.1 mph, thus setting a new endurance record. The Ki-77 landed with 800 liters remaining in the tanks of the 3,200 US gal it started with, so the maximum endurance was around 11,000 mi. The Ki-77’s endurance record was never internationally recognized or officiated and was still in existence when Japan surrendered. The aircraft was shipped to the United States aboard the US Navy escort aircraft carrier USS CVE-9 “Bogue” from Yokosuka in December 1945, arriving in the States on January 1946 for examination, before being scrapped (Ref.: 24).

Fighter, Fighterbomber

McDonnell FD-1 “Phantom” (Frank-Airmodel, Vacu-formed)

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TYPE: Carrier-borne fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT:  Two Westinghouse J30-WE-20 turbojet engines, rated at 725 kp each

PERFORMANCE: 479 mph at sea level

COMMENT: In early 1943, aviation officials at the United States Navy were impressed with McDonnell’s audacious XP-67 “Bat” project. McDonnell was invited by the Navy to cooperate in the development of a shipboard jet fighter, using an engine from the turbojets under development by Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Three prototypes were ordered on August 1943 and the designation XFD-1 was assigned. Under the 1922 United States Navy aircraft designation system, the letter “D” before the dash designated the aircraft’s manufacturer. The Douglas Aircraft Company had previously been assigned this letter, but the USN elected to reassign it to McDonnell because Douglas had not provided any fighters for Navy service in years.
McDonnell engineers evaluated a number of engine combinations, varying from eight 24 cm diameter engines down to two engines of 48 cm diameter. The final design used the two 48 cm engines after it was found to be the lightest and simplest configuration. The engines were buried in the wing root to keep intake and exhaust ducts short, offering greater aerodynamic efficiency than underwing nacelles and the engines were angled slightly outwards to protect the fuselage from the hot exhaust blast. Placement of the engines in the middle of the airframe allowed the cockpit with its bubble-style canopy to be placed ahead of the wing, granting the pilot excellent visibility in all directions. This engine location also freed up space under the nose, allowing designers to use tricycle gear, thereby elevating the engine exhaust path and reducing the risk that the hot blast would damage the aircraft carrier deck. The construction methods and aerodynamic design of the “Phantom”, as the aircraft was assigned, were fairly conventional for the time; the aircraft had unswept folding wings.  Adapting a jet to carrier use was a much greater challenge than producing a land-based fighter because of slower landing and takeoff speeds required on a small carrier deck. When the first XFD-1was completed in January 1945, only one Westinghouse was available for installation. Ground runs and taxi tests were conducted with the single engine, and such was the confidence in the aircraft that the first flight on 26 January 1945 was made with only the one turbojet engine. During flight tests, the “Phantom” became the first naval aircraft to exceed 500 mph. With successful completion of tests, a production contract was awarded on March 1945 for 100 FD-1 aircraft. With the end of the war, the “Phantom” production contract was reduced to 30 aircraft, but was soon increased back to 60.
The first prototype was lost in a fatal crash on November 1945, but the second and final “Phantom” prototype was completed early the next year and became the first purely jet-powered aircraft to operate from an American aircraft carrier, completing four successful takeoffs and landings on 21 July 1946, from USS CV-42 “Franklin D. Roosevelt”.  At the time, she was the largest carrier serving with the U.S. Navy, allowing the aircraft to take off without assistance from  a catapult (Ref. 24).

