Arsenal VG 60
The VG60 is the latest draft of propeller fighter from engineer Galtier, father of VG.33-39 of 1940. The study was begun in 1940 and taken over by Vernisse and Galtier during the occupation years. Finally it was proposed in May 1945 with a German engine, the 1750 hp Junkers Jumo 213 E . Significantly larger than its predecessors, it retained from them the general appearance and the aerodynamic characteristics. A belly radiator was fitted past the wings trailing edge, with air then rejected by the tail. Very powerful weaponery would have included 8 of 12.7 mm machine guns in the wings and perhaps a 20mm gun HS 404 in the engine axis. the project was finally cancelled after however conclusive wind tunnel tests. The age of propeller planes coming to an end, the arsenal firm preferred to build the VG.70 jet.
Republic XP 47H
The XP-47H was perhaps the most visually distinctive of all Thunderbolt variants. The reason for this was its replacement of the radial engine used in every other model with a Chrysler XIV-2220-11/GE inline inverted-vee liquid cooled engine. The resulting aircraft was somewhat more streamlined than the standard Thunderbolt, and the engine offered 2,500hp. Despite this the top speed of the XP-47H was only 414mph. Neither the aircraft nor its engine made it into production.
Hutter 136
The Hütter Hü 136 was an experimental dive bomber design produced by German engineers Wolfgang and Ulrich Hütter during World War II.
The Hütters, best known as glider designers, responded to Reich Air Ministry calls for high-performance, strongly built dive bombers. The Sturzbomber or Stubo specification came in two parts: Stubo 1, a single-seater with the flight capabilities of a fighter but armoured and with a 500 kg bombload; and Stubo 2, a two-seat bomber with similar performance but a 1,000 kg bombload.
The Hü 136 design was highly innovative, with the pilot sitting far to the rear of the aircraft, his cockpit forming part of the vertical tail surface. The design had no undercarriage, with a jettisonable dolly for takeoff and a retractable skid for landing. To overcome the likelihood of contact between the propeller and the ground on landing, the propeller would be blown off before landing and descend separately by parachute.
Henschel 132
The RLM (Reichsluftfahrt-Ministerium) issued a specification for a single-seat shipping attack aircraft on February 18, 1943, to combat the anticipated invasion of Europe. Although the specification called for a piston-engined powered aircraft, but it was soon realized that only a turbojet could hope to match the proposed performance requirements. Henschel submitted a design for RLM approval in April/May 1944 (wind tunnel testing had already started, see wind tunnel model below), which was approved as the Hs 132. The fuselage was of a circular cross-section, and constructed entirely of metal, and the single BMW 003 jet engine was mounted on the fuselage top. The mid-fuselage mounted wings were mostly of wooden construction, and had a slight taper on the leading and trailing edges. Due to the position of the engine, a twin fin and rudder configuration was chosen, to allow the jet to exhaust without interfering with the tail unit. A tricycle landing gear was to be used, with the nose wheel revolving 90 degrees to lie under the cockpit when retracted; the main gear retracted inwards. The extensively glazed cockpit was completely faired in with the rest of the fuselage, and the pilot was in a prone position, the better to withstand the intense G-forces of the fast, steep dive during the bomb run. The pilot's controls featured a spring-operated power rudder, since a pilot in the prone position could exert less pressure on the rudder controls.
The flight profile had the Hs 132 begin its high-speed attack at a range outside the ships' range of fire. After reaching a speed of 910 km/h (565 mph) in a shallow dive, the pilot would then climb as he released his bomb. The bomb would be "tossed" at the target using a type of primitive computerized sight, which delayed construction of the aircraft because it was not ready in time. The prone-pilot position was extensively tested on the Berlin B-9, a twin engined test aircraft built to test G-forces.
A contract for six prototypes was approved in May 1944, and construction was begun in March 1945. There were four versions of the Hs 132 proposed (see table below), including the Hs 132D, which was to have an enlarged (9.1 m (29' 10")) wing. The Hs 132V1 was nearly complete, with the fuselage completed at Henschel's Berlin-Schönefeld facility and the wings being finished at Henschel's French subsidiary. Although the Hs 132A was scheduled to have its first flight in June 1945, the wings and fuselage were never mated, and Russian forces captured the intact fuselage in May 1945.
Junkers EF 126
The Junkers EF 126 was an experimental fighter proposed by the German Miniaturjägerprogramm of 1944-1945, for a cheap and simple fighter powered by a pulse jet engine. No examples were built during the war, but a single unpowered prototype was completed by the Soviet Union, which crashed during testing.
During 1944, the Jägernot programme was launched by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) or German Air Ministry to work on designs for the simplest, cheapest fighter possible. In order to minimise cost and complexity, it was to be powered by a pulse jet, as used by the V-1 flying bomb and its manned version, the Fieseler Fi 103R (Reichenberg) 'buzz bomb' (V1). Designs were produced by Heinkel, with a pulse jet–powered version of their Heinkel He 162, Blohm & Voss (the P.213) and Junkers.
