Submarines and their Weapons - Aircraft of World War II

February 1945, a single, unmanned test launch took
place using the Walter motor as well. Some days later
a manned launch was ordered by the SS
(Schutzstaffeln: the Nazis' private army) which, by
that time, had control of all secret weapons projects,
even though the unmanned programme had not been
completed and there were grave doubts about the aircraft's
viability. The pilot, one Lothar Siebert, was
killed when the Ba 349 power-dived into the ground
from a height of 1500m (4900ft) after having rolled
on to its back. The testing programme continued, and
perhaps 20 aircraft (some reports say 36) intended for
operations were produced, but none flew in combat. It
is thought that two examples remain, both in museum
storage: one in the USA, the other in Germany.
Ernst Heinkel proposed a very similar aircraft to
the Bachern 'Natter' ('Viper'). The P. 1077 'Julia' (it
never received an RLM designator) was also to have
been powered by a Walter 509 motor and four solidfuel
Schmidding 533 boosters. It was to have taken
off from an inclined ramp, to climb to 15,000m
(49,210ft) in 72 seconds, and to have been armed with
two MK 108 cannon. It was a high-wing monoplane
with almost square-planform wings with considerable
anhedral at the tips, and drawings showing two different
tail assemblies - one with a single dorsal fin and
high-set stubby tailplanes; the other with a single high
tailplane terminating in dorsal/ventral fins - were produced.
It is probably better considered as a manned
missile than an aircraft. There is no account of how
the pilot was supposed to complete the mission and
return safely to earth.
There is some question whether the 'Natter' actually
fits our criteria for Selbstopfermänner aircraft at
all, since the pilot was expected to break off his attack
and turn for home before ejecting (indeed, he was
provided with an escape system), but there is less
doubt in similar concepts put forward by Zeppelin
and DPS, both of which proposed what were essentially
motor-assisted gliders to be towed into attack
position by aircraft. The Zeppelin proposal - the
'Rammer' - had a solid-fuel rocket motor; the DPS
aircraft, which went into development as the Messerschmitt
Me 328, had an Argus pulse-jet like that
which powered the Fieseler Fi 103 flying bomb (qv).
There were high hopes of the latter, in particular, but
like the Ba 349, it never got past the prototype stage.
There was a third, very similar, project, the Sombold
So 334 'Rammschussjäger', which, despite its name,
was not actually intended to ram. It, too, was powered
by the Walter 509 motor and armed with rockets, and
ROCKET-POWERED AIRCRAFT
was to have been towed to operating height. Like the
Me 328, it started out as a parasite escort fighter project
but never got further than a wind tunnel model.
Blohm & Voss proposed a pure glider fighter, with no
powerplant at all, as the Bv 40. Armed with 30mm
cannon and towing a proximity-fuzed bomb on a
cable, the Bv 40 was to have been towed to a position
above the incoming bomber 'box' by a Bf 109 and
then released. Its limited acceptance was perhaps
indicative of the state of mind in Germany by 1944
when prototypes were built and tested.
THE ZEPPELIN'RAMMER'
The Zeppelin 'Rammer' never received an RLM designation,
which is an indication that perhaps it was
not taken entirely seriously. It was to have been a
small conventional aircraft with straight, constantchord
wings and tailplane, and was to have been
towed to its operational altitude by a Bf 109 or a Bf
110 and cast loose, whereupon it would start its
Schmidding 533 solid-fuel rocket motor and head for
the bomber formation, first firing its load of 14 R4M
5cm rockets and then trying to ram or sideswipe the
bomber aircraft, using its hugely strong wings. The
wing's leading edges were to have been covered in
3cm- (1.18in-) thick steel, and they were to have had
three continuous parallel main spars, fabricated from
thick-walled steel tubing, running from tip to tip to
slice through fuselage, tailplane or wings. The pilot,
who flew the aircraft in the prone position, was not
expected to take to his parachute, but was to have
landed the aircraft on any convenient piece of open
ground so that it could be recovered and re-used. It is
thought that no prototype nor even a mock-up of the
'Rammer' was actually constructed.
THE MESSERSCHMITT Me 328
The history of the Me 328 - which, like the 'Komet',
started life as a DPS project - began in 1941, rather
earlier than those of the other 'last-ditch' fighters. It
was concieved as an escort fighter, to be towed by a
Heinkel He 177 bomber on a semi-rigid bar (the
'Deichselschlepp' system, which was also under consideration
for use with manned glider bombers and
auxiliary fuel tanks) or mounted on a Dornier Do 217
or a Messerschmitt Me 264 in a 'Mistel'-like arrangement
(qv). A variety of versions were projected: a
pure glider; with Argus pulse-jets; and with a Jumo
004 turbojet. Only the pure glider and the pulse-jet
versions were produced (and then only in prototype
form). The ubiquitous Hanna Reitsch was responsible