 

Medium Bomber, Projects

Focke-Wulf Fw P. 031 0239/10 (3 x 1000 Bomber Project B), (Planet, Resin)

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TYPE: Fast medium bomber.Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: Two Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engines, rated at 1,300 kp each

PERFORMANCE: 659 mph at 45,900 ft

COMMENT:  In 1944, Focke-Wulf Aircraft Company projected three designs of a bomber using two Heinkel-Hirth He S 011 turbojets. These bombers were known under the unofficial designation  3 x 1000 Bomber-Projekt A, Projekt B and Projekt C. The designation “1000x1000x1000” meant that the aircraft could carry a 1000 kg (2205 lbs) bomb load over a distance of 1000 km (621 miles) and at a speed of 1000 km/h (621 mph).
The second design under the Focke-Wulf  internal designation Fw P.031 0239/10 “3×1000 Bomber, Projekt B” was of a flying wing layout. There was a small fuselage which held the cockpit and forward landing gear. The wing was swept back at 35 degrees and the fuel load in flexible tanks was carried ahead of the main wing spar. The engines and main landing gear were located behind the main wing spar. Two Heinkel-Hirth He S 011 jet engines each developing 1300 kg of thrust were fed by air intakes located in the wing leading edge near the wing roots.  The wing tips were bent downwards to act as vertical stabilizers and contained small rudders.  The ailerons also served as elevators and in addition small deflectors were mounted within the jet exhaust, one of the first uses of thrust vectoring.  The main landing gear retracted inwards and the nose gear swung up and forward. A single pilot sat in the extensively glazed cockpit located in the extreme nose, and no armament was planned at this stage in the development. A 1000 kg bomb load could be carried in the internal bomb bay located in the center wing. Since these designs would have taken several years to complete, the end of the war ended all development (Ref.: 17).

Fighterbomber, Reconnaissance

Kawanishi E15K1 “Shiun” (“Violet Cloud”, “Norm”)(Aoshima, Parts Scratch-built)

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TYPE: High-speed reconnaissance float plane

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of two

POWER PLANT: One Mitsubishi MK4S Kasei 24 radial engine, rated at 1,850 hp

PERFORMANCE: 291 mph at 18,700 ft

COMMENT: In 1939 the Imperial Japanese Navy instructed the Kawanishi Aircraft Company to develop a two-seat high-speed reconnaissance floatplane, which was required to have sufficient performance to escape interception by land based fighters. It was planned to equip a new class of cruisers, intended to act as a flagship for groups of submarines operating six of the new floatplanes to find targets. Kawanishi designed a single-engine low-wing monoplane, powered by a 1,460 hp Mitsubishi MK4D Kasei 14 radial engine driving two contra-rotating two-blades propellers, the first installation of contra-rotating propellers produced in Japan, while a laminar flow airfoil section was chosen to reduce drag. It had a single main float under the fuselage and two stabilising floats under the wing. The stabilising floats were designed to retract into the wing, while the central float was designed to be jettisoned in case of emergency, giving a sufficient increase in speed to escape enemy fighters. It is noteworthy to mention that similar design was chosen by Kawabishi’s engineers for the new Kawanishi N1K1 “Kyofu” float seaplane fighter.
The first prototype of Kawanishi’s design, designated E15K1 in the Navy’s short designation system made its maiden flight on 5 December 1941. Five more prototypes followed during 1941-42. Problems were encountered with the retractable stabilising floats, resulting in several accidents when the floats could not be lowered for landing, and the system was eventually abandoned, with the stabilising floats being fixed, and a more powerful Mitsubishi MK4S Kasei 24 engine fitted to compensate for the increased drag.
Despite these problems, the E15K1 was ordered into limited production as the Navy Type 2 High-speed Reconnaissance Seaplane “Shiun” Model 11. Six were sent to Palau in the South Pacific, but these were quickly shot down by Allied fighters, as the jettisonable float failed to separate on demand (although subjected to wind tunnel testing, the float separation system had never been tested on the actual aircraft). This resulted in the cancellation of production in February 1944, with only 15 “Shiuns” completed, including the six prototypes (Ref.: 24).

