Focke-Wulf Flitzer

The Focke-Wulf Flitzer ("streaker" or "dasher", sometimes incorrectly translated as "madcap") was a jet fighter under development in Germany at the end of World War II.

Flitzer
Wartime model of the Project VI design
Role Fighter
Manufacturer Focke-Wulf
Status Unfinished project
Number built One mockup built and a few prototype sub-assemblies completed[1]

Development

The design, also called Entwurf VI, had a central fuselage and two booms carrying the rear control surfaces, having great similarity with the contemporary de Havilland Vampire.[2] It also had the air inlets still positioned on either side of the nose, just below the cockpit.[3]

The estimated horizontal speed was not satisfactory and Flitzer was revised whereby the jet intakes were situated in the wing roots. Further improvements included a narrower fuselage and a changed pilot's canopy. In order to improve the rate of climb, a Walter HWK 109-509 hypergolic liquid-propellant rocket was built in to give supplementary thrust. A complete mockup was built and all construction and assembly plans were finished, but the aircraft was not accepted by the Reich Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium, RLM).[4]

Although referred to as Fw 272 in some sources, the Flitzer was never given an RLM designation, and the putative designation "Fw 272" is derived from drawing Nr. 272 for the Flitzer.[5]

Specifications (design draft of 15 September 1944)

Data from [6]

General characteristics

  • Crew: one pilot
  • Length: 10.55 m (34 ft 7 in)
  • Wingspan: 8.00 m (26 ft 3 in)
  • Height: 2.35 m (7 ft 8 in)
  • Wing area: 17.0 m2 (183 sq ft)
  • Empty weight: 2,730 kg (6,018 lb)
  • Gross weight: 4,350 kg (9,589 lb)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet , 14.7 kN (3,306 lbf) thrust
  • Powerplant: 1 × Walter HWK 109-509 rocket , 16.7 kN (3,750 lbf) thrust

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 955 km/h (593 mph, 515 kn)
  • Endurance: 1 hours 50 minutes
  • Service ceiling: 13,000 m (42,500 ft)
  • Rate of climb: 18.2 m/s (3,600 ft/min)

Armament

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References
  1. Focke-Wulf Project VII Flitzer
  2. Myhra, David (1998). Secret Aircraft Designs of the Third Reich. Atglen: Schiffer. pp. 141–42.
  3. Lens, K.; H. J. Nowarra (1964). Die Deutschen Flugzeuge. Munich: J F Lehmans Verlag.
  4. Nowarra, Heinz (1983). Die deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945. Bonn: Bernard and Graefe. pp. Teil 2, p.117.
  5. Dan Sharp, 2020. Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe: Jet Fighters 1939-1945, Mortons.
  6. Schick, Walter; Meyer, Ingolf (1997). Luftwaffe secret projects : fighters 1939–1945. Hinckley, England: Midland Pub. pp. 159–161. ISBN 1857800524.

Bibliography
  • Masters, David (1982). German Jet Genesis. London: Jane's Publishing.
  • Schick, Walter; Ingolf Meyer (1997). Luftwaffe Secret Projects: Fighters 1939–1945. Hinckley: Midland Publishing. pp. 143–44.
  • Smith, J. R. (1973). Focke-Wulf: An Aircraft Album. London: Ian Allan.
  • Smith, J. R.; A. Kay (1972). German Aircraft of the Second World War. London: Putnam.
  • Wagner, Wolfgang (1980). Kurt Tank: Konstruckteur und Test Pilot bei Focke-Wulf. Munich: Bernard and Graefe.
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