Pint-Sized Project - 1955 Messerschmitt KR200 - SCD Motors - The Sports, Racing and Vintage Car Market March 4, 2013 by Andrew Newton 1 Comment In case you missed RM’s microcar auction last month, here is another chance to get into a handsome, albeit less shiny example of one of the more famous machines in the world of tiny cars. Located in Mineral Point, Pennsylvania, this Messerschmitt KR200 is an incomplete project car. It is in need of a restoration, but when there’s so little car in the first place, there’s less to replace and go wrong. The change in Messerschmitt’s products after the Second World War could not have been more dramatic. The Bavarian manufacturer famously built fighter planes for the Luftwaffe, including the first jet fighter, the Me262. With Germany defeated and demilitarized, Messerschmitt clearly couldn’t build military aircraft anymore and was indeed temporarily barred from building any aircraft.

Postwar Germany had a market for economical personal transport that ran on low-grade gas and simply got people from A to B, so when Messerschmitt was approached by engineer Fritz Fend with the idea of making their own microcar, it seemed like a natural next step. From 1953 until the mid-1960s, tens of thousands of KR175’s and KR200’s were sold until the West German economy bounced back and left the microcar as a less appealing concept. Today, though, as we’ve seen from the Weiner Museum auction, interest in microcars is catching on and small cars are fetching big prices. This very early KR200 was actually bought from the Weiner Museum in 2005, but even though it has a clear title it clearly hasn’t been given the revitalization that it deserves. The major things that are missing include the windshield, wiper and motor assembly, rear seat upholstery, side windows, exhaust pipe, rear fender, and mirrors. Hopefully the seller isn’t too ambitious with the reserve, because this could be a relatively cheap initial buy in for a fun and rewarding project.

Another project KR200 in much better shape sold for $20,000 last month, so don’t overpay on this little Kabinenroller. Check out the 1955 Messerschmitt KR200 here on eBay , where the reserve is not yet met at $7,700. Junkers | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Employees 40,000 Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM), more commonly Junkers, was a major German aircraft manufacturer . It produced some of the world's most innovative and best-known airplanes over the course of its fifty-plus year history in Dessau, Germany. It was founded there in 1895 by Hugo Junkers , initially manufacturing boilers and radiators . During World War I, and following the war, the company became famous for its pioneering all-metal aircraft. During World War II the company produced some of the most successful Luftwaffe planes, as well as piston and jet aircraft engines, albeit in the absence of its founder, who had been removed by the Nazis already in 1934. Contents The only surviving J.I is at the Canada Aviation Museum .

The history of Junkers aircraft production begins with the Junkers J 1 mid-wing monoplane (not to be confused with the later, all-metal sesquiplane ground attack aircraft J.I which had a factory designation J4). Research for this aircraft began in 1914 and was interrupted by the start of the First World War . The prototype aircraft, named the Blechesel (Tin or Sheet-metal Donkey), was completed in very late 1915 after the outbreak of the war. This aircraft is significant in that it was the first flyable aircraft to utilize an all-metal "total structural" design. Contemporary aircraft were built around wooden frames constructed in a rib-and-stringer fashion, reinforced with wires, and covered with a stretched fabric. The J 1 was a semi-monocoque design, using steel ribs and sheeting that formed both the stringers and the skin. At the time aluminium was still fairly expensive and the desirable, newest light duralumin alloy could not be worked in sheet form without damaging flaking occurring, so the J 1 was made of sheet electrical steel .

It was quite heavy as a result, which translated into poor climb and maneuverability, yet its clean monoplane layout, which even featured a ventral "belly" radiator installation for its Mercedes D.II inline-six cylinder engine, had very low drag, and the J1 was one of the fastest planes of its day, reaching speeds of 170 km/h, with only a 120 hp engine for power. Following the J 1, a series of "J-designated" aircraft followed, each advancing the state of the art in terms of strength and weight, but no single design progressed much beyond the prototype stage in terms of production potential. The Junkers J 2 was an extensively "cleaned up" and armed single-seat fighter descendent of the J 1, while the J 3, a never-completed single rotary engined mid-wing monoplane design that only consisted of covered wing panels and a nearly complete fuselage frame, replaced the smooth exterior electrical steel sheeting with corrugated duralumin. IdFlieg , in charge of aircraft evaluation, was unconvinced of the monoplane layout of these designs, and ordered a sesquiplane design as the J 4.

Junkers took this opportunity to produce all the flying surfaces (wings and horizontal stabilizer) of the J 4 aircraft of corrugated duralumin (except for some fabric on the rear fuselage, and the armored steel fuselage "bathtub") in order to lower weight. The J 4 became Junkers' first design to enter production, with orders totalling 283, of which about 184 were delivered to operational units. Since it was the first design from Junkers to serve in the Luftstreitkräfte's "J-class" of armored, infantry co-operation aircraft, which also had aircraft designed by Albatros and AEG serving with it in the same capacity, the curious and confusing instance of the Junkers J 4 armored all-metal sesquiplane getting the German military designation "J.I" was one caused solely by the Luftstreitkräfte's choice of letter for all of their armored, ground forces co-operation aircraft class in World War I, with other J-class aircraft coming from Albatros Flugzeugwerke and the aviation division of AEG.

Junkers continued to believe in the monoplane layout constructed entirely in metal, and continued the J-series with a number of newer monoplane designs. One of the most successful was the J 7 which went through five major and minor changes in its airframe design during tests throughout 1917, which was later stretched to form the two-seat J 8. The J 8 was the first cantilever monoplane design, and looked extremely "modern" when compared to contemporary wire-braced biplane designs. The J 8 was put into limited production by the Junkers- Fokker Werke as the J 10, receiving the IdFlieg designation of CL.I , a small number of which saw service on the Eastern Front just before the war ended.