The project cost was about 30,000 Reichsmarks. The design started with two prototypes. The first prototype was the upper-fuselage mounted wings version, which was not completed until the end of the war, when it was captured and completed by the Soviet Army. With the second prototype, the mid-fuselage mounted wings were constructed but never completed; it was later tested as an unpowered version. None of the test data was available during the post-war period as the Soviets did not have the towing planes for it. The powered version was never flown.
Junkers EF 128
This Junkers design was submitted for the Emergency Fighter Competition in Febuary 1945. The fighter had air intakes at the fuselage sides to divert the boundry-layer air flow to a vent outlet aft of the cockpit fairing. The wings were of wooden construction, swept back 45 degrees and had two small vertical fins and rudders on the wing trailing edges. 540 liters (143 gallons) of fuel were contained in the wings, and a further 1025 liters (271 gallons) were contained in a fuselage tank located just behind the cockpit. A pressurized cockpit was provided with an ejector seat and armor (protection from 12.7 mm rounds from the front, and 20 mm rounds from the rear). Power was supplied by a Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 jet engine, and two MK 108 30 mm cannon were installed in the sides of the fuselage nose with 100 rounds each, with a provision for two more. Good results were obtained with a completed wind tunnel model, and a mock-up fuselage with an HeS 011 jet was built for tests in which it was to be mounted above a Ju 88. An additional night fighter/all-weather fighter with a lengthened fuselage and room for a second crew member was also in the design phase, but neither project was completed due to the war's end.
Consolidated Vultee XP81
The Consolidated Vultee XP-81 (its newly-merged builder soon to be better known as Convair) was the first American aircraft powered by a turboprop engine. Ordered by the USAAF on 11 February 1944, the XP-81 was intended as a long-range escort fighter using compound power, with one 1230kW General Electric TG-100 turbo-prop and one 1701kg thrust Allison I-40 jet engine, eventually designated J33-A-5. When delays with the turboprop powerplant were encountered, the prototype XP-81 was flown on 11 February 1945 with a Packard V-1650-7 Merlin installed temporarily in the nose. The first flight with the intended turboprop engine followed on 21 December 1945 and, to the astonishment of pilots and observers, the turboprop provided no advantage in performance over the Merlin! A second XP-81 flew in early 1946 to join the first machine in exploring the potential for this unusual powerplant, but several factors (war's end, the disappointing results with the TG-100, and the evident, superiority of pure jet designs) resulted in cancellation of an order for 13 YP-81 service-test aircraft.
Both XF-81 airframes have survived, albeit in poor condition, and are today derelict on a test range at Edwards AFB, California, known until 1949 simply as Muroc Dry Lake.
Yokosuka R2Y1 Keiun
Commissioned for the Imperial Japanese Navy after the R1Y design was cancelled due to its disappointing performance estimates, the R2Y borrowed from the German pre-war Heinkel He 119 in its use of coupled engines driving a single propeller. It also featured a tricycle undercarriage giving it an appearance similar to the Messerschmitt Me 509.
Completed in April 1945, the prototype made a short flight on 8 May, but was destroyed in a US air raid only a few days later, thus ending development.
Yokosuka R2Y2 Keiun Kai
Jet version of the R2Y1.
J7W2 Shinden Kai
The Kyushu Company developed the J7W1 Shinden with the original intent to power it with a Japanese adaptation of the Jumo 004 Turbojet engine, the 900kp Ne-130 axial turbojet. This engine was still under development when the basic airframe had been completed so a conventional piston engine, the 2,130 horsepower Mitsubishi [Ha-43] 12 (MK9D) eighteen-cylinder air-cooled radial engine driving a six-blade metal pusher propeller was fitted to the aircraft for initial flight trials. In August 1945 this aircraft was successfully tested and production commenced as a propeller driven aircraft. During this time Harry Truman agonized over the option to utilize the nuclear bomb that the Americans had developed and decided against the option in favor of a conventional invasion of the Japanese homeland.
By the end of August 1945 the improved Ne-130A Turbojet engine with rudimentary afterburner (note the small outer fan) was available and this was immediately placed into production. Production of the aircraft as originally designed for this engine would require considerable retooling and several airframes were already complete for the piston engine version so these were quickly refitted with the Turbojet. These 65 aircraft were designated J7W2 and the next version with shortened landing gear, reduced stabilizers and bubble canopies were then produced as the J7W3.
When Allied bombers encountered this new weapon the shock was such that invasion plans had to be altered and the war dragged on into 1946. To support the upcoming invasion B-26 medium bombers and P-51 Mustangs were based on the Korean Peninsula. The Japanese Army had the Kyushu Company immediately retrofit the existing 65 J7W2 aircraft with long range drop tanks and based those aircraft on the tip of the peninsula which was still under Imperial control while new J7W3 aircraft rolling off the production line were employed as home defense fighters. This version was provisioned with two rocket pods mounted under the fuselage, each containing nineteen 50 mm unguided rockets. These proved most effective in defending the island from B-29 Superfortresses.
