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10 Fascinating Experimental Aircraft Of World War II
It should come as no surprise that during World War II, airplane designers around the world built some fascinating experimental airplanes. From early helicopters to bombers meant to attack the United States, these are some of the most interesting airplanes to ever fly.
10 Blackburn B-20
During World War II, floatplanes and flying boats played a big part in the air forces of the world powers. Floatplanes had the advantage of being more flexible in water operations, but they were often small and struggled with maneuverability due to the large float on the bottom of the plane. Flying boats were often used as patrol bombers, but they were large and slow. So the Blackburn Aircraft Company decided to design an airplane that joined the best elements of floatplanes and flying boats, ending up with the oddball B-20 (somewhat similar to the one depicted above).
Half of the B-20’s fuselage was a retractable float. When the B-20 went to land on the water, the lower part of the fuselage would descend into the water. This configuration would give it more versatility in combat, and it would also increase the wing incidence to give it a shorter takeoff run. As soon as the B-20 was in the air, the fuselage would join back together, making it look like a small flying boat . In this configuration the B-20 had much less drag than other flying boats, giving it unprecedented speed.
However, during a test flight, the B-20 fell apart and crashed, killing some of the crew. The British Air Ministry realized that it was a fluke. The concept of the B-20 was sound, but as Blackburn focused its attention to building preexisting airplanes, the need for its experimental aircraft dropped. Nothing ever came from the B-20.
9 Ryan FR Fireball
Compared to Germany and the United Kingdom, the United States ended up behind the curve when it came to building and adopting effective jet aircraft. The first jet fighter in the United States was the dismal P-59, which was not any better than a propeller-driven aircraft. At the same time that Bell built the P-59, the Navy was working on the FR Fireball, a fighter which used an odd power plant system. Instead of just having a jet engine, the Fireball used a propeller in the front and a jet engine in the back.
Since early jet engines had sluggish throttle response, the Navy considered them too dangerous for carrier operations. During most operations (specifically landing and takeoff), the Fireball used its propeller engine, but when they needed extra thrust, the pilots activated the jet engine . Other than that, the Fireball was a highly conventional airplane, coming out as basically a normal fighter plane with a jet engine strapped to the back.
Although it entered service in March 1945, the Fireball never saw combat service. Ryan only built 66 Fireballs, and they were quickly replaced by the next generation of jet fighters. In addition to poor range, the plane was also hurt by its lackluster performance, as Fireballs were slower than many planes even when using the jet engine. Despite the flaws, the Fireball was an important step for the Navy. It was their first jet airplane. The Fireball also was the first airplane in the world to land on an aircraft carrier under jet power . . . albeit accidentally. When a pilot’s prop engine failed in 1945, he was forced to land on the USS Wake Island under jet power .
8 Blohm & Voss BV 238
The aerospace company Blohm & Voss designed most of the Luftwaffe’s flying boats during World War II. As the war progressed, the company’s engineers designed even more complex and large flying boats. Ultimately, this culminated in the BV 238, a behemoth flying boat that was the biggest airplane designed by the Axis powers during the war.
Blohm & Voss built the BV 238 in 1944, intending for it to offer the Luftwaffe long-range transport capabilities . Luftwaffe commanders also investigated the possibility of using the giant flying boat as a long-range patrol bomber. Flight testing showed that the airplane was stable and could perform the transport role effectively .
Disaster struck for the flying boat when three American P-51 Mustangs found the prototype docked at Lake Schaal. Lieutenant Urban Drew attacked the boat, causing tremendous damage to the fuselage. Before the German engineers could save the BV 238, it sunk to the bottom of the lake . With the war turning in the Allies’ favor, Blohm & Voss discontinued work on the airplane. As for Lt. Drew, he became something of a legend. After all, he set the record for “biggest Axis airplane ever destroyed by an Allied pilot.”
7 Flettner Fl 282
Most people do not think of the helicopter as being a weapon of World War II, but while the fighting nations were rushing to develop jet propulsion, they were also working on the first generation of helicopters. As with jet propulsion, the Germans held an early lead over other nations. They experimented for years with helicopters, but it was not until the Fl 282 that they had a design that could be be mass-produced.