Likewise, the single-seat J 7 itself led to the J 9 design, built in small numbers by both the Junkers firm itself (abbreviated "Jco" or "Jko"), and the Junkers-Fokker-Werke AG (abbreviated "Jfa"), as the Junkers D.I low wing fighter plane, with the "Jfa" collaborative firm founded through strong influence of the German government on October 20, 1917. The corrugated duralumin wing and fuselage "skin" introduced in the J-series became a trademark of Junkers aircraft built in the 1920s and 30s. Development continued during the course of World War I , including a growing (but troublesome) partnership with Fokker, as the Junkers-Fokker Aktiengesellschaft, or "Junkers-Fokker Werke", abbreviated "Jfa" by the German government of the time and founded on October 20, 1917. Several Junkers designs were licensed to Fokker during this period.

The visual similarity of Junkers and Fokker aircraft during the next decade, especially after Reinhold Platz adapted some of the Junkers design concepts, but mostly crafted in wood for the Fokker designs' wing structures instead of the all-metal Junkers construction techniques, is attributable to this early affiliation. The Great War ended with German Navy trials of model J11, which was an all-metal floatplane prototype. Early inter-war period Edit In the immediate post-war era, Junkers used their J8 layout as the basis for the F-13, first flown on 25 June 1919 and certified airworthy in July of the same year. This four passenger monoplane was the world's first all-metal airliner. Of note, in addition to significant European sales, some twenty-five of these airplanes were delivered to North American customers under the Junkers-Larsen affiliate and were used primarily as airmail planes. The Junkers factory in Dessau, 1928. The Treaty of Versailles signed only days after the F-13 flew, initially forbade any aircraft construction in Germany for several months. After that span of time only the design of civilian aircraft was permitted to Germany.

Junkers developed a series of progressively larger civil aircraft including the single-engined G.24 and three-engined G.31 . Neither aircraft was a commercial success. With the expiration of treaty restrictions in 1926, Junkers introduced the Junkers W33 and Junkers W34 series which did find significant commercial success via large production orders in passenger, freight hauling, and, somewhat later, military configurations. The W-33/W-34 series also set multiple aviation "firsts" including records for flight duration, flight distance, altitude, rocket assisted take-off and inflight refueling between 1926 and 1930. Junkers' produced a design study in 1924 for a visit to the United States. The study outlined a four-engined 80-passenger plane, incorporating a forward canard wing, as well as a main wing, both of which were fitted above twin pylons. Called the Junkers J.1000 Super Duck passenger seating was to be provided both in the main wing and the hull sections of the craft.

This Junkers design, including a scale model, was intended to illustrate an aircraft capable of trans-Atlantic operations of 8 to 10 hours and was completely revolutionary for its day. [1] The basic principles outlined in this design were later introduced in the Junkers G.38 , which was introduced and put into regular service by Deutsche Luft Hansa . At the time of its introduction, this four-engined transport was the largest landplane in the world carrying thirty-four passengers and seven crew members. The G.38 sat some of its passengers in the wing area outboard of the fuselage, the front of which was covered with windows. Also, in 1932, Junkers joint project with Maybach designed and built an aerodynamic car but found due to the depression that the market for high end luxury cars was saturated. [2] Financial troubles Edit Around 1931 the company suffered from a series of financial difficulties that led to the collapse of the group of companies. The existing shareholders pressured Hugo to leave the company. Hugo, however, was the patent holder on a wide variety of the technologies used in most of the existing Junkers designs, including many of their engines.

A plan was started to solve both problems by "buying out" Hugo's engine patent portfolio and placing it into the hands of a new company, the Junkers Motoren-Patentstelle GmbH, which was eventually formed in November 1932. [3] The new company would then license the technologies back to the various companies, most notably what was then Junkers Motorenbau (one of many "Jumo" companies). However, before Junkers actually transferred his patents to the Patentstelle, the collapse of the Junkers consortium was solved by the sale of the Junkers Thermo Technik GmbH to Robert Bosch , who still uses the brand name to the present. Edit The Nazi party came to power in Germany in 1933, and all German aviation development was shifted away from long-range civil aircraft types. Hugo Junkers himself was forced to transfer all his patents to the Nazis, who doubted that Junkers (a socialist pacifist) would comply with their plans. Shortly after, his holdings were expropriated and he was placed under house arrest.

The company that had pioneered commercial aviation development for at least a decade was relegated to relatively small one- and two-engined military design competitions issued by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM) the "Reich Aviation Ministry". Two exceptions to this were the legendary Ju 52 and the Ju 90 . Ju 52 development had started in 1928 as a single-engined commercial transport and evolved, initially to a two-engined, later into the classic "trimotor" design for which the Tante Ju became world famous. The Ju 52 was a bona fide commercial success, with over 400 airplanes delivered to various airlines around the world prior to the outbreak of World War II , including the countries of: Finland, Sweden, Argentina , Brazil, Uruguay, Ecuador , Peru, Mexico, South Africa , Denmark, Norway, Italy, UK , Belgium, Hungary, Estonia, Greece, Spain, and of course, Germany. As a consequence of its rugged design, Spain and France resumed Ju 52 production after cessation of the Second World War .

With the introduction of the Junkers Ju 86 bomber of 1934, Junkers abandoned the corrugated sheeting of his earlier designs. The basic layout was used in the four-engine Junkers Ju 89 heavy bomber , but this program ended with the death of Walther Wever , and his Ural bomber program along with him. Junkers then adapted the Ju 89 to passenger use, introducing the Junkers Ju 90 , one of the first planes specifically designed for scheduled trans-Atlantic flights to the US. Developed in 1937, the aircraft suffered multiple setbacks with crashes of prototypes in 1937 and 1938. Further refinements enabled certification in 1939 and spurred South African Airways to make an initial order for two aircraft fitted with US-built Pratt & Whitney engines. Just as the aircraft was being readied for its first commercial flights, World War II began. With the outbreak of hostilities, all models were requisitioned by the Luftwaffe for military air-transport roles, and later, long-range maritime patrol.

