Junkers Ju 287 V1 (Huma)

TYPE: Aerodynamic testbed, bomber prototype

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of two

POWER PLANT: Four Junkers Jumo 004B-1 turbojet engines, rated at 950 kp each

PERFORMANCE: 347 mph at 19,685 ft

COMMENT: The Ju 287 was intended to provide the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) with a bomber that could avoid interception by outrunning enemy fighters. The swept-forward wing was suggested as a way of providing extra lift at low airspeeds, necessary because of the poor responsiveness of early turbojet engines at the vulnerable times of takeoff and landing. A further structural advantage of the forward-swept wing was that it would allow for a single massive weapons bay forward of the main wing spar. The first prototype was intended to evaluate the concept, and was assembled from the fuselage of a Heinkel He 177, the tail of a Junkers Ju 388, main undercarriage from a Junkers Ju 352, and nose wheels taken from crashed Consolidated B-24 ‘Liberator’, all of which were fixed to lower weight and complexity, and equipped with spats to reduce drag. Two of the Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engines were hung in nacelles (pods) under the wings, with the other two mounted in nacelles added to the sides of the forward fuselage. Flight tests began on 16 August 1944, with the aircraft displaying extremely good handling characteristics, as well as revealing some of the problems of the forward-swept wing under some flight conditions. The most notable of these drawbacks was ‘wing warping’, or excessive inflight flexing of the main spar and wing assembly. Tests suggested that the warping problem would be eliminated by concentrating greater engine mass under the wings. This technical improvement would be incorporated in the subsequent prototypes. The production version of the Junkers Ju 287 was intended to be powered by four Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 engines, but because of the development problems experienced with that engine, the  BMW 003 was selected in its place. The second and third prototypes, V2 and V3, were to have employed six of these engines, in a triple cluster under each wing. Both were to feature the all-new fuselage and tail design intended for the production bomber, the Ju 287A-1. V3 was to have served as the pre-production template, carrying defensive armament, a pressurized cockpit and full operational equipment.
Work on the Ju 287 program, along with all other pending German bomber projects (including Junkers’ other ongoing heavy bomber design, the piston-engined Junkers Ju 488 came to a halt in July 1944, but Junkers was allowed to go forward with the flight testing regime on the V1 prototype. The wing section for the V2 had been completed by that time. Seventeen test flights were undertaken in total, which passed without notable incident. Minor problems, however, did arise with the turbojet engines and the RATO booster units, which proved to be unreliable over sustained periods. This initial test phase was designed purely to assess the low-speed handling qualities of the forward-swept wing, but despite this the V1 was dived at full jet power on at least. After the seventeenth and last flight in late autumn of 1944, the V1 was placed in storage and the Ju 287 program came to what was then believed to be its end. However, in March 1945, for reasons that are not entirely clear, the 287 program was restarted, with the RLM issuing a requirement for mass production of the jet bomber (100 airframes a month) as soon as possible. The V1 prototype was taken out of storage and transferred to the Luftwaffe evaluation center at  Rechlin, but was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid before it could take to the air again. Construction on the V2 and V3 prototypes was resumed at the Junkers factory near Leipzig, where they were captured by Soviet troops and brought to the Soviet Union including the Junkers design team. Redesigned in its original work number EF 131 the V3 aircraft flew for the first time in 1947 (Ref.: 24).

Junkers EF 131 (Ju 287A-1), (Schorsch-Modellbau, Resin)