Flettner designed the Fl 282 with the odd feature of intermeshing rotors . This meant the two main rotors angled away from each other, but the arc of the blades crossed. In other words, they were carefully synchronized to avoid disaster. The intermeshing rotors gave the helicopter the advantage of not needing a tail rotor to offset the torque from the main rotors. Other than that weird feature, the Fl 282 was a bare-bones design, just minimal framing attached to an engine.
The Luftwaffe was so impressed by the Fl 282 that they ordered 1,000 choppers. Possible roles for the helicopter included anti-submarine warfare, naval spotting, and reconnaissance . However, by the time production was ready in 1944, the Luftwaffe was already fighting on the defensive, and the fleet of Flettner helicopters never materialized. Flettner only completed a few models, but these were well received by pilots. Nevertheless, shortly after production started, an Allied bombing raid destroyed the production plant, ending any possible production of the helicopter. The engineer behind the project, Anton Flettner, immigrated to the United States where he helped design excellent helicopters for the United States Air Force.
6 Kyushu J7W
One of the most futuristic-looking airplanes of the era was the Japanese-designed J7W Shinden, an airplane with a canard design . That refers to a plane with the “main wing mounted at the rear of the fuselage and a smaller wing fixed to the front.” The hope is that with this innovative layout, the J7W would be highly maneuverable and able to fight American B-29 bombers.
The interceptor had a big engine that drove a six-blade pusher propeller by an extension shaft. During testing, the engine caused a lot of problems as it was prone to overheating, even when tested on the ground. By the time the war ended, the Kyushu engineers figured out most of the problems with the engine. To take down the B-29 bombers, the J7W carried four 30mm cannons, making it one heavily armed aircraft.
Japanese Navy officials had such hope in the J7W that they ordered production before the first prototype even got off the ground. Fortunately for the B-29 crews, the J7W only completed three test flights before the war ended, and the plane never entered production. Even during testing, the J7W barely got any flight time, only clocking a combined 45 minutes in the air over three test flights. The war ended before the Navy could perform other tests on the airplane. A proposed turbojet version of the airplane never left the drawing board .
5 Heinkel He 100 And He 113
As the Luftwaffe geared up for World War II, they looked at a variety of airplanes to replace their primary frontline fighter plane, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 . The leading competitor for the design was the Heinkel He 100, one of the best airplanes in the world at the time. Although it is difficult to find wartime documents about the He 100, it is clear that the plane was a significant improvement over the Bf 109 and had a variety of characteristics that would have made it an effective airplane against Allied pilots.
Most impressively, the He 100 broke and held the world speed record for an airplane of its class. However, for some reason, the Luftwaffe decided to continue development on the Bf 109 and its variants. Nobody knows exactly why the He 100 project stopped
Even though the He 100 never reached frontline service, it played a fascinating role in early propaganda efforts. When the war began, the United Kingdom did not have adequate information about the Luftwaffe, including what types of airplanes it flew.
Taking advantage of the situation, Joseph Goebbels announced that the Luftwaffe was fielding a new He 113 fighter, but in reality, it was just a repainted He 100 prototype. German publications often featured pictures of the “new fighter,” accompanied by reports of its combat abilities . These reports made it to the UK where the Royal Air Force became concerned about the He 113. Until 1941, pilots reported facing the airplane, but there was no proof that their stories were accurate. Eventually, the Air Ministry figured out that the Luftwaffe was tricking them and that the He 113 didn’t exist.
4 Fisher P-75 Eagle
During the early part of World War II, the United States hadn’t yet developed the fighters that would later aid them against the Luftwaffe. Most of these planes, like the P-51 and P-47, were still under development and hadn’t reached their peak performance. Because of that, the Luftwaffe generally had the advantage in terms of air power. To counter Luftwaffe airplanes, the United States Army Air Force began looking for a high-speed interceptor fighter with heavy armaments .