World War II Edit Military aircraft production was begun by the company in the 1930s and eventually monopolized all its resources. Perhaps the most notable design was the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bomber , one of the Luftwaffe's most effective aerial weapons (at least in the early war period) and continually used for bombing attacks as an integral part of the Blitzkrieg strategy. The Stuka was used both for precision tactical bombing and the strafing of enemy positions, acting as a sort of "airborne artillery" that was able to keep up with the fast-moving tanks and attack defended points long before traditional artillery could be brought into range. Later in the war it was fitted with a large cannon and employed in a "tank busting" role against Soviet armour. It gained notoriety for its use at both Dunkirk and later Stalingrad, where it caused enormous destruction under Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen 's VIII Air Corps . Perhaps even more successful was the Junkers Ju 88 , the primary medium bomber of the German forces. It was used in practically every role imaginable; level bomber, shallow-angle dive bomber, night fighter , and bomber destroyer , as well as in anti-shipping raids.

A variety of improved versions were also produced over the course of the war, including the Ju 188 and Ju 388 which included numerous features for better performance, but never replaced the Ju 88 outright. A much more formidable aircraft was also planned, the Junkers Ju 288 for the Bomber B design competition, which it handily won — but the required high-power engines never worked properly in tests, and as the design was also plagued with insufficiently strong main landing gear, the effort was eventually abandoned. The Ju 52 was a transport aircraft, roughly equivalent to the Allies' DC-3 Dakota , that was also modified to carry out bombing raids. A total of 4,845 Ju 52 were produced before and during World War II, leading to widespread use delivering men and supplies in support of the German war effort. The Ju 52 had previously seen service in the Spanish Civil War , where it took part in the Condor Legion 's destructive raids on Durango and Guernica in 1937 which illustrated to the world—for the first time—the destructive potential and horror of strategic bombing.

Unfortunately for its pilots and military passengers, by the outbreak of World War II, the Ju 52 was a thoroughly obsolete military design and unlike many other famous Luftwaffe aircraft, the Tante Ju was cumbersome, slow, and therefore vulnerable to attack. This resulted in many losses, namely at Crete and Stalingrad. The abortive Amerika Bomber design competition for a trans-Atlantic range strategic bomber saw the Junkers firm build two prototypes of its six-engined Junkers Ju 390 , basically a stretch of the four-engined Ju 290 transport — competing against the trio of Me 264 four-engined prototypes as the only fully airworthy competitors for the contract, which had included designs from Focke-Wulf and Heinkel that were never built, with the competition ended in July 1944 due to the developing need for interceptors to defend the Reich. Post World War II Edit The Junkers company survived the Second World War and was reconstituted as Junkers GmbH and eventually merged into the MBB consortium (via joint venture Flugzeug-Union-Sued between Heinkel and Messerschmitt in 1958).

[4] Messerschmitt ended the joint venture in 1965 by acquiring control of JFM AG and absorbed within Messerschmitt in 1967. [4] Within West Germany , Junkers GmbH was engaged in research on the future of aerospace transportation during the fifties and early-1960s. During this period, Junkers employed the famous Austrian engineer and space travel theorist, Eugen Sänger , who in 1961 completed work for the design of an advanced orbital spacecraft at Junkers. Junkers GmbH was absorbed within MBB and the Junkers name disappeared in 1969. [5] Junkers Jumo Junkers Jumo 205 cutaway Junkers also ran an engine factory, and in 1923 they separated it from the parent to form its own company, Junkers Motoren, or Jumo. This company expanded greatly in the 1920s and 30s, with factories spread across Germany.

Jumo was the first company to produce a successful aircraft diesel engine in material numbers, the two stroke Jumo 205 , and it was the first German company to offer a truly modern engine suitable for aviation in the form of the 650 hp Jumo 210 . But, with the rapid advances in airframes, after a few years this engine was considered to be underpowered, causing Jumo to respond with the much larger Jumo 211 . Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 211 saw widespread use in Junkers bombers but was little used otherwise, due largely to the better power output of the competing Daimler-Benz DB 601 . Further development of the 211 led to the superb Jumo 213 , which was in high demand for practically every late-war piston-engined aircraft. The Jumo 004 jet engine was the first to be considered production quality, and was used in the then revolutionary Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. Products T = (trainer) W = Wasserflugzeug (seaplane). Just once, the same number was used to identify two different completed types.

This pair was the T 23 and G23, both also known as J 23. During World War I , machines in service had another designation, provided by both IdFlieg and the Flugzeugmeisterei (Air Ministry), again a letter number system indicating role: [6] CL = two-seat ground attack D = single-seat biplane scout, by 1918 used for all single seat scouts. E = single-seat monoplane scout J = two-seat armoured close support biplane. The best known and most confusing example is the Junkers J 4, known to the military as the Junkers J.I. The single letter company prefix was not replaced by the twin-letter Ju prefix until 1933. This RLM system - from the Third Reich's air ministry - applied to all German manufacturers; the first Junkers aircraft to receive a Ju number was the W 33, so retrospectively it became the Ju 33. [7] However, earlier aircraft built in Moscow like the H 21 were often described by a Ju number, e.g. Ju 21.

[8] Junkers J 1 , (no military designation) world's first-ever full metal-structure aircraft, 1915. Junkers J 2 , (military E.I) experimental single seater, designed as fighter, 1916. Junkers J 3 , mid-wing monoplane, cancelled before completion, first proposed corrugated-skin duralumin design. Junkers EF 131 , Ju 287 variant. Junkers EF 132 , heavy bomber, partly built in USSR but not completed. Junkers EF 140 , bomber/reconnaissance, forward sweep, completed post-war in USSR. Junkers EF 150 , bomber, largely Russian designed and completed post-war in USSR. Aircraft engines Edit Data from Kay, 2004, pp. 257–278 All Junkers diesel engines were two stroke , opposed piston designs, an arrangement he invented in the early 1890s. It was intended to provide an alternative to Nicholaus Otto 's patented four stroke which would run on low grade fuels such as blast furnace waste gases.