TYPE: High speed bomber,

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of three

POWER PLANT: Six Junkers Jumo 004B-1 turbojet engines, rated at 950 kp each

PERFORMANCE: 534 mph

COMMENT: The Junkers EF 131 was, in essence, a hybrid airframe built from the components of the Junkers Ju 287 V2 and V3 of the Luftwaffe’s radical forward-swept-wing jet bomber. The V2 was nearly complete at the time of its capture by Soviet forces in 1945, and was taken into Red Air Force hands under military intelligence supervision along with the skeletal airframe of the barely-started V3. The V3 was to have been the first Ju 287 to be made to pre-production model specifications, and the eventual EF-131 was almost identical to it in terms of overall design. The airplane was completed and briefly test flown in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, before being dismantled and transported to GOZ-1 (Gosoodarstvenny Optnyy Zavod – state experimental plant), at Dubna near Moscow. OKB-1 at GOZ-1 was formed with Dr. Baade as the chief designer, and a very talented team of German engineers seconded by the Soviet government. Extreme pressure was applied to get the aircraft ready to appear in the 1947 Aviation Day fly-past at Tushino airfield, but several factors combined to prevent the EF-131 from appearing. Flight testing in the USSR began on 23 May 1947, at the LII airfield, after the airframe had been strengthened. The first flight resulted in the port undercarriage collapsing due to a bolt failure, subsequent flight tests revealed major deficiencies such as nose wheel shimmy and tail surface vibration. Rectification of the defects caused many delays but the worst delays were caused by bureaucracy when it was decreed that foreign workers could not work at the LII airfield. The aircraft sat at LII over the winter but the harsh conditions caused the deterioration of rubber components and wiring, which required lengthy repairs. Preparations for resuming flight tests were almost complete in June 1948 when Ministry of Aircraft Industry ordered that further work on the EF-131 be discontinued. The Junkers EF-131 had become obsolete as newer Soviet-built engines with better performance became available (Ref.: 24).

Heinkel He 51B-2 (Hasegawa)

TYPE: Reconnaissance floatplane, trainer

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One BMW VI 7,3 Z liquid-cooled engine, rated at 750 hp

PERFORMANCE: 205 mph

COMMENT: The Heinkel He 51 was a single-seat biplane which was produced in a number of different versions. It was initially developed as a fighter, it was also developed as a ground-attack aircraft and a floatplane.
In 1931, Heinkel Aircraft Company developed the Heinkel He 49, officially an advanced trainer in fact it was a fighter. The first prototype flew in November 1932, and was followed by two further prototypes with a longer fuselage, and a revised engine. The type was ordered into production for the still secret Luftwaffe as Heinkel He 51, the first pre-production aircraft flying in May 1933. Deliveries started in July of the next year.
The He 51 was a conventional single-bay biplane, with all-metal construction and fabric covering. It was powered by a BMW VI engine, with an armament of two machine guns mounted above the engine. The He 51 was intended to replace the earlier Arado Ar 65, but served side-by-side with the slightly later Arado Ar 68. The He 51 was outdated the day it entered service, and after an initial run of 150 production fighters, the design was switched into the modified He 51B, with approximately 450 built, including about 46 He 51B-2 floatplanes. With begin of WW II the Heinkel He 51B-2 was only used in a role as trainer (Ref.: 24).

Heinkel He 60C (Airmodel, Vacu)

TYPE: Reconnaissance floatplane

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot and observer

POWER PLANT: One BMW VI 6.0 liquid-cooled engine, rated at 660 hp

PERFORMANCE: 150 mph at sea level

COMMENT: The Heinkel He 60 was a reconnaissance floatplane designed for the German Kriegsmarine (German Navy) to be catapulted from warships of the 1930s.
The Heinkel He 60 was designed as a single-engined biplane of mixed wood and metal construction with fabric covering. Its single bay wings were of equal-span and had significant stagger.
The first prototype flew early in 1933 and proved to be underpowered with its 660 hp BMW VI engine. The second prototype had a more powerful version of the BMW engine, but this only marginally improved its performance and was unreliable, so production aircraft reverted to the original engine. Of conventional configuration, the He 60 was a sturdy aircraft, designed  to be capable of operating on the open sea. As a result, it was always somewhat underpowered for its weight, which made handling sluggish and the aircraft vulnerable to enemy fire. Attempts were made to solve its lack of power by fitting one aircraft with a Daimler-Benz DB 600 engine, but engines were not available for production.
Initial deliveries of the He 60 were to Kriegsmarine training units in June 1933. From 1934, the major production version, the He 60C began to be delivered to the shipboard floatplane units of the Kriegsmarine, operating from the catapults of all German cruisers. It also saw action with Spanish Nationalist forces during the Civil War.
In 1939 it was replaced as a shipboard aircraft first by the Heinkel he 114 in service, then soon after by the Arado Ar 196, but it remained in service with several coast reconnaissance Staffeln (squadrons) when WW II began. It had been withdrawn from front-line service by 1940, but returned to use following Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, being used for coastal patrol work in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas. All He 60s were removed from service by October 1943 (Ref.: 24).