The Allison engine company saw this as a chance to show off their new V-3420, a huge 24-cylinder engine that was actually two V-1710 engines mated into one. Allison and the Fisher Body Division of the General Motors Corporation worked together to make a new airplane around the engine. Oddly, Fisher decided to build the P-75 with preexisting parts. The P-75 was a mixture of other successful airplanes, including the Dauntless dive bomber and a variety of fighters including the P-51 and P-40 . The huge engine was located in the middle of the airplane, driving the two contra-rotating propellers by a drive shaft.
Of course, it should come as no surprise that making a fighter plane by combining parts from preexisting airplanes does not work. The P-75 was slow and sluggish in its interceptor role, causing the Air Force to pass on the design. Fisher then tried to advertise the P-75 as a long-range escort fighter for bombers, but by that time, better fighter planes were available, leaving Fisher to stop development on the P-75.
3 Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1
Most major countries in the world experimented with rocket-powered airplanes during World War II, the most successful being the German Me 163 Komet interceptor. But lesser known than the Komet is the Soviet experimental rocket fighter, the BI-1.
In the late 1930s, Soviet officials wanted a fast, short-range defense fighter powered by a rocket. The need for such a plane became especially pronounced as German forces began to invade Russia. Engineers completed plans for the rocket plane by spring of 1941, but Stalin did not give authorization to build a prototype. However, when the German invasion began, Stalin told engineers Alexander Bereznyak and Aleksei Isayev to get the airplane ready as soon as possible. It took only 35 days to complete a working prototype . Getting just under the deadline, a bomber towed the BI-1 aloft, allowing it to glide to the ground for a first test.
Rocket motor tests commenced in 1942, but powered flights quickly revealed that the BI-1 only had 15 minutes of flight time from the moment the pilot ignited the rocket on the ground. This proved a severe limitation.
When the third prototype disintegrated midair during a level flight, the engineers realized that there was another problem. The frame, made of plywood and metal, was not designed for nearly supersonic speeds. Research on supersonic aerodynamics was still in its infancy, and the BI-1 airframe was not designed to perform at those speeds without falling apart . Quite simply, the BI-1 was too fast for its own good. With that limitation, testing ground to a halt, and the war turned in favor of the Soviets, ensuring that there was no further development of defensive rocket planes.
2 Junkers Ju 390
Although they did not realize it at the time, the Luftwaffe made a serious error when they refused to develop any long-range heavy bombers. By the middle of the war, the Royal Air Force and United States Army Air Force were conducting raids into German airspace, causing mass destruction to the German war industry. That’s when Luftwaffe commanders realized they needed a heavy bomber, specifically one that could strike the United States. Thus the “America Bomber” project was born.
The Luftwaffe considered many different designs for the project, but one of the most feasible was the Junkers Ju 390. Junkers, a German company, developed the new bomber from their existing Ju 290 heavy transport . The new bomber had six engines and was capable of a transatlantic flight. Test flights commenced in 1944, and they showed the Ju 390 was an effective and powerful machine. However, by that time, the Luftwaffe was on the defensive, and any offensive bomber projects were given low priority. Junkers only could finish two prototypes by the time the war ended.
Mystery and conspiracy shroud the Ju 390 tests and operations. According to some sources, one of the prototypes flew from Germany to South Africa on a test flight. Some wartime reports show that the bomber was also test flown over the Atlantic Ocean, entering United States airspace before turning back . Fringe conspiracy groups also believe that a Ju 390 flew to Argentina at the end of the war, carrying secret weaponry for escaped Nazis. Whatever the case, the Ju 390 was the closest the Germans ever came to developing a bomber that could reach the United States.
1 Northrop N-9M
During the ’30s and ’40s, famous aircraft designer Jack Northrop worked tirelessly on his idea for flying wing airplanes. Northrop hoped to build high performance airplanes that consisted only of a giant wing, eschewing traditional airplane engineering. At the beginning of World War II, Northrop convinced the United States Army Air Force to fund his research into flying wings with the hope of creating a bomber based on that configuration. They agreed to fund his research, so Northrop went ahead and built a small test airplane to investigate the feasibility of a flying wing bomber .