By 1896 Junkers engines were generating electrical power in steelworks. [9] ch5-3 (6) Training Many aircraft specifically designed for use in one of these categories were later found to be useful in other categories with only minor modifications. There is no feasible way of describing all the outstanding World War II aircraft in such a short account as this one. A number of the books listed in the references at the end of this volume contain excellent detailed descriptions of the various aircraft used by the different warring powers during World War II. For those particularly interested in United States combat aircraft, reference 118 is highly recommended. Fighters and bombers of World War II are described in great detail in references 58 to 63 . Combat aircraft of all the nations that saw operational service are described in reference 112 . A few examples of much-used United States bomber and fighter aircraft are illustrated and described below. These aircraft are representative of a vast array of very good aircraft produced by both Allied and Axis countries during World War II. The aircraft of no one country held a clear and continuing technical advantage over those of another country for very long.

United States, British, and German aircraft were usually of about the same state of the art from a technological viewpoint. Detailed refinements discussed in the preceding paragraphs frequently spelled the difference between success and failure in combat operations. Essentially, all combat aircraft utilized in the World War II [121] period were, as previously described, designed to the same cantilever monoplane formula with retractable landing gear, variable-pitch propeller, and metal construction. Bomber Aircraft The bomber aircraft discussed here fall into the following categories: heavy, very heavy, and medium multiengine bombers, and single-engine Navy scout bombers. Discussed first are the heavy bombers. Two outstanding heavy bombers that served with the U.S. Army Air Force were the Boeing B-17 and the Consolidated B-24. The two types are best remembered as the aircraft that carried out the United States strategic bombing offensive against Germany. The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, which first flew in prototype form in 1935, is described in chapter 4 and illustrated in figure 4.13.

The B-24 Liberator, designed several years later than the B-17, was first flown as a prototype in December 1939, and the first production aircraft was delivered in 1941. The B-24, a four-engine, 56 000-pound bomber, had roughly the same gross weight and was designed for the same mission as the B-17 but differed radically in design concept and appearance from the Boeing aircraft. The B-24 bomber is illustrated in figure 5.7, and the characteristics of a B-24J are given in table III ( appendix A ). The most distinguishing features of the B-24 as contrasted with the B-17 were the high-aspect-ratio wing mounted atop the fuselage, the tricycle landing gear, and the two fins and rudders. The wing of the B-24 had a very high aspect ratio of 11.55 and employed the much-publicized Davis airfoil section that, according to the popular aviation literature of the day, was supposed to provide the aircraft with unusually efficient aerodynamic characteristics.

Later, wind-tunnel tests showed that while the Davis airfoil had reasonably good aerodynamic characteristics it offered no marked superiority over contemporary airfoils of that time period. The high-wing position employed on the B-24 offered the distinct advantage of allowing the bomb bay, including bomb-bay doors, to be housed directly beneath the wing, thus permitting the bomb load to be located in the optimum position with respect to the aircraft center of gravity. The high wing, however, had the disadvantage of requiring the use of relatively long, heavy landing-gear struts. An examination of the data given in tables II and III shows that the zero-lift drag coefficient of the B-24 was 0.0406 ( table III ) as compared with 0.0302 ( table II ) for the B-17. Because of its high-aspect-ratio wing, however, the maximum lift-drag ratio of the B-24 was about the same... [122] Figure 5.7 - Consolidated B-24 heavy bomber. [NASA] ....as that of the B-17.

The B-24 had a maximum speed of 290 miles per hour and, on a typical mission, could carry a 5000-pound bomb load for a distance (one way) of 1700 miles. The B-24 was equipped with four 14-cylinder Pratt & Whitney engines of 1200 horsepower each. These engines employed turbo superchargers, just as did the Wright Cyclone engines used on the B-17, and had a critical altitude of about 30 000 feet. Both the B-17 and the B-24 were designed for high-altitude precision bombing in daylight without protection from fighter escort. In concept, the aircraft were to fly in close formation and protect themselves and each other with concentrated machine-gun fire. In accordance with this doctrine, the B-17G carried no less than 13 .50-caliber machine guns and the B-24J had 10 such guns. In spite of this formidable armament, however, combat experience showed an unacceptable loss rate from enemy air attack until fighter escort was provided for the bombers.

Another aspect of the United States strategic bombing offensive against Germany that deserves mention was the effect of the hostile high-altitude environment on the air crews. Neither the B-17 nor the B-24 was pressurized or heated. Temperatures in the range from -30 F to - 50 F were encountered at altitudes of 25 000 feet and above; and although crew members wore electrically heated flying suits, severe cases of frostbite were not uncommon. Later-generation bombers intended for high altitude operations were both pressurized and heated. Somewhat over 18 000 B-24's were produced-more than any other American combat aircraft; furthermore, it was used as a bomber.... [123] Figure 5 8 - Boeing B-29 very heavy bomber. [NASA] ...in every theater of operation. Among the B-24 types produced was cargo version known as the C-87 and a Navy patrol aircraft designated the PB4Y. The B-24 was a true workhorse and was used for many purposes other than its design role as a bomber. Let us turn now to another and later class of bomber, the Boeing B-29.

The B-29 was designated as a very heavy bomber by the U.S. Army Air Forces and, with a gross weight of 120 000 pounds (later to increase to more than 140 000 pounds), was the heaviest combat aircraft to be produced in quantity by any country during World War II. It grew from a requirement for an aircraft capable of carrying a significantly greater load for a longer range than was possible with either the B-17 or the B-24. The first test flight was made on September 21, 1942, and the first operational sortie was made on June 5, 1944 in a mission against Bangkok that originated in India. Truly, a phenomenally short development time for such an advanced aircraft. A major instrument in the defeat of Japan, the B-29 was used with great effectiveness in night raids against Japanese industry during the latter part of 1944 and in 1945. The aircraft also had the distinction, some may think a dubious one, of carrying the only atomic bombs ever dropped in war.

