Heinkel Wespe

Last updated
Heinkel Wespe
Role VTOL interceptor aircraft
National origin Germany
Manufacturer Heinkel Flugzeugwerke

The Heinkel Wespe (English: Wasp) was a project study by the German company Heinkel for a tail-sitting, vertical take off and landing-interceptor aircraft. The aircraft did not have conventional wings, but instead featured a large rotor. Completed in 1945, it remained untested due to a lack of material at the end of the Second World War. A related project was the Heinkel Lerche.

Contents

Design

The aircraft was to be powered by a turboprop in the center of the airframe which was unusual for having a circular wing and would have had a small frontal area, making it a good platform for attacking bombers. It may have been designed for point defense, but due to the situation in Germany at the time, the engine was not completed and none were ever built.

Specifications

Data from[ citation needed ]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Heinkel Lerche

Focke-Wulf Triebflugel

Lockheed XFV

Convair XFY Pogo

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    Heinkel He 162 Interceptor jet aircraft, German, WW2

    The Heinkel He 162 Volksjäger, the name of a project of the Emergency Fighter Program design competition, was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. It was designed and built quickly and made primarily of wood as metals were in very short supply and prioritised for other aircraft. Volksjäger was the Reich Air Ministry's official name for the government design program competition won by the He 162 design. Other names given to the plane include Salamander, which was the codename of its construction program, and Spatz ("Sparrow"), which was the name given to the plane by Heinkel.

    Focke-Wulf Ta 154

    The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito was a fast twin-engined German night fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank and produced by Focke-Wulf during late World War II. Only a few were produced, proving to have less impressive performance than the prototypes.

    Heinkel He 219 German night fighter of World War II

    The Heinkel He 219 Uhu ("Eagle-Owl") was a night fighter that served with the German Luftwaffe in the later stages of World War II. A relatively sophisticated design, the He 219 possessed a variety of innovations, including Lichtenstein SN-2 advanced VHF-band intercept radar, also used on the Ju 88G and Bf 110G night fighters. It was also the first operational military aircraft to be equipped with ejection seats and the first operational German World War II-era aircraft with tricycle landing gear. Had the Uhu been available in quantity, it might have had a significant effect on the strategic night bombing offensive of the Royal Air Force; however, only 294 of all models were built by the end of the war and these saw only limited service. Ernst-Wilhelm Modrow was the leading night fighter ace on the He 219. Modrow was credited with 33 of his 34 night air victories on the type.

    Dornier Do 335 Fighter aircraft family by Dornier

    The Dornier Do 335Pfeil ("Arrow") was a Nazi Germany World War II heavy fighter built by the Dornier company. The two-seater trainer version was called Ameisenbär ("anteater"). The Pfeil's performance was much better than other twin-engine designs due to its unique push-pull configuration and the lower aerodynamic drag of the in-line alignment of the two engines. It was Nazi Germany's fastest piston-engined aircraft of World War II. The Luftwaffe was desperate to get the design into operational use, but delays in engine deliveries meant that only a handful were delivered before the war ended.

    Heinkel aircraft manufacturer

    Heinkel Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturing company founded by and named after Ernst Heinkel. It is noted for producing bomber aircraft for the Luftwaffe in World War II and for important contributions to high-speed flight, with the pioneering examples of a successful liquid-fueled rocket and a turbojet-powered aircraft in aviation history, with both Heinkel designs' first flights occurring shortly before the outbreak of World War II in Europe.

    Heinkel He 274 Prototype bomber aircraft by Heinkel

    The Heinkel He 274 was a German heavy bomber design developed during World War II, purpose-designed for high-altitude bombing with pressurized crew accommodation.

    The Heinkel He 277 was a four-engine, long-range heavy bomber design, originating as a derivative of the He 177, intended for production and use by the German Luftwaffe during World War II. The main difference was in its engines. The He 177 used two Daimler-Benz DB 606 "power system" engines, each of which consisted of two combined Daimler-Benz DB 601 engines, each DB 606 weighed 1.5 tons. The He 177A-3 and its successors used two DB 610 "power system" engines, each of which consisted of two combined Daimler-Benz DB 605 engines, each DB 610 weighed 1.5 tons. Due to problems with both the DB 606 and the DB 610, the He 277 was intended to use four unitized BMW 801E 14-cylinder radial engines, each mounted in an individual nacelle and each turning a three-blade, four-meter diameter propeller.