Named the N-9M (“M” for “model”), the airplane was small and light. It had a boomerang shape with no vertical control surfaces. Power came from two pusher propellers. The N-9M took some getting used to, but it was a good airplane once the pilot adjusted. During testing, one fatal crash occurred, but that did not deter Northrop. By the end of the war, he had enough research to build his flying wing bomber, the XB-35. Unfortunately, with the war over, the Air Force did not have much interest in the bomber or its jet-powered cousin, the YB-49. The project ended in the late 1940s.
Even though the original flying wing bombers never came to fruition, the Air Force began using the B-2 stealth bomber years later. To design this airplane, Northrop used a lot of the research he developed while working on the N-9M, making this World War II plane the predecessor of the famous B-2. Currently, one of the N-9M prototypes is still flying, making regular appearances at air shows and other events.
Zachery Brasier is a physics student who loves aviation history and likes to write on the side. Check out his blog at zacherybrasier.com .
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Top 10 Forgotten Prototypes and Experimental Aircraft of WWII
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World War II was a period of rapid technological advancement, particularly in aviation. This era saw the birth of designs that pushed the boundaries of what was possible with aircraft, with many nations experimenting to gain an upper hand. Here, we highlight ten unique experimental airplanes that, while they never made it to full-scale production, completed at least one flight, exhibiting the ingenuity and ambition of wartime engineers.
Fisher XP-75 Eagle
An ambitious American experiment, the XP-75 Eagle was developed to meet the need for a plane that could climb quickly and cover long distances. Its design borrowed elements from the Bell P-39, incorporating a mid-engine configuration. Despite showing initial promise, the prototype faced numerous challenges during testing, and by 1944, it was overshadowed by more successful designs like the P-51 Mustang, leading to its cancellation.
Caproni Campini N.1
Italy’s foray into jet-powered flight resulted in the Caproni Campini N.1. Before the wider recognition of Germany’s He-178 as the first jet aircraft, there was a moment when the N.1 was considered the forefront of jet propulsion. Despite this, the two prototypes saw limited action due to the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943 which halted further development.
Heinkel He 100
Germany’s quest for air superiority gave rise to the Heinkel He 100, a fighter that aimed to outpace all others with a top speed of 416 mph. Competing against the BF-109 for the top spot in the German Air Force, the He 100’s impressive speed was not enough to change the course of its destiny, and the project was eventually abandoned.
Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster
The American Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster was an experimental bomber that sought to marry the range of a B-29 with a smaller, more nimble design. Achieving speeds of up to 410 mph, it was a testament to innovative thinking. A surviving example of this prototype is under restoration and will eventually find a home at the US National Air and Space Museum.
Piaggio P.119
Unique for its mid-mounted radial engine, the Italian Piaggio P.119 was an experiment that differentiated itself with its engine placement and the potential for increased maneuverability and space for armament. Unfortunately, the Italian Armistice of 1943 cut the project short.
Blohm & Voss BV 141
The German Blohm & Voss BV 141 reconnaissance aircraft stood out due to its asymmetrical design, which, while unconventional, performed admirably well. Nonetheless, it never entered full production, leaving it as a curious footnote in aviation history.
Flettner FL 282
As one of the few helicopters of the era, the German Flettner FL 282 provided a glimpse into the future of rotary-wing aircraft. Though a handful were used for transport and observation, it fell short of its envisioned scope due to production being halted by the war’s events.
Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1
The Soviet Union’s Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 was a rocket-powered endeavor that aimed to bring new capabilities to the interceptor role. Although it flew a dozen times, it never made it into regular service and was retired in 1945.
Vultee XP-54
The Vultee XP-54, with its peculiar appearance and downward-firing ejection seat, was a bold American experiment in aircraft design. Built to explore the limits of a twin-boom pusher configuration, it remains a remarkable attempt at breaking the mold.
Antonov A-40 Flying Tank
Perhaps the most unusual of all, the Soviet Antonov A-40 took the concept of air mobility to an extreme, attempting to create a tank that could glide into the battlefield. Tested in 1942, this innovative idea proved too ambitious for the technology of the time.