A B-29 is shown in figure 5.8, and characteristics of one version of the aircraft are given in table III . An examination of the photograph and accompanying data shows that the very-high-aspect-ratio wing (11.50) was mounted vertically in the midposition on the long, slim fuselage. In contrast with the earlier Boeing B-17, the B-29 had a tricycle landing gear with each leg having a two-wheel bogie and with the main gear retracting into the inboard engine nacelles. Each of the four [124] 18-cylinder Wright 3350 twin-row radial engines had two General Electric turbosuperchargers that gave the 2200-horsepower engines a critical altitude of about 30 000 feet. Air induction to the turbo superchargers was provided by ducts beneath the engine and gave the cowlings a distinctive oval shape. Engine power was transmitted to the air by means of four-blade controllable-pitch propellers. A notable design feature of the aircraft was the apparent lack of an identifiable windshield in front of the pilots' compartment.

Actually, to reduce the drag associated with the usual type of windshield, the nose of the aircraft was transparent and provided visibility for both the pilots and the bombardier. Equipment innovations on the B-29 were pressurization and heating of the crew compartments and remotely controlled, power-operated gun turrets equipped with .50-caliber machine guns. Two of these turrets were on top and two were on the bottom of the fuselage. In addition, the tail gunner had two such machine guns as well as a 20-mm cannon. In addition to its great weight, another indication of the size of the B-29 was provided by the wing span of 141.3 feet. By comparison, the wing span of a modern Boeing 727 jet transport is 108 feet. Other parameters of the B-29 included a maximum speed of 357 miles per hour at 25 000 feet and a zero-lift drag coefficient of 0.0241.

This drag coefficient was substantially lower than the corresponding value of 0.0302 for the B-17G, and the maximum value of the lift-drag ratio of the B-29 was 16.8 as compared with 12.7 for the earlier bomber ( tables II and III ). Even with Fowler-type wing flaps, somewhat similar to the flap shown fourth from the top in figure 5.3, the stalling speed was 105 miles per hour. Such a stalling speed was considered quite high for so large an aircraft when the B-29 was introduced. For a ferry flight the aircraft had a range of about 5000 miles. A maximum payload of 20 000 pounds could be carried for 2800 miles; on a typical operational mission, 12 000 pounds of bombs could be carried for a distance (one way) of 3700 miles. The characteristics of the B-29 indicate that it represented a substantial advancement in design refinement as compared with earlier bombers.

The B-29 and its look-alike successor the B-50 continued in service with the United States Air Force for many years following the close of World War II. A number of these outstanding aircraft served their final years as tankers for air refueling of more modern, high-performance aircraft. The last of the B-50 tankers was retired in 1968. In addition to strategic bombers, medium bombers and attack aircraft comprised another class of vehicle that usually had two engines [125] and were considerably lighter than the heavy, strategic type of aircraft. They were employed for short-range bombing missions and various types of ground support activities. The United States used a number of aircraft types in short-range bombing and ground support missions. Perhaps the best known of these aircraft were the North American B-25, known as the Mitchell, and the Martin B-26, known as the Marauder. The Martin B-26 is illustrated in figure 5.9, and some of the important characteristics of the aircraft are given in table III . The twin-engine B-26 follows the same high-wing monoplane formula as the Consolidated B-24 and had the same type of tricycle landing gear.

Both the B-25 and the B-26 had the tricycle gear, and these aircraft, together with the B-24, set a precedent for landing gear design in future Air Force bomber aircraft. The B-26 was equipped with two of the new 18-cylinder Pratt & Whitney twin-row radial engines of 2000 horsepower each. Since the aircraft was intended to operate at medium to low altitudes, these engines were only mildly supercharged and developed 1490 horsepower each at 14 300 feet. The aircraft weighed 37 000 pounds fully loaded and had, for that day (1940) the exceedingly high wing loading of 56.2 pounds per square foot. By comparison, the B-17 had a wing loading of 38.7 pounds per square foot, and the Seversky P-35 fighter had a wing loading of 25.5 pounds per square foot. As a result of the high wing loading and relatively ineffective flaps, the stalling speed of the B-26 was a very high 122 miles per hour.

The high stalling speed together with certain other characteristics made the B-26 a demanding airplane for the pilot, and many accidents occurred in training with this aircraft. As a result, the B-26 was.... Figure 5.9 - Martin B-26F medium bomber. [Peter C. Boisseau] [126] frequently referred to by such unflattering names as "widow maker" and "the flying prostitute" (i.e., no visible means Of Support). The zero-lift drag coefficient of the B-26 was 0.0314, which was considerably lower than the 0.0406 of the B-24 and about the same as the value of 0.0302 for the B-17. Other characteristics of the B-26 included a maximum speed of 274 miles per hour at 15 000 feet and the ability to carry a 4000-pound bomb load for a distance of 1100 miles. Armament consisted of 11 .50-caliber machine guns capable of being fired in various directions; several fixed, forward-firing guns were provided for ground attack use.

The Martin B-26 was ordered into production directly from the drawing board in September 1940, and a total of 5157 were built. The aircraft was used in both the European and Pacific theaters of operation but was little used in the peacetime Air Force following the cessation of hostilities in 1945. The North American B-25, counterpart of the B-26, was produced in greater numbers than the B-26 and is perhaps better known today because it was the aircraft used by James H. Doolittle in the famous Tokyo raid of April 1942. About 9800 models of the B-25 were constructed, and they served with the Air Force following World War II in a variety of training and support roles. In other countries, they remained as a primary bomber aircraft until comparatively recent years. Multiengine bombers, such as those just discussed, usually dropped their bombs from a level flight attitude or, in the case of medium bombers in the ground attack mode, from a shallow dive. In contrast, an entirely different technique known as dive bombing was pioneered by the U.S. Navy during the decade preceding World War II.

