Blohm & Voss BV 155 The Blohm & Voss BV 155 was a German high - altitude interceptor aircraft intended to be used by the " Luftwaffe " against raids by USAAF B - 29 Superfortress es . Work started on the design in 1942 , but the design went through a protracted development period and was still under construction when World War II ended . Background . The saga of the BV 155 began at Messerschmitt in the spring of 1942 . At that time , it was known under the designation of Me 155 , and was a company proposal for a carrier - based single - seat fighter . The Me 155 was intended to be based aboard the aircraft carrier , then under construction . In the interest of economy and simplicity , the Me 155 was to use as many Messerschmitt Bf 109 components as possible , being basically a navalized version of the earlier Messerschmitt fighter . The Me 155 was to be powered by a DB 605 A - 1 liquid - cooled engine of 1 , 475 PS ( 1 , 455 hp , 1 , 085 kW ) . The fuselage was more - or - less that of the standard Bf 109G , but with an entirely new wing . The undercarriage retracted inwards into wing wells , providing the wider track required for safe carrier landings . Standard naval equipment such as folding wing s , catapult spools , and arrester gear were to be fitted . Proposed armament was an engine mounted 20 mm MG 151 cannon and two 20 mm MG 151 cannons and two 13 mm ( . 51 in ) MG 131 machine gun s in wings . It had an estimated maximum speed of 649 km / h ( 403 mph ) . Detail design of the Me 155 was complete by Sept 1942 . However , the numerous delays in the " Graf Zeppelin " seemed to indicate that the completion of the carrier would be at least two years away . Messerschmitt was told to shelve the Me 155 project for the indefinite future . Work on the " Graf Zeppelin " carrier was eventually abandoned . In order that all of that work on the Me 155 project not go entirely to waste , Messerschmitt adapted its design in November 1942 to match a " Luftwaffe " requirement for a fast single seat bomber . A single 1 , 000 kg ( 2 , 210 lb ) SC 1000 bomb was to be carried . All of the carrier equipment and most of the armament was removed from the aircraft . Additional fuel tanks were provided and an elongated , non - retractable tailwheel was added to provide ground clearance for the large bomb . The proposal was designated Me 155A . Me 155B . By the end of 1942 , the increasing number of USAAF bombing raids and intelligence coming in about the new American B - 29 bomber led the " Luftwaffe " to envisage a pressing need for an effective high - altitude interceptor . Messerschmitt adapted its design to this requirement under the designation Me 155B . The engine was to be the DB 628 , which was basically a DB 605 A with a two - stage mechanical supercharger with an induction cooler . A pressurized cabin was to be provided . It was estimated that a service ceiling of 14 , 097 m ( 46 , 250 ft ) could be attained . A converted Bf 109G adapted to take the DB 628 engine flew in May 1942 and attained an altitude of 15 , 500 m ( 50 , 850 ft ) . However , the " Technische Amt " concluded that a DB 603 A engine with an exhaust - driven turbosupercharger was more promising . The DB 603A provided 1 , 201 kW ( 1 , 610 hp ) for takeoff and 1 , 081 kW ( 1 , 450 hp ) at 15 , 000 m ( 49 , 210 ft ) . This engine change required that the fuselage be elongated in order to house the turbosupercharger aft of the pressure cabin . Exhaust gases were carried to the turbosupercharger via external ducts . Air was drawn in through via a ventral trough aft of the wing . Standard Bf 109G wings were to be fitted outboard of a new , long - span , untapered wing center section . Other parts were scavenged from existing Messerschmitt designs – the vertical tail was from the Me 209 , and the horizontal tail and the undercarriage were taken from the Bf 109G . In August 1943 , the " Technische Amt " decided that Messerschmitt was over - committed , and they decided to transfer the work on the design to Blohm & Voss . After some initial study , the Blohm & Voss design team deemed that the existing Messerschmitt design had too many weaknesses . Several months of argument and finger - pointing between the Messerschmitt transition team and the Blohm & Voss designers followed . Friction between the two teams got steadily worse . In the event , no meeting of the minds was possible , and the " Technische Amt " eventually decided to throw Messerschmitt off the project entirely , and turn it entirely over to Blohm & Voss . BV 155A . In September 1943 , an order for five prototypes was placed . Blohm & Voss decided that the design problems still needed fixing , but by late 1943 they still hadn ' t been addressed . A meeting was called to finally address these problems , but the Messerschmitt people didn ' t bother to show up . As late as November 1943 changes were still being made , and Blohm & Voss decided to remove the complex underwing radiators favoured by Messerschmitt for two large scoop - type units mounted above the wings . B & V built a mock - up and had it tested in the LFA wind tunnel , but Messerschmitt refused to help . Late in 1943 , Blohm & Voss formally advised the RLM of their problems with Messerschmitt and implored them to intervene . By this point , the T - Amt was just as fed up , and removed Messerschmitt from the project entirely . The design , now named the BV 155A , was finally completely in the hands of one design team . B & V modified the design with a completely new laminar flow wing in place of the original " extended " one from the Me 155 . They also changed details of many other parts of the plane , including new landing gear ( from the Ju 87 ) and a new tail unit . Further wind tunnel testing showed that there was a serious problem with the