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Gooney Birds – 12 Experimental Aircraft That Were Too Weird for Use in WW2
“A number of these experimental aircraft featured designs so innovative and outlandish they call out for recognition even now, more than 70 years later.”
MORE AIRPLANES rolled off assembly lines during World War Two than in any other period in the history of aviation.
Between 1939 and 1945, Allied factories cranked out a staggering 633,000 aircraft. That’s 288 a day – or one every five minutes for six years straight. For their part, Germany, Italy and Japan manufactured more than a quarter million machines.
In all, at least 750 distinct models of aircraft were in production during the war years. And amazingly, more than 250 additional designs, from fighters and bombers to trainers and transports, were evaluated and rejected by the world’s air forces. Some of these also-rans were passed over for being too expensive, others were too slow, ungainly or not safe for combat. Yet despite their unsuitability, a number of these experimental aircraft featured designs so innovative and outlandish they call out for recognition even now, more than 70 years later. Let’s take a look at some.
Flying Sidesaddle
Despite its decidedly lopsided appearance, the German Blohm and Voss Bv-141 might have been a capable tactical reconnaissance aircraft for the Luftwaffe. The single-engine machine featured a three-man cockpit and observation pod positioned away from the fuselage on the starboard wing. With the exception of a blind spot created by the engine nacelle, the design did afford the observation crew and rear gunner a surprisingly wide field of view. Despite the fact that the plane had a rather high-profile champion in flying ace and Luftwaffe luminary Ernst Udet , Berlin passed on it in 1940 citing the feeble engine as the chief drawback. By the time the manufacturer upgraded the power plant, the German air force had already settled on the Focke-Wulf Fw-189 .
Airborne Anti-Aircraft Gun
The concept of placing aircrew away from the fuselage wasn’t just a German idea. The Bell Aircuda YFM-1 had similar wing mounted crew cabins – two of them. Developed in the late 1930s as a sort of flying anti-aircraft battery for use against enemy bomber formations, the YFM-1 featured manned forward-facing gun turrets on both wings, each packing a 37mm cannon. To make room for the cabins, the plane’s engines faced aft. The U.S. Army ordered 13 of these curious “bomber destroyers” for evaluation purposes in 1940, but withdrew them from service within two years after the design’s many shortcomings became evident. With a top speed of only 275 mph (450 km/h) the YFM-1 was far too slow to catch most bombers of the day. Also, its “pusher” style engines made for unstable handling and risky bailouts. All models were eventually broken up for scrap.
Failure to Launch
Less of an airplane and more of a flying shotgun, the rocket-powered Bachem Ba-349 Natter interceptor was designed to overtake Allied bombers and pepper the enemy formations with salvos of up to 33 unguided explosive-tipped projectiles. Natters required no runways for take off; they could be launched vertically from just about any flat surface. The plane’s powerful rocket engine was designed to hurtle it 30,000 feet (9,000m) into the air in under a minute. Once at altitude, the pilot could easily overtake and destroy adversaries and then glide back to earth. Both the Luftwaffe and SS expected to add the Natter to their inventories. But by the time the Ba-349 was ready for service, Nazi Germany was mere days from defeat. Only 36 were ever built – none saw action.
Taking the Edge Off
Designers of the McDonnell XP-67 Moonbat hoped that by smoothing the edges of their twin-engine, long-range interceptor, they could create a futuristic fighter that could outfly anything in the air. And while the prototype, which first took the skies in early 1944, certainly looked fast and agile, performance was wanting. With a top speed of just 400 mph (640 km/h), the Moonbat was altogether too slow and its handling mediocre at best. But had the XP-67 entered production, its battery of six 37 mm cannons would have made it a fearsome ground attack machine. The only working model was lost in an accident after only nine months.
Flying Saucer
“Round” was also the watchword for the Vought V-173 Flying Pancake – a twin-engine demonstrator that looked more like a frisbee than an airplane. Despite its solid handling at low speeds (as confirmed by test pilot Charles Lindbergh ) and its ability to take off and land in extremely small spaces, the V-173 never advanced beyond the demonstration phase. Only one was ever manufactured.