Fighter

Lockheed YP-49 (Anigrand, Resin)

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TYPE: Fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: Two Continental XI-1430-1 liquid-cooled engines, rated at 1,600 hp each

PERFORMANCE:  406 mph at 15,000 ft

COMMENT: The Lockheed XP-49 was a further development of the P-38 “Lightning” for a fighter in response to U. S. Army Air Corps proposal 39-775. Intended to use the new 24-cylinder Pratt & Whitney X-1800 engine, this proposal, which was for an aircraft substantially similar to the P-38, was assigned the designation XP-49, while the competing Grumman Model G-46 was awarded second place and designated XP-50 “Skyrocket”, US Army Air Corps version of the US Navy Grumman XF5F-1 “Skyrocket”.
Ordered in October 1939 and approved on January 8, 1940, the XP-49 would feature a pressurized cockpit and armament of two 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon and four .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns. Two months into the contract, a decision was made to substitute the Continental XI-1430-1 (or IV-1430) for the X-1800. The XP-49 first flew on 11 November 1942. The prototype force-landed on 1 January 1943, when the port landing gear failed to lock down due to combined hydraulic and electrical system failures. The XP-49 next flew 16 February 1943, after repairs were made. Preliminary flight data showed performance was not sufficiently better than the production P-38, especially given the questionable future of the XI-1430 engine, to warrant disruption of the production line to introduce the new model aircraft. Consideration of quantity production was therefore abandoned (Ref.: 24).

Fighter, Projects

Heinkel He P.1078A (Frank Airmodel, Resin)

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TYPE: Interceptor. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

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

PERFORMANCE: 609 mph

COMMENT: As part of the “Emergency Fighter Program” (”Jägernotprogramm”), at the beginning of 1945 a program was launched by the OKL (Oberkommando der Luftwaffe, High Command of the Luftwaffe) for a new generation of fighter/interceptor aircraft in order to replace the winner of the “Volksjäger” fighter design competition, the Heinkel He 162A “Spatz” (“Sparrow”) . The new aircraft was intended to have superior performance in order to deal with high altitude threats such as the the Boeing B-29 “Superfortress”, but only had a 30-minute endurance figure.
Heinkel produced three different designs of the project (He P. 1078A, He P. 1078B, and He P. 1078C) which were submitted in February 1945. The high-altitude fighter designs brought forward by other German aircraft makers were the Messerschmitt Me P. 1110, Focke-Wulf Ta 183 “Huckebein”, Blohm & Voss Bv P.212 and Junkers EF 128, the official winner of the competition. After being subject to severe criticism, the project was cancelled by Heinkel at the end of February 1945. Other reports state that these Heinkel projects have never been submitted to the OKL. In fact, members of the Heinkel construction bureau were working on these designs under U.S. supervision after WW II during the summer of 1945 (Ref.: 24).

Reconnaissance

Yokosuka R2Y1 “Keiun” (“Beautiful Cloud”), (Wings Models, Vacu-formed)

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TYPE: Long-range reconnaissance aircraft

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot and radio operator/navigator

POWER PLANT: One Aichi Ha-70 (twin-coupled Aichi “Atsuta 30s”) twenty-four cylinder liquid-cooled engine, rated at 3,400 hp

PERFORMANCE: 447 mph at 32,810 ft

COMMENT: In 1942 the Japanese Navy initiated the development of a new class of aircraft to fulfil the role as long-range high-speed land-based reconnaissance aircraft. The first projected aircraft was planned around the new 2,500 hp twenty-four cylinder, liquid-cooled engine then under development by Mitsubishi. But in 1943, inspired by evaluation of the Heinkel He 119 V4 acquired from Germany that was powered by two coupled engines buried in the fuselage behind the cockpit the design was changed again. Now the Aichi Ha-70 twin-coupled “Atsuta “30 was installed in the fuselage driving a single six-bladed tractor propeller via an extension shaft. Completed in April 1945 the prototype made its first flight on 8 May 1945. Unfortunately, this flight had to be cut short because of an abnormal rise in oil temperature, while a few days later an engine fire on the ground necessitated a complete engine change. Before this could be done, the R2Y1 was destroyed by American bombs. At the end of the war a second R2Y1 prototype was under construction and the design of a turbojet engine-powered fast attack bomber R2Y2 had almost been completed (Ref. 1).

