Submarines and their Weapons - Aircraft of World War II

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Blohm & Voss, Focke-Wulf, Junkers, Heinkel and Messerschmitt on 8 September 1944, to be considered a week later; the prototype aircraft was to fly before the year's end. Only Messerschmitt declined the invitation. The Blohm & Voss design (P.211) was considered the best, but for some reason, the Heinkel submission (P. 1073) was chosen, placing the engine in a nacelle mounted atop the fuselage; the engine discharged its exhaust between twin rudders, and by that means avoided all the problems of intake and exhaust ducting. By 23 September, a mock-up had been built and work began on the prototype the following day (six days before an official order was delivered). By 29 October a set of final drawings had been produced. Almost amazingly, the prototype flew for the first time on 6 December - three weeks before the deadline - but on a second flight on 10 December it crashed during a high-speed low-level pass, killing its pilot, Flugkapitän Peters, when the starboard wing disintegrated. It was later discovered that a fault in the formulation of the phenolic resin used to bond the plywood from which the wings were fabricated had caused the failure. By the year's end, a variety of faults in stability had shown up in the second prototype, though these were all cured by mid-January (even if only to the point where an experienced pilot could fly the aircraft; it was still very much of a handful for a novice, though the same was true of the Me 262). By the end of the month, weapons' testing had shown that it would be necessary to replace the 30mm MK 108 with the 20mm MK 151. With that, the Heinkel 162 'Spatz' ('Sparrow', as it was called within the firm; it HEINKEL He 162 Type: Single-seat interceptor fighter Length: 9.05m (29.71ft) Span: 7.20m (23.625ft) Max take-off weight: 2700kg (5952lb) JET AIRCRAFT Above: The Heinkel He 162, the 'People's Fighter', was to have been operated by barely trained volunteers from the ranks of the Hitler Youth, but it proved very difficult to fly. later became known semi-officially as the 'Salamander') went into production at most of the existing Junkers and Heinkel factories (where the duralumin semi-monocoque fuselage was constructed) and in small furniture factories, where the wings and tail assemblies were produced. Final assembly took place at the Heinkel works at Rostock-Marienehe, at the Junkers works at Bernburg, and at the vast underground factory of 'Mittelwerke GmbH' near Nordhausen. Once again, it was too late, of course, though some 275 aircraft were actually completed and around 800 more were ready for assembly. The Volksjäger rarely saw combat, though it was claimed that Below: The He 162A was straight winged, but designs were drawn up for a version with swept-back wings and another with forward-swept wings. Neither was built. Max speed: 835km/h (519mph) at 6000m (19,700ft) Range: 1000km (620 miles) Armament: 2 x 30mm M K 108 or 2 x 20mm MG 151 cannon
JET AIRCRAFT one aircraft - in the hands of Leutnant Rudolf Schmitt of 1/JG 1 based at Leek near the Danish border in Schleswig-Holstein - did shoot down a low-flying RAF Typhoon on 4 May 1945 (the claim was not allowed; the credit went to a nearby flak unit instead) and one was shot down, killing the pilot. Nine other members of JG 1 died and five were injured in flying accidents during conversion from the Fw 190; the He 162 was still very unforgiving. Post-war evaluation by Allied air forces indicated that with a little more development work, it would have been entirely viable, however, and would almost certainly have made a considerable impact, if only it had been available 12 - or even 6 - months earlier. THE EMERGENCY FIGHTER PROGRAMME Expedients like the Volksjäger were not the only option under consideration in mid-1944. It was becoming increasingly obvious to the Luftwaffe's Below: He 162 components were manufactured all over Germany and sent to three central locations for assembly. In all, some 275 aircraft were completed, and components for around 800 more were on hand at the war's end.
Page 4 and 5: Roger Ford Publishing Company
Page 6 and 7: Contents INTRODUCTION 6 CHAPTER ONE
Page 8: Her scientists made an enormous and
Page 11 and 12: JET AIRCRAFT developed during World
Page 13 and 14: JET AIRCRAFT stillborn Oil engine,
Page 15 and 16: JET AIRCRAFT the first all-jet Me 2
Page 17 and 18: JET AIRCRAFT Messerschmitt Me 262A-
Page 19 and 20: JET AIRCRAFT
Page 21 and 22: JET AIRCRAFT Above: Surrounded by J
Page 23: JET AIRCRAFT Above: The Junkers Ju
Page 27 and 28: JET AIRCRAFT DORNIER Do 335 Type: S
Page 29 and 30: JET AIRCRAFT Above: Despite its app
Page 31 and 32: JET AIRCRAFT engined bombers do. Th
Page 33 and 34: JET AIRCRAFT Above: Gotha engineers
Page 36 and 37: CHAPTER TWO Rocket-powered Aircraft
Page 38 and 39: MESSERSCHMITT Me 163B-1 Type: Singl
Page 40 and 41: 50 unpowered versions were built be
Page 42 and 43: February 1945, a single, unmanned t
Page 44: for completing a test programme on
Page 47 and 48: HYBRID AIRCRAFT AND GLIDERS 1940, i
Page 49 and 50: HYBRID AIRCRAFT AND GLIDERS GOTHA G
Page 51 and 52: HYBRID AIRCRAFT AND GLIDERS 'MISTEL
Page 54 and 55: CHAPTER FOUR Rotary-win g Aircraft
Page 56 and 57: 'Drache' ('Kite'). The new aircraft
Page 58 and 59: through 90 degrees to bring them to
Page 60: universally jointed drive shaft and
Page 63 and 64: SURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILES THEFIES
Page 65 and 66: SURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILES Above:
Page 67 and 68: SURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILES Above:
Page 69 and 70: SURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILES FIESELE
Page 72 and 73: Left: A complete VI weighed some 2.
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Right: A technician is photographed
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made now of graphite rather than mo
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cooling it and supplying it with su
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SURFACE-TO-SURFACE MISSILES
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134. Other reports suggest that the
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discussion stage. There was also ta
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Above: The simplest of all air-to-a
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AIR-TO-AIR WEAPONS aim on a target
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CHAPTER SEVEN Air-to-Surface Missil
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armoured deck slowed it down fracti
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DORNIER Do 217E-5 Type: Four-seat a
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at reduced speed. These defensive t
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HENSCHEL Hs 294 Type: Rocket-propel
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SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES 'Schmetterl
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SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILES Mach number
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Above: The 'Rheintochter' 1 on its
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CHAPTER NINE Artillery By the end o
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simple matter. In around 20 hours,
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third gun, which was never complete
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unlike the 'Gustav Gerät', they we
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21CM KANONE 12 (K12) Calibre: 21.1c
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ARTILLERY 11 s
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TANKS AND ANTI-TANK WEAPONS PzKpfw
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TANKS AND ANTI-TANK WEAPONS PANZER
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TANKS AND ANTI-TANK WEAPONS Above:
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CHAPTER ELEVEN Submarines and their
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TYPE XVIIB Type: Coastal submarine
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TYPE XXIII Type: Coastal submarine
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Above: A 'Marder' ('Marten') midget
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The next step was to produce a true
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NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WE
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Page numbers in italics refer to pi
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INDEX Paris Guns 109-10 Tarsival 1
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Submarines and their Weapons - Aircraft of World War II

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