Following the failure of the Me 210 heavy fighter aircraft (which was upgraded to the Me 410 by lengthening the fuselage and adding more powerful engines), a search was begun on a new design for a twin-engine heavy fighter. Professor Alexander Lippisch began work on his Li P.10, and at the same time Dr. Hermann Wurster independently developed the 329. After both submitted their ideas, Willy Messerschmitt asked to have a performance comparison drawn up between the Li P.10, Me 329 and Me 410 (see table below for results).
The Me 329 was a tailless design, and was to be constructed mainly of wood. This would save on strategic materials and keep the weight lower. As many components of the Me 410 were to be used as possible to save time on factory retooling. The large area wing was swept back at approximately 26 degrees, and two Daimler-Benz DB 603 or Jumo 213 piston engines were buried in the wings, each driving a 3.4 meter (11.2 feet) pusher propeller. A single large fin and rudder was mounted at the rear. The main landing gear retracted forwards, and the twin-wheeled front gear retracted to the rear. A two-man crew sat under an extensively glazed cockpit, with the pilot and navigator/rear gunner sitting in a staggered side-by-side arrangement. Armament consisted of four MG 151/20 20mm cannon mounted in the nose, and two MK 103 30mm cannon in the wing roots. A single MG 151/20 20mm cannon was located in a remote controlled barbette in the tail, which was aimed via a periscope system from the cockpit. Up to 2400 kg (5291 lbs) of bombs could be carried in an internal bomb bay or underwing racks.
Some of the roles envisioned for the Me 329 were:
• Heavy fighter
• escort fighter
• night fighter
• dive bomber
• fighter-bomber
• reconnaissance
There were high hopes for the Me 329, and although a wooden mockup was built to check the placement of various components, production was not pursued due to the long development time for such a novel design. Plus, the Messerschmitt Me 410 was proving to be a success in many different roles with the upgrade additions from the Me 210. One source claims that the first prototype, the Me 329V1, was completed as a glider and test flown at the Rechlin Test Center in early 1945
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 7.715 m (25.312 ft)
Wingspan: 17.50 m (57.41)
Height: 4.74 m (15.55)
Wing area: 55.00 m² (592 ft²)
Empty weight: 6,950 kg (15,322 lb)
Loaded weight: 12,150 kg (26,786 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Daimler-Benz DB 603G, 1,397 kW (1,874 hp) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 685 km/h at 7,000 m (426 mph at 22,966 ft)
Range: 2,520 km (1,566 mi)
Service ceiling: 12,500 m (41,000 ft)
Armament
Guns: 2 × 20 mm MG 151/20 cannons,
4 × 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 cannons,
1 × MK 114 forward firing in fuselage nose
1 × 20 mm MG 151/20 rearward-firing
Bombs: internal bomb load of up to 1,000 kg (2,205 lb)
Author
Topic: request for Me 329 (Read 2165 times)