Fighter, Fighterbomber

Grumman XF5F-1 “Skyrocket” (Resin)

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TYPE: Carrier-borne twin-engine fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: Two Wright XR-1820-40/41 “Cyclone” radial engines, rated at 1,200 hp each

PERFORMANCE: 380 mph at 16,500 ft

COMMENT: In 1938 Grumman presented a proposal to the U. S. Navy for a twin engine carrier based aircraft, unlike any other fighter aircraft that had ever been considered. The design was for a light weight fighter powered by two 1,200 hp Wright R-1820 engines, with propellers geared to rotate in opposite directions to cancel out the effects of each engine’s torque, promising high-speed, and an outstanding rate of climb. Designated XF5F-1 “Skyrocket” it was a low wing monoplane with a short fuselage that began aft of the wing’s leading edge with a twin tail assembly that featured a pronounced dihedral to the horizontal stabilizer. The main landing gear and tail wheel were fully retractable. The aircraft flew for the first time on 1 April 1940.  Engine cooling problems arose in the initial flights, resulting in modification to the oil cooling ducts. Further modifications were made to the prototype including reduction in the height of the cockpit canopy, redesign of the engine nacelles, and extending the fuselage forward of the wing. Flight tests indicated good flying qualities for the XF5F-1. The counter-rotating props were a nice feature, virtually eliminating the torque effect on take-off the single-engine performance was good, rudder forces tended to be high in single engine configuration. Nevertheless, additional changes were needed after further flight tests that were not completed until 15 January 1942. In the meantime, Grumman began work on a more advanced twin-engine shipboard fighter, the XF7F-1 “Tigercat”, and further testing with the XF5F-1 supported the development of the newer design. The prototype continued to be used in various tests, although plagued by various landing gear problems, until it was struck from the list of active aircraft after it made a belly landing on 11 December 1944.
A land-based development of the Grumman XF5F-1 “Skyrocket” was the Grumman XP-50 “Skyrocket”. It entered into a USAAC contest for a twin-engine heavy interceptor aircraft. A prototype was ordered on November, but the aircraft lost the competition to the Lockheed XP-49 (Ref.: 24).

Fighter, Fighterbomber

Henschel Hs 132A V1 (A+V Models, Resin)

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TYPE: Dive-bomber and interceptor

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot in prone position

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

PERFORMANCE: 485 mph at 19,685 ft

COMMENT: Early in 1943, the RLM issued a specification for a single-seat attack aircraft to combat the anticipated Allied invasion in Europe. Although the specification called for a piston-engine powered dive bomber it was soon realized that only a turbojet-driven aircraft could hope to match the proposed performance requirements. The Henschel Company submitted a design which was approved as Henschel Hs 132 and placed accent of simplicity and ease to manufacture. The wing was a wooden structure with plywood skinning, and the fuselage was a circular metal monocoque. The single turbojet was mounted above the fuselage, exhausting over the rear fuselage and between the twin vertical surfaces of the tail assembly. A tricycle landing gear was to be used and the extensively glazed cockpit was completely faired with the fuselage. The pilot was in prone position better to withstand the high G-forces of the fast and steep dive during the bomb run. It was estimated that during the dive a speed of more than 570 mph could be reached and after the bomb was released the aircraft was pulled up thus inducing acceleration forces of up to 10 G. A contract for six prototypes was placed in May 1944, and construction began in March 1945. When the war in Europe ended the Henschel Hs 132 V1 was nearly complete and captured by Soviet forces

NOTICE: To ascertain the practicability of the prone position for dive bomber pilots, the DLV ordered in early 1943 a small prone-pilot research aircraft that was designed and built by the FFG Berlin (Flugtechnische Fachgruppe/Aerotechnical Group, University Berlin) and designated Berlin B9. The design was a low winged, twin-engine aircraft of standard layout. It was built of mixed construction and could accept up to 22 G. It was flown by many experienced pilots and showed the advantages of a prone position for pilots to tolerate high g-forces.  (Ref.: 17).