overwing radiators , at high angles of attack the wing " blanked " them from the airflow and cooling would suffer . The decision was made to abandon the A model completely and move on . BV 155B . The Blohm & Voss team elected to adopt a laminar - flow airfoil section , and abandoned the idea of using standard Bf 109G wings for the outer panels . The wing center section was redesigned . Two large radiators were mounted over the wing trailing edges at the extremities of the center section . Ju 87D - 6 undercarriage legs and wheels used instead of the Bf 109G units . The Bf 109G horizontal tail surfaces were replaced with larger area freshly designed units , and the vertical tail surface was increased in size . The first prototype was designated BV 155 V1 , and flew for the first time on September 1 , 1944 . Tests with the V1 showed that the outboard radiators were not sufficiently effective in providing cooling , especially at high angles of attack . The intakes on the next prototype were enlarged and underslung beneath the wing rather than placed over it . However , the enlarged radiators caused a CoG problem , which required moving the pressurized cockpit forward . The Blohm & Voss team took this opportunity to replace the original Bf 109G canopy with an aft - sliding all - round vision canopy , and the rear fuselage decking was cut down . This in turn required that a larger rudder be fitted . The ventral radiator bath was also enlarged . All these changes were incorporated into the BV 155 V2 , which flew for the first time on February 8 , 1945 . which was the first genuine B series aircraft . The Blohm & Voss team was still not satisfied with the design , and before the V2 began its flight trials they proposed that the engine be switched to the DB 603U having the larger mechanically driven supercharger of the DB 603E . The DB 603U promised a power of 1 , 238 kW ( 1 , 660 hp ) for takeoff and 1 , 066 kW ( 1 , 430 hp ) at 14 , 935 m ( 49 , 000 ft ) . The ventral turbosupercharger was retained . The Technische Amt decided to accept this proposal , and abandoned all work on the BV 155B in favor of the revised design , which was designated BV 155C . Projekt 205 . While all of this was going on , Blohm & Voss designers had been working on additional changes under " Projekt 205 " . P . 205 replaced the underwing radiators with an annular one around the front of the engine , a design feature commonly found on a number of German designs . With the wings now free of clutter , they were considerably simpler and were reduced in span . This also had the side effect of reducing the track , which would later prove to be a welcome change . The new design would be simpler , lighter and faster , and plans were made to make it the standard version of the aircraft . During the October re - evaluation , it was agreed that V1 through V3 would be completed as B models , while a new series of five would be completed to the new standard as the BV 155C . BV 155C . The BV 155C was quite different in appearance from the BV 155B . The clumsy wing - mounted radiators of the BV 155B were eliminated , and the main landing gear leg attachment points were moved inboard to retract inwards . The cooling was provided by an annular frontal radiator à la Ta 152 . Large circular intakes were attached to the fuselage sides above the wing roots . In the meantime , the BV 155 V2 was damaged beyond repair during a bad landing . It was to be replaced in the test program by the BV 155V3 . The BV 155V3 differed from the V2 in having the DB 603 U intended for the BV 155C . However , the engine cowling and turbosupercharger were unchanged . Various armament schemes for the BV 155B were proposed . One proposal had an engine - mounted ( or " Motorkanone " ) 30 mm ( 1 . 18 in ) MK 108 cannon and two 20 mm MG 151 / 20 cannon s . Another had a " Motorkanone " - mount 30 mm ( 1 . 18 in ) MK 103 cannon and two wing - mounted 20 mm MG 151 cannon s . Estimated maximum speed was 650 km / h ( 400 mph ) at 12 , 000 m ( 39 , 370 ft ) and 690 km / h ( 430 mph ) at 15 , 999 m ( 52 , 490 ft ) . Service ceiling was to be 16 , 950 m ( 55 , 610 ft ) . Empty weight was 4 , 869 kg ( 10 , 734 lb ) . Normal loaded weight ranged from 5 , 126 - 5 , 488 kg ( 11 , 300 - 12 , 100 lb ) , depending on the armament provided . Survivors . On May 3 , 1945 , the city of Hamburg surrendered to the British Army , who ordered everyone out of the Blohm & Voss plant . BV 155 V1 was found in a flyable state , and the British brought in a pilot to fly it to the UK for testing . Unfortunately , the aircraft encountered problems immediately and crash - landed . All the parts for the still - incomplete V2 and V3 were shipped to Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough , and V2 was put on public display in October . There was some discussion of completing the aircraft using parts of V3 , but it was believed this did not take place , and one of the aircraft was later handed over to the U . S . The aircraft was evaluated at Wright Field near Dayton , Ohio , and was given the foreign equipment number FE - 505 . This aircraft was eventually transferred to the National Air and Space Museum ' s storage facility in Suitland , Maryland . For years it was believed that this aircraft was the incomplete V3 aircraft , and that the British had retained V2 for their own display , though no record of the aircraft ' s fate could be found . In 1998 restoration efforts by two of the NASM staff revealed that the sole surviving aircraft is in fact V2 , with some of V3 ' s parts applied to the airframe . It is now believed that the British attempted to restore V2 by combining both aircraft prior to donating it to the U . S . This also explains why no record of V3 exists after the U . S . received the aircraft .