Conjoined Twins
A number of wartime designers toyed with the concept of twin fuselage fighters and bombers. North American sought to increase the range of its workhorse escort fighter, the P-51 Mustang, by joining two of the plane’s air frames together. The results were promising. The P-82 Twin Mustang was as nimble as a conventional P-51 but could fly from Hawaii to Manhattan without refueling. [ 1 ] The war ended before the aircraft could be delivered in large numbers; it went into limited production in the late 1940s. Germany took a similar approach with its experimental Messerschmitt Bf-109Z , which included two conjoined fighters with the cockpit situated in the port fuselage.
Strange But True
Speaking of envelope-pushing designs, consider Britain’s Miles M.39 Libellula , a swept-wing, twin-engine, medium bomber demonstrator that flew in 1943. The three-man attack aircraft was designed to deliver a 2,000 lb. payload more than 1,500 miles (2,400 km) at 400 mph (640 km/h). Despite the fact that the sole working prototype displayed impressive handling characteristics, the RAF passed on the unconventional aircraft.
The Ascender
At almost the same time, American engineers at Curtis Wright were also dabbling in swept-wing combat aircraft with the XP-55 Ascender . The pusher-style fighter interceptor was equipped with a rear-facing, three-blade propeller. Up front was a suite of 20 mm cannons and .50 caliber machine guns. The military balked at the design and its underwhelming flight characteristics.
Swoose Goose
Stranger still was the Vultee XP-54 a single-engine twin-boom fighter demonstrator that the military tested in 1943. The single-seat warplane featured a nose section that could be pivoted several degrees vertically, allowing the plane’s two 37 mm cannons to be easily trained towards the ground during level-flight strafing runs. This odd feature earned the XP-54 the nickname the “Swoose Goose” after a popular song of the time. With a top speed of only 380 mph (600 km/h), it’s no surprise that the War Department passed on this ugly ducking.
(Dis) Honourable Mentions
Resembling a giant paper airplane, Nazi Germany’s delta winged Lippisch P.13a rocket plane certainly looked futuristic; yet ironically it ran on a decidedly old fashioned power source: coal. Hitler’s engineers could never really get the idea off the ground in time to save the Third Reich however and none were built.
XP-56 Black Bullet was a stubby, delta-winged experimental American fighter plane first tested in 1943. With aluminum in short supply, developers built the two prototypes using magnesium. While the Black Bullet could reach speeds of up to 460 mph (740 km/h), the military rejected the space-aged design in favour of emerging jet aircraft.
And what list of outlandish experimental aircraft would be complete without mentioning the Hafner Rotabuggy ? A British-built “rotor kite” or autogyro, it was essentially a helicopter air frame built onto an ordinary Jeep. Designed to be dropped onto enemy territory during airborne operations, in tests the Rotabuggy managed to fly for several minutes at speeds of more than 60 mph (100 km/h) reaching an altitude of several hundred feet. Only one was manufactured in 1944. None were ordered.
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1 thought on “ Gooney Birds – 12 Experimental Aircraft That Were Too Weird for Use in WW2 ”
The Twin Mustang was a successful aircraft. One scored the first American air-to-air kill in the Korean War. The Twin was to have served as an escort fighter for the B-36.
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Top 10 Experimental Aircraft Of World War II
10. Blackburn B-20
The B-20 was an attempt to combine the best features of both the flying boat and the floatplane. While on the water, the B-20 was essentially a floatplane, using a large float under the fuselage for buoyancy, and two smaller floats near the wingtips for stability.
In flight, the main float retracted upwards towards the fuselage, fitting into a “notch” to become streamlined as a part of the fuselage. The wing floats folded outwards, somewhat like those on the American Consolidated PBY flying boat design, to become the wingtips. This configuration gave the correct wing incidence for takeoff and for flight and in the latter a much reduced drag compared to the deep hulls of flying boats.