Tachikawa Ki-94-II (A + V Model, Resin)

TYPE: High-altitude fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot in pressurized cockpit

POWER PLANT: One Nakajima Ha-44 radial engine, rated at 2,450 hp

PERFORMANCE: 442 mph at 39,370 ft (estimated)

COMMENT: In mid-1942, the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force wanted to obtain a high-altitude fighter fitted with a pressure cabin and capable of reaching a top speed of 497 mph and having a maximum range of 1,850 miles. As these performance requirements were rather stringent, the Koku Hombu decided to instruct Tachikawa to proceed with the design of the aircraft designated Ki- 94 while they placed a contract with Nakajima for another high-altitude fighter, the Ki- 87, with less stringent range requirements.
The initial aircraft was a large twin-boom monoplane with two engines mounted in tandem driving four-blade tractor and pusher propellers. But it was judged that the design was too complex and in 1943 Tachikawa submitted a new proposal to meet the same requirements as the competitive Nakajima Ki-87. The new aircraft was a single-engine high-altitude fighter of conventional design with laminar-flow wing and featuring a pressure cabin mounted in the fuselage behind the wing trailing edges. The aircraft was to be powered by a fan-cooled turbo-supercharged 2,400 hp Nakajima radial engine driving a six-blade propeller. This design was approved by the Koku Hombu, and the aircraft was designated Ki-94-II (the scrapped earlier Ki-94 design was named the Ki-94-I). An order was placed for one static test airframe, three prototypes, and eighteen pre-production aircraft. Only two prototypes were built in the event; the first was equipped with a single 2,541 hp Nakajima Ha-219 (Ha-44) engine, driving a four-blade propeller because the six-blade one was not ready. The second prototype was to be fitted with a six-blade propeller. The war’s end however stopped the construction of the second prototype and also found the first prototype still being readied for its intended maiden flight, the Ki-94-II never taking to the air (Ref.: 1, 24).

Focke Wulf Fw 190TL (Unicraft, Resin, Parts from Airfix)

TYPE: Fighter project with turbojet engine

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Focke-Wulf T.1 radial turbojet engine, rated at 600 kp

PERFORMANCE: 515 mph at 29.530 ft

COMMENT: The Focke-Wulf 190TL was one of the earliest jet projects of the Focke-Wulf Company. First design studies began in 1941 on the basis of a standard Focke-Wulf  Fw 190 fighter then in production. The original BMW 803 radial piston engine was replaced by a Focke-Wulf T. 1 turbojet engine. This comprised a two-stage radial compressor, an annular combustion chamber and a single-stage turbine. The exhaust passed through an annular outlet streaming around the surface of the fuselage. Further work on this project was cancelled in 1942.

Focke Wulf Fw 190A-4 Falcon-wing (Unicraft, Resin, Parts from Airfix)

Bell L-39-1 (IPMS Canada, Resin)

TYPE: Experimental swept-wing aircraft

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Allison V-1710-117 liquid-cooled engine, rated at 1,800 hp

PERFORMANCE: 410 mph at 25,000 ft

COMMENT: Two war surplus Bell P-63C Kingcobra fighter aircraft were modified by Bell under Navy contract for flight testing of low-speed and stall characteristics of high-speed wing designs. The aircraft received new wings with adjustable leading edge slats, trailing edge flaps and a pronounced sweep of 35 degrees. The wings had no wheel wells; only the nose gear was retractable. L-39-1 first flew 23 April 1946, demonstrating a need for extra tail surface and rear fuselage length to balance the aircraft in flight—the wing repositioning reduced empennage effectiveness and moved the center of lift aft. A lighter three-bladed propeller from a Bell P-38Q-10 was mounted and the necessary changes to the empennage were made. L-39-2 incorporated these adjustments from the start. L-39-1 later went to NACA at Langley for wind tunnel testing, where much valuable data were gathered. Bell L-39-2 also served as a testbed for the Bell X-2 40-degree wing design (Ref.: 24).