Those aircraft stationed in Korea were repainted with a green on white splinter camouflage to protect them from marauding Allied aircraft while on the ground. In the air they had little to fear with a top speed of nearly 600 MPH at 29000 feet under afterburner and a cruise speed of 387mph combined with exceptional maneuverability. Even the introduction of the P-80 Shooting Star was not adequate to stem the predations of the J7W2 fighters. Ultimately these efforts failed to prevail against the manufacturing might of the Allied advance and the Japanese Government surrendered to the Allies on May 7, 1947, exactly two years after the fall of the Nazi regime. Seven J7W1 airframes were completed and retained by Kyushu as test bed aircraft, 65 were completed as J7W2s and 245 were produced in the J7W3 configuration. Several J7W2 and J7W3 aircraft were ultimately acquired by private citizens and were briefly used as air racers until the Cleveland Air Circuit disqualified them from competition. Today there are only three of these fabulous steeds left in existence, one in Dayton Ohio, one at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum and one in Bill Gates? private collection in Redmond Washington.
Reggiane Re.2007
Detail design of the Re 2007 single-seat jet fighter began in 10/43 and component manufacture began shortly afterwards. All design work had to be based on the known dimension of the Jumo 004B, it’s intended power plant, but could progress no further by 1/44 owing to the lack of detailed information relating to the engine and it’s installation. Hauptmann Bohm, the Luftwaffe’s senior engineer at the Reggiane plant, could not obtain a definitive decision concerning the supply of the two Jumo 004B’s. On the 1/7/44, Roberto Longhi wrote to Count Caproni, requesting that he intercede with the German authorities as design work had stalled. In the meantime, much of the rear fuselage, wing spars, ribs, undercarriage and the cockpit were built but because of the inability to obtain adequately detailed information relating to the Jumo 004B the work once again stalled. In 10/44 the completed components were moved to the Caproni plant at Taliedo, where they would remain until the end of the war.
They were then shipped to the U.S.A. It is interesting to note that the two Jumo 004B engines were sent to Italy, but never made it to the Regianne designers and allegedly were sold for scrap in Milan immediately after the collapse of the German forces in Italy.
Lippisch P13 A
Dr. Alexander Lippisch designed this ramjet powered interceptor in late 1944, much of the research coming from his work on the DM-1 test glider (see below). The wings were sharply swept back at 60 degrees, and there was a single large fin and rudder in which the cockpit was located. The ramjet was fed by a circular intake that protruded from the nose, and exhausted beneath the vertical fin at the rear. Research in the DVL high-speed windtunnel indicated that the P.13a had outstanding stability up to the maximum tested speed of Mach 2.6, and no unfavorable characteristics in the subsonic range. A liquid fueled rocket motor was planned for takeoff and to get the aircraft to ramjet operating speed.Since fuel was in short supply by this stage in the war, powdered coal was to be used in the ramjet.
Messerschmitt 262 HG III
With its Me-262 jet fighter being a proven success, Messerschmitt subsequently proposed numerous variations on its battle-tested airframe. One of these was a three-man high-speed interceptor with in-wing engines: the HG III. Ultimately, this was little more than a "paper project," as no HG IIIs were ever produced.
Focke Wulf Super Lorin
Very little is known about this project, which was designed around the same time as the Focke-Wulf Fw Ta 283 . Designed by Dipl.-Ing. von Halen, the "Super Lorin" featured sharply swept back wings which were mounted mid-fuselage. There were two ramjets mounted at the tips of the swept back tailplanes, this was thought to minimize airflow disturbance. Since ramjets do not begin to operate until a speed of approximately 240 km/h (149 mph) is reached, some method was needed to accelerate the aircraft until the ramjets could begin operating. This was to be achieved by the use of rocket engines, either solid or liquid fueled. The landing gear was to be a tricycle arrangement, and armament would have been two MK 108 30mm cannon.
Su-9
Designed by P.O.Sukhoj and included the crash program in 1945. Given authorisation in May 1944 for two prototypes and one static-test airframe. The Sukhoi Su 9 was by far the best of the first generation of Soviet jets and as good if not better as any thing in the West at the time.
Thought of as a copy of the Me 262 because of it's lay out, the aircraft was of a completely indigenous design, the Su 9 had it's first flight in August 1946, flown by G.Kochyetkov. One prototype was demonstrated to the world at the Tushino airforce parade on the 3/7/1947. The NII considered the Su-9 so good it recommended series-production as soon as possible, but the Su-9 never went into production as it's resemblance to the German Me 262 made the authorities (Stalin) uncomfortable and would lead in the end to Sukhoj's design bureau being closed in November 1949 and Sukhoj "falling out of favour" until the death of Stalin.
Improvements were made to the Su-9 in late 1946, resulting in the Su-11. Little changed to the Su-9 apart the fitting of two Lyulka TR-1 engines (the first aircraft to be fitted with Lyulka turbojet engines). The Su-11 had it's maiden flight on 28/5/1947, as with the Su-9 an outstanding aircraft, but a jealous A.S.Yakovlev told Stalin "Copy of the Me 262 and dangerous to fly".
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Topic: My big plane wish list (Read 13891 times)