In this method of operation, the aircraft was put into a vertical or near-vertical dive at an altitude 15 000 to 20 000 feet and aimed directly at the target. Bomb release usually took place at about 3000 feet, after which the aircraft made a high-g dive recovery to a level flight attitude. Dive bombing was found to be especially suited for use against small, slow-moving targets such as tanks and ships and was employed with devastating effectiveness against Japanese naval forces during World War II. Dive bombers were usually single-engine aircraft with a crew of two: a pilot and a rear-facing gunner situated behind the pilot. The most widely used U.S. Navy dive bomber during World War II was the Curtiss SB2C Helldiver series of which an SB2C-1 is illustrated in figure 5.10. The name "Helldiver" traced its origin to an earlier Curtiss dive bomber of biplane configuration that appeared in the 1930's. [127] With a wing span of nearly 50 feet and a normal gross weight of 14 730 pounds, the SB2C-1 was a large single-engine aircraft.

Equipped with a 1750-horsepower twin-row radial engine, the aircraft had a maximum speed of 281 miles per hour at 12 400 feet; a stalling speed of 79 miles per hour facilitated operation of the SB2C-1 from the short deck of an aircraft carrier. Internal storage was provided in the fuselage for a 1000-pound bomb. Typically, the aircraft could carry this bomb load for a distance of 1100 miles. Armament varied with different models of the aircraft. In one arrangement, four .50-caliber machine guns were fitted in the wings and the observer had two .30-caliber guns. Figure 5.10 shows the configuration of the SB2C-1 to have been entirely conventional for its time. A feature of the aircraft not evident in the photograph was the dive brakes used for limiting the speed of the aircraft while in its steep dive to the target. Trailing-edge split flaps that opened in a symmetrical configuration from the top and bottom surfaces of the wing were employed for this purpose; the symmetrical arrangement minimized the effect of flap deployment on longitudinal stability and trim.

To reduce tail buffeting, the flaps were perforated with a large number of holes in the order of 3 inches in diameter (the exact size is not known). For landing, only the lower surface flaps were deflected. The need for dive brakes can be explained as follows: First, the normal acceleration, or g-load experienced by an aircraft during dive recovery, varies inversely as the radius of the pullout maneuver and directly as the square of the velocity; second, the accuracy with which the bomb can be dropped increases as the altitude of bomb release is reduced. Since 9 g's is about the maximum normal acceleration that a person can withstand and remain effective, the structural design... Figure 5. 10 - Curtiss SB2C-1 carrier-based scout bomber. (NASA] [128]...of the Helldiver was based on this loading. Hence, the dive speed had to be limited to stay within design load limits and, at the same time, permit bomb release at the desired altitude. Most modern jet fighters, of course, employ some form of speed brake, but the use of such devices was not common practice on World War II aircraft except for aircraft designed for dive bombing.

First flight of the Helldiver took place in December 1940, and it first entered combat in November 1943. Including Canadian production, a total of over 7000 Helldivers were manufactured. The type was withdrawn from service in the U.S. Navy in 1949 after a long and useful career. Fighter Aircraft Each of the major Allied and Axis powers developed a series of effective fighter aircraft. The British Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire will long be remembered, particularly as being responsible for the air victory in the critical Battle of Britain in 1940. The famous German Messerschmitt 109 was the principal antagonist of the Spitfire and Hurricane during the Battle of Britain, and together with the Focke-Wulf 190, formed the mainstay of the Luftwaffe fighter forces until the end of World War II. The Japanese Mitsubishi Zero probably is the best-remembered Japanese fighter in this country because of the role it played in the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

The North American P-51 Mustang, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning are the best known of the U.S. Army Air Force fighters employed in World War II; the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair are equally well remembered for the outstanding role they played as Navy fighters during the fierce conflicts in the Pacific area. A brief description of the North American P-51 and the Grumman F617 follows. These aircraft are considered typical of World War II land- and carrier-based fighter aircraft as employed by the United States armed forces. Because of its unusual configuration and interesting technical features, the Lockheed P-38 Lightning is also discussed. The North American P-51 Mustang is considered by many to represent the highest level of technical refinement ever achieved in a propeller-driven fighter aircraft. The P-51 was originally designed to a British specification for use by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and was later adopted by the U.S. Army Air Forces.

The aircraft was ordered by a British purchasing commission during the hectic days of April 1940, [129] with the understanding that the prototype was to be completed within 120 days. The prototype was completed on schedule; however, first flight was delayed until October 1940. The aircraft first saw combat service with the RAF in July 1942. At first, the aircraft was equipped with a 12-cylinder Allison in-line engine of about 1200 horsepower. With this engine, the aircraft was intended as a low-attitude fighter and ground-attack machine. Later, the North American airframe was mated with the British Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, and this combination resulted in one of the outstanding fighter aircraft of World War II The Merlin was a liquid-cooled engine that employed 12 cylinders arranged in a V-configuration and was equipped with a two-speed two-stage gear-driven supercharger. The engine developed 1490 horsepower at takeoff and was capable of producing 1505 horsepower under war emergency conditions at the critical altitude of 19 300 feet.

The Merlin engine was produced under license in the United States by the Packard Motor Car Company. The P-51 Mustang was produced in many variants, of which the most numerous and best known was the P-51D illustrated in figure 5.11. Specifications for the aircraft are given in table III . Figure 5.11 shows the aircraft was equipped with a low wing, which was a highly... Figure 5.11 - North American P-51D fighter. [Peter C. Boisseau] [130] ...favored wing position for fighter aircraft during World War II. The use of the in-line engine of low frontal area resulted in a fuselage of relatively low total wetted area and gave the aircraft a lean, streamlined appearance. The low frontal area of the in-line engine was one of the chief advantages cited for this type of power plant; the disadvantage was the vulnerability of the cooling system to enemy fire. The aft location of the cooling radiator and its associated inlet and internal flow system is of interest. The system was designed with the objective of obtaining a net thrust from the cooling air as a result of heat addition from the engine coolant.