    Messerschmitt Me 264 German strategic bomber prototype

    The Messerschmitt Me 264 was a long-range strategic bomber developed during World War II for the German Luftwaffe as its main strategic bomber. The design was later selected as Messerschmitt's competitor in the Reichsluftfahrtministerium's Amerikabomber programme, for a strategic bomber capable of attacking New York City from bases in France or the Azores.

    Heinkel He 280 Experimental jet aircraft

    The Heinkel He 280 was the first turbojet-powered fighter aircraft in the world. It was inspired by Ernst Heinkel's emphasis on research into high-speed flight and built on the company's experience with the He 178 jet prototype. A combination of technical and political factors led to it being passed over in favor of the Messerschmitt Me 262. Only nine were built and none reached operational status.

    Henschel Hs 132 1945 prototype multi-role combat aircraft by Henschel

    Henschel's Hs 132 was a World War II dive bomber and interceptor aircraft of the German Luftwaffe that never saw service. The unorthodox design featured a top-mounted BMW 003 jet engine and the pilot in a prone position. The Soviet Army occupied the factory just as the Hs 132 V1 was nearing flight testing, the V2 and V3 being 80% and 75% completed.

    Heinkel He 113 Fictional aircraft

    The Heinkel He 113 was a fictitious German fighter aircraft of World War II, invented as a propaganda and possibly disinformation exercise.

    Junkers Ju 390 German prototype long-range aircraft of WW2.

    The Junkers Ju 390 was a German long-range derivative of the Junkers Ju 290 aircraft, intended to be used as a heavy transport aircraft, maritime patrol aircraft and long-range bomber. It was one of the aircraft designs submitted for the abortive Amerika Bomber project, along with the Messerschmitt Me 264, the Focke-Wulf Ta 400 and the Heinkel He 277.

    The Nakajima G10N Fugaku, was a planned Japanese ultra-long-range heavy bomber designed during World War II. It was conceived as a method for mounting aerial attacks from Japan against industrial targets along the west coast and in the Midwest and the northeast of the United States. Japan's worsening war situation resulted in the project's cancellation in 1944 and no prototype was ever built.

    Heinkel He 343 airplane

    The Heinkel He 343 was a quadjet bomber project developed by Ernst Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in Nazi Germany during the final two years of World War II. Plans recovered by the Soviet Union were studied and used in the development of the Ilyushin Il-22.

    Convair XFY Pogo aircraft

    The Convair XFY Pogo was an experiment in vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) tail-sitter. The Pogo had delta wings and three-bladed contra-rotating propellers powered by a turboprop engine. It was intended to be a high-performance fighter aircraft capable of operating from small warships. Landing the XFY-1 was difficult, as the pilot had to look over his shoulder while carefully working the throttle to land.

    Lockheed XFV

    The Lockheed XFV was an American experimental tailsitter prototype aircraft built by Lockheed in the early 1950s to demonstrate the operation of a vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter for protecting convoys.

    Heinkel Lerche "Luft 46" VTOL coleopter

    The Heinkel Lerche was the name of a set of project studies made by German aircraft designer Heinkel in 1944 and 1945 for a revolutionary VTOL fighter and ground-attack aircraft.

    The Hütter Hü 211 was a German prototype long-range reconnaissance and heavy night fighter commissioned by the Reich Air Ministry in late 1944. The project stopped after an air raid destroyed the prototypes before they were finished.

    The Heinkel He 119 was an experimental single-propeller monoplane with two coupled engines, developed in Germany. A private venture by Heinkel to test radical ideas by the Günter brothers, the He 119 was originally intended to act as an unarmed reconnaissance bomber capable of eluding all fighters due to its high performance.

    Focke-Wulf 1000x1000x1000

    The Focke-Wulf 1000x1000x1000, also known as Focke-Wulf Fw 239, was a twin-jet bomber project for the Luftwaffe, designed by the Focke-Wulf aircraft manufacturing company during the last years of the Third Reich.

    References