Focke-Wulf Flitzer
| Fw Project VII Flitzer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Wartime model of the Project VII design | |
| Role | Fighter |
| Manufacturer | Focke-Wulf |
| Status | Unfinished project |
| Number built | One mock-up built and a few prototype sub-assemblies completed[1] |
|
| |
The Focke-Wulf Project VII Flitzer ("streaker" or "dasher", sometimes incorrectly translated as "madcap") was a jet fighter under development in Germany at the end of World War II.
Development
The design began as Focke-Wulf Project VI which had a central fuselage and two booms carrying the rear control surfaces having great similarity with the contemporary de Havilland Vampire.[2]
Project V had the air inlets still positioned on either side of the nose, just below the cockpit.[3]
The estimated horizontal speed was not satisfactory and in the next development, Project VII, the jet intakes were situated in the wing roots. Further improvements over Project VI were a narrower fuselage and a changed pilot's canopy. In order to improve the rate of climb, a Walter HWK 109-509 hypergolic liquid-propellant rocket was built-in to give supplementary thrust. A complete mock-up was built and all construction and assembly plans were finished, but the aircraft was not accepted by the Reich Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium, RLM).[4]
Specifications (design draft of 15 September 1944)
Data from
General characteristics
- Crew: one pilot
- Length: 10.55 m (34 ft 7 in)
- Wingspan: 8.00 m (26 ft 3 in)
- Height: 2.35 m (7 ft 8 in)
- Wing area: 17.0 m2 (183 ft2)
- Empty weight: 2,730 kg (6,018 lb)
- Gross weight: 4,350 kg (9,589 lb)
- Powerplant: 1 × Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet, 14.7 kN (3,306 lbf) thrust
- 1 × Walter HWK 109-509 rocket, 16.7 kN (3,750 lbf) thrust
Performance
- Maximum speed: 955 km/h (593 mph)
- Endurance: 1 hours 50 min
- Service ceiling: 13,000 m (42,500 ft)
- Rate of climb: 18.2 m/s (3,600 ft/min)
Armament
- 2 × 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 103 cannon
- 2 × 20 mm MG 151 cannon
See also
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
References
- ↑ Focke-Wulf Project VII Flitzer
- ↑ Myhra, David (1998). Secret Aircraft Designs of the Third Reich. Atglen: Schiffer. pp. 141–42.
- ↑ Lens, K.; H. J. Nowarra (1964). Die Deutschen Flugzeuge. Munich: J F Lehmans Verlag.
- ↑ Nowarra, Heinz (1983). Die deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945. Bonn: Bernard and Graefe. pp. Teil 2, p.117.
Bibliography
- Masters, David (1982). German Jet Genesis. London: Jane's Publishing.
- Schick, Walter; Ingolf Meyer (1997). Luftwaffe Secret Projects: Fighters 1939–1945. Hinckley: Midland Publishing. pp. 143–44.
- Smith, J. R. (1973). Focke-Wulf: An Aircraft Album. London: Ian Allan.
- Smith, J. R.; A. Kay (1972). German Aircraft of the Second World War. London: Putnam.
- Wagner, Wolfgang (1980). Kurt Tank: Konstruckteur und Test Pilot bei Focke-Wulf. Munich: Bernard and Graefe.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Focke-Wulf Flitzer. |
- Proyectos inconclusos de la aeronáutica alemana de la S.G.M. (In Spanish)
- Lufwaffe Projects (In Russian)