This feature no doubt contributed to the very low drag coefficient of the aircraft. The P-51 was also the first aircraft to utilize the NACA laminar-flow airfoil sections, discussed earlier. Although it is doubtful that any significant laminar flow was achieved on production versions of the Mustang, the low-drag airfoils did provide improved characteristics at high subsonic Mach numbers. A typical value of maximum gross weight for the P-51D was 10 100 pounds, although this value varied to some extent depending upon the external armament and fuel load. The wing loading corresponding to the 10 100-pound gross weight was 43 pounds per square foot, and the power loading was 6.8 pounds per horsepower. A typical maximum speed was 437 miles per hour at 25 000 feet, and the stalling speed was 100 miles per hour. The zero-lift drag coefficient of 0.0163 was the lowest of any of the aircraft analyzed herein, and the corresponding value of the maximum lift-drag ratio was 14.6. The Mustang was therefore an extremely clean airplane.

The aerodynamic cleanness of the aircraft was due, in large measure, to careful attention to detailed design and continued refinement of the aircraft during its production lifetime. The Mustang was utilized in various types of fighter operations, including high-altitude air-to-air combat as well as ground-support and interdiction missions. It had a service ceiling of 40 900 feet and could climb to 20 000 feet in 7.3 minutes. Armament varied but usually consisted of six .50-caliber machine guns, three in each wing, and it could carry two 1000-pound bombs or six 5-inch rockets. Equipped with drop tanks, the P-51D had a range of 1650 miles at a speed of 358 miles per hour and an altitude of 25 000 feet. In contrast to the short range of contemporary British and German fighters, the range capability of the Mustang, as well as the P-47 and P-38, allowed it to be used with great effectiveness in escorting formations of B-17 and B-24 bombers on long-range missions.

The P-51 was the only fighter to fly over three enemy capitals - Berlin, Rome, and Tokyo. [131] A total of 14 490 aircraft of the P-51 series were constructed. The aircraft was used in all theaters of operation during World War II, was called into use by the U.S. Air Force again during the Korean War, and was used by a number of foreign air forces for many-years. Many P-51 aircraft are flying in the United States today as unlimited racing aircraft and even for executive transport use. A turboprop version of the Mustang has recently been proposed as a cheap, close-air-support aircraft for use by small, undeveloped countries in various parts of the world. An interesting history of the P-51 aircraft is given in reference 66 . Entirely different in configuration from the conventional single-engine fighter of World War II, the twin-engine Lockheed P-38 Lightning is depicted in early form in figure 5.12.

In this unusual but highly practical arrangement, the pilot and armament were housed in the center pod, and the liquid-cooled engines together with cooling-air intakes, radiators, and turbosuperchargers were located in the twin booms that also supported the tall. The P-38 was the first fighter designed in the United States to be equipped with a tricycle landing gear: the nose gear retracted into the center pod; and the main gear, into the booms. It was also the first United States aircraft of any type to employ external surfaces composed of butt-joined metal skins with flush rivets. Other innovations employed in later versions of the aircraft included hydraulically boosted ailerons and provisions for use of partial.... Figure 5.12 - Lockheed YP-38 twin-engine fighter. [Rudy Arnold via ukn] [132] ...deflection (8°) of the trailing-edge Fowler flaps. Both of these modifications were intended to enhance maneuverability in combat. Powered controls and, to a lesser extent, maneuvering flaps are used on most modern jet fighters.

The P-38, intended as an interceptor with the mission of destroying enemy bombers at high altitude, was designed according to specifications issued in 1937 that called for speeds of 360 to 400 miles per hour (sources differ on the exact value) at 20 000 feet and the capability of reaching that altitude in 6 minutes. The specification also contained demanding requirements for range, endurance, and landing and takeoff field length. A single-engine aircraft could not meet the mission requirements with any engine available at that time. Hence, the P-38 employed two engines. First flight of the prototype XP-38 was in January 1939, and the aircraft was first deployed in Europe by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in the fall of 1942. At a normal gross weight of 17 500 pounds and with a wing span of 52 feet, the P-38L, for which data are given in table III , was for its day a large fighter.

All versions of the aircraft were equipped with Allison V-12 liquid-cooled engines; those on the P-38L developed 1470 horsepower each. Maximum speed was 414 miles per hour at 25 000 feet; stalling speed was 105 miles per hour. The P-38 could climb to 20 000 feet in 7 minutes and had a service ceiling of 44 000 feet. With internal fuel only, the aircraft had a range of 475 miles at 339 miles per hour, or 1175 miles at 195 miles per hour; with drop tanks, the range was 2260 miles. Indeed, the P-38 was a high-performance aircraft. Even the prototype exceeded 400 miles per hour in 1939. Although its high speed was one of the great virtues of the P-38, this desirable characteristic was responsible for a serious problem encountered in the development of the aircraft. Little was known at that time about the problems associated with penetrating the Mach number regime characterized by large effects of compressibility (see discussion of fig.

5.6), and even less was known of means for alleviating such problems. A combination of the high speed reached in steep dives, together with a less than optimum high Mach number airfoil section, caused the P-38 to suffer severe compressibility problems. These problems manifested themselves in the form of buffeting, loss of control, difficulty in recovering from dives, and-in some cases-complete destruction of the aircraft. Many different modifications were tried before a successful solution to the problem was found. In the spring of 1942, NACA in conjunction with Lockheed devised a simple fix that came to be known as the dive-recovery [133] flap (not to be confused with the dive brake used on the SB2C. A short-span flap was located at the 30-percent-chord position behind the leading edge of the lower surface of the wing, just outboard of the booms. Deflection of these flaps in a high-speed dive increased the lift on the wings so that successful dive recovery was possible. Such flaps appeared on production aircraft beginning with the P-38J version.