Bell P-63C Kingcobra (Resin)

TYPE: Fighter

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Allison V-1710-117 liquid-cooled engine, rated at 1,800 hp

PERFORMANCE: 410 mph at 25,000 ft

COMMENT: The Bell P-63 Kingcobra was an American fighter aircraft that was developed by Bell Aircraft during Worlf War II. Based on the preceding Bell P-39 Airacobra, the P-63’s design incorporated suggestions from P-39 pilots and was superior to its predecessor in virtually all respects. The P-63 was not accepted for combat use by the United States Army Air Forces. However, it was used during World War II by the Soviet Air Force which had also been the most prolific user of the P-39.
While the P-39 had originally been introduced as an interceptor, later in its development it was decided to reduce the cost and complexity of the engine by removing the turbocharger. High-altitude performance suffered dramatically as a result, and Bell proposed an experimental series to test out a variety of solutions.
The resulting XP-39E featured two primary changes from the earlier P-39D from which it was developed. One was a redesigned wing. The root airfoil was changed to gain internal volume. The other was a switch to the Continental I-1430 engine, which featured an improved overall design developed from the hyper engine efforts, as well as an improved supercharger.
Three prototypes were ordered in April 1941.The I-1430 was having continued development problems and could not be delivered in time, so it was replaced by an Allison V-1710-47, similar to that powering the P-39. Each prototypes tested different wing and tail configurations.  The XP-39E proved faster than standard Airacobra, reaching a maximum speed of 386 at 21,680 ft during tests. However, the XP-39E was considered inferior to the stock P-39 Airacobra in all other respects, so it was not ordered into production.
Although the XP-39E proved disappointing, the USAAF was nevertheless interested in an even larger aircraft based on the same basic layout. Even before its first flight, the USAAF placed an order on 27 June 1941 for two prototypes of an enlarged version powered by the same V-1710-47. The new design was given the designation Bell XP-63 Kingcobra. A third prototype was also ordered, using the Packard V-1650, the U.S.-built version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine.
The XP-63 was larger in all dimensions than the Airacobra. The wing was redesigned again, this time with new NACA laminar flow airfoils, wing span increased to 38 ft 4 in, and wing area was increased to248 sq ft. The engine was fitted with a second remotely mounted supercharger, supplementing the normal single-stage supercharger. At higher altitudes, when additional boost was required, a hydraulic clutch would engage the second supercharger, adding 10,000 ft to the service ceiling. A larger four-bladed propeller was also standardized. A persistent complaint against the Airacobra was that its nose armament was not easily accessible for ground maintenance, and in order to cure this problem, the XP-63 airframe was fitted with larger cowling panels.
he first prototype flew for the first time on 7 December 1942. It was destroyed on 28 January 1943 when its landing gear failed to extend. The second prototype followed on 5 February 1943. It, too, was destroyed, this time due to an engine failure. The Merlin-engined prototype was delivered with another Allison instead, an Allison V-1710 -93, which had a war emergency rating of 1,500 hp at sea level, making this prototype one of the fastest Kingcobras built, attaining 421 mph at 24,100 ft.
Deliveries of production P-63As began in October 1943. The USAAF concluded the Kingcobra was inferior to the Mustang, and declined to order larger quantities. American allies, particularly the Soviet Union, had a great need for fighter aircraft, however, and the Soviets were already the largest users of the Airacobra. Therefore, the Kingcobra was ordered into production to be delivered under Lend-Lease.
Soviet input was significant. With the Soviet Union being the largest buyer of the aircraft, Bell was quick to implement their suggestions. The vast majority of the changes in the P-63A sub-variants were a direct result of Soviet input, e.g. increased pilot armor and fuselage hardpoint on the A-5, underwing hardpoints and extra fuel tanks on the A-6, etc. Most significantly, Soviet input resulted in moving the main cannon forward, favorably changing the center of gravity, and increasing its ammo load from 30 to 58 rounds for the A-9 variant. The P-63 had an impressive roll rate, besting the Americans’ Republic P-47, Curtiss P-40, and North American P-51—and the Japanese Navy’s Kawanishi N1K2 Shiden-Kai fighter—with a rate of 110° per second at 275 mph.
In general, official Soviet histories played down the role of Lend-Lease supplied aircraft in favor of local designs, but it is known that the P-63 was a successful fighter aircraft in Soviet service. A common Western misconception is that the Bell fighters were used as ground attack aircraft.
3.303 aircraft had been completed when the assembly lines stopped at the end of WW II (Ref.: 24)