Among other aircraft employing this very effective device were the P47 Thunderbolt and the P-59 and P-80 jet fighters. (See chapter 11 .) Although never designed as a fighter for air-to-air combat with other fighter aircraft, the Lightning was widely used and highly effective in this role, particularly in the Pacific theater of operations. More Japanese aircraft were destroyed by the P-38 than by any other aircraft, and the two highest scoring American aces of World War II, Majors Richard I. Bong and Thomas B . McGuire, Jr., both flew the Lightning. It was used in all theaters in which the USAAF operated. As a fighter, several different combinations of armament were employed. Most aircraft had four .50-caliber machine guns and a 20-mm cannon located in the nose ahead of the pilot. Also, it could carry bombs weighing up to as much as 3200 pounds or 10 5-inch rockets. In addition to duties as a fighter, a photoreconnaissance version of the aircraft, designated F-5, saw extensive service. Many other types of military duty such as bombing and ground attack were performed by the P-38.

Nearly 10 000 P-38's, including all models, were produced. Several of these are still flying today in the hands of dedicated antique aircraft collectors, and they were used for many years after World War II in aerial survey work. German pilots in North Africa paid the P-38 a tribute of sorts when they dubbed it "Der gabelschwanz teufel" (the fork-tailed devil). Navy fighter aircraft are intended primarily for operations from the short decks of aircraft carriers. Operation from an aircraft carrier poses certain constraints during the design of the aircraft. For example, the relatively short length of the flight deck (about 700 feet for the larger carriers employed during World War II) imposed restrictions on the stalling speed of the aircraft and thus required that Navy fighters have somewhat lower wing loadings than their counterparts in the USAAF. A tail hook must be provided to give rapid deceleration of the aircraft on touchdown, and this in turn required special strengthening of the rear portion of the fuselage. Furthermore, a carrier-based aircraft must be designed for higher landing sink rates than normally encountered in land-based aircraft; this higher sink rate requires a heavier landing gear and attachment structure.

Since storage space both on the flight and [134] hanger decks is at a premium on an aircraft carrier, provision must also be made for folding the wings so that the required parking space is reduced. A number of aircraft companies specialized in the design and production of fighters for use on aircraft carriers. The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Company was one of the leading producers of Navy fighter aircraft during the 1930's (as it still is today), and the Navy entered World War II with the Grumman F4F Wildcat as its first-line fighter. Early in 1941, Grumman began the design of a new fighter as a replacement for the Wildcat. Much combat experience had been obtained in the European conflict and was utilized in the design of the new aircraft. Following entry of the United States in World War II in December 1941, the Wildcat saw extensive service in combat against the Japanese. Although the Wildcat was a good aircraft, it was not really competitive with the Japanese Zero shipboard fighter. The lessons learned in action with the Zero were also incorporated in the design of the new Grumman fighter.

The prototype of this aircraft, known as the F6F Hellcat, first flew in June 1942, and deliveries of combat aircraft were made to the Navy in early 1943. The first operational use of the Hellcat was in the attack on Marcus Island from the carrier USS Yorktown in August 1943. It is indeed remarkable that the aircraft could be developed from a prototype to combat status in little more than a year. The Hellcat is illustrated in figure 5.13, and some of its characteristics are listed in table III . The aircraft was a rather bulky looking low-wing monoplane equipped with an 18-cylinder Pratt & Whitney twin-row radial engine of 2000 horsepower. The engine was equipped with a geared supercharger and gave 1970 horsepower at 16 900 feet. Although the USAAF deployed highly successful fighters with both air-cooled radial and liquid-cooled in-line engines, the U.S. Navy had employed air-cooled radial engines exclusively since the mid-1920's.

Apparently, the Navy felt that the advantages of simplicity and reduced vulnerability to gunfire offered by the radial engine more than offset the disadvantages of increased frontal area. Although not evident in figure 5.13, the landing gear of the F6F retracted rearward and was enclosed within the wing root stubs. Outboard of the landing gear the wing could be rotated and folded aft so as to lie essentially flush along the sides of the fuselage to minimize the deck area required for the aircraft's storage. The Grumman F6F was, for its day, a relatively large aircraft with a fully loaded weight of 12 441 pounds. The wing loading, however, was only... [135] Figure 5.13 - Grumman F6F-3 carrier-based fighter. [Peter C. Boisseau] ...37.3 pounds per square foot, which gave a relatively modest stalling speed of 84 miles per hour. The aircraft had a maximum speed of 375 miles per hour at 17 300 feet. In spite of its bulky appearance, the Hellcat was a clean aircraft having a zero-lift drag coefficient of only 0.0211.

Range of the Hellcat was 1090 miles on internal fuel only, and with drop tanks it was 1590 miles. It had a service ceiling of 38 400 feet and an initial rate of climb of 3500 feet per minute. Its armament consisted of six .50-caliber machine guns, three in each wing, and two 1000-pound bombs or six 5-inch rockets. The Grumman F6F Hellcat, of which 12 274 were produced, is considered by many to be the outstanding shipboard fighter of World War II. It was the standard carrier-based fighter employed by the U.S. Navy from mid-1943 until the end of World War II and accounted for the destruction of nearly 5000 enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat. The British Royal Navy took delivery of over 1100 Hellcats, which were used in operations from their carriers. The Hellcat was unusual, as compared with other combat aircraft employed in World War II, in that very few modifications were made to the aircraft during its service life. The F6F served for several years in the U.S.

Navy following the close of the war. Afterword [136] The propeller-driven combat aircraft powered with reciprocating engines played a decisive role in World War II and reached a high level of perfection during that conflict. The revolutionary jet engine shaped the course of development of high-performance military aircraft in the post-World War II period. The propeller continued, of course, to be employed on various types of utility, transport, and patrol aircraft; but the development of the jet engine spelled the end for the high-performance propeller-driven fighter, bomber, and attack aircraft. The postwar development of propeller-driven aircraft has been primarily concerned with commercial and general aviation operations and is considered in the next chapter.

Question: Name the German manufacturer of 2nd World War fighter planes which pioneered the micro car?
Answer: Messerschmitt