9. Ryan FR Fireball
It was the Navy’s first aircraft with a jet engine. Design of the FR-1 began in 1943 to a proposal instigated by Admiral John S. McCain, Sr. for a mixed-powered fighter because early jet engines had sluggish acceleration that was considered unsafe and unsuitable for carrier operations. Ryan received a contract for three XFR-1 prototypes and one static test airframe on 11 February 1943 with the first two prototypes delivered in 14 months. Another contract was placed for 100 aircraft on 2 December 1943 and a later contract on 31 January 1945 increased the total of FR-1s on order to 700. Only 66 aircraft were built before Japan surrendered in August 1945. The FR-1 Fireball equipped a single squadron before the end of the war, but did not see combat. The aircraft ultimately proved to lack the structural strength required for operations aboard aircraft carriers and was withdrawn in mid-1947.
8. Blohm & Voss BV 238
Development of the BV 238 giant flying boat began in 1941, following the success of the smaller but still enormous BV 222 Wiking. The BV 238 was an extremely large flying boat of conventional aerodynamic design, but bearing the usual B&V structural hallmarks of all-metal construction with a tubular steel wing main spar which also acted as the armoured main fuel tank. Of the era, only the earlier Tupolev ANT-20 and the later Hughes H-4 had a bigger wing span. However it would be the heaviest yet flown, at 100 tonnes (220,000 lb) fully laden. It was the heaviest aircraft ever built when it first flew in 1944, and was the largest aircraft produced by any of the Axis powers during World War II.
7. Flettner Fl 282
Intended roles of Fl 282 included ferrying items between ships and reconnaissance. However, as the war progressed, the Luftwaffe began considering converting the Fl 282 for battlefield use. Until this time the craft had been flown by a single pilot, but by then a position for an observer was added at the very rear of the craft, resulting in the B-2 version. Later the B-2 proved a useful artillery spotting aircraft and an observation unit was established in 1945 comprising three Fl 282 and three Fa 223 helicopters. Good handling in bad weather led the German Air Ministry to issue a contract in 1944 to BMW to produce 1,000 units. However, the company’s Munich plant was destroyed by Allied bombing raids after producing just 24 machines.
6. Kyushu J7W
The Kyūshū J7W1 Shinden (“Magnificent Lightning”) fighter was a Japanese propeller-driven aircraft prototype with wings at the rear of the fuselage, a nose mounted canard, and pusher engine. Developed by the Imperial Japanese Navy as a short-range, land-based interceptor, the J7W was a response to Boeing B-29 Superfortress raids on the Japanese home islands. For interception missions, the J7W was to be armed with four forward-firing 30 mm cannons in the nose. The Shinden was expected to be a highly maneuverable interceptor, but only two prototypes were finished before the end of war. A jet engine–powered version was considered, but never even reached the drawing board.
5. Heinkel He 113
The Heinkel He 113 was a fictitious German fighter aircraft of World War II, invented as a propaganda and possibly disinformation exercise. In 1940, Joseph Goebbels publicised the fact that a new fighter was entering service with the Luftwaffe. The plan involved taking pictures of Heinkel He 100 D-1s at different air bases around Germany, each time sporting a new paint job for various fictional fighter groups. The pictures were then published in the press with the He 113 name. It is unclear even today exactly who this effort was intended to impress—foreign air forces or Germany’s public—but it seems to have been a successful deception. British intelligence featured the aircraft in AIR 40/237, a report on the Luftwaffe that was completed in 1940.
4. Fisher P-75 Eagle
In October 1942, the contract for two prototypes, designated “XP-75”, was signed with the Fisher Body Division of GM. The design concept was to use the outer wing panels from the North American P-51 Mustang, the tail assembly from the Douglas A-24 (SBD), and the undercarriage from the Vought F4U Corsair in a general layout much as in the Bell P-39 Airacobra with the engine located amidships with the contra-rotating propellers driven through extension shafts. The program was cancelled after only a small number of prototypes and production aircraft had been completed, as it was no longer required in its original role, could not be quickly deployed, and possessed no significant advantages over aircraft already in production.
3. Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1
In the late 1930s, Soviet officials wanted a fast, short-range defense fighter powered by a rocket. The need for such a plane became especially pronounced as German forces began to invade Russia. Engineers completed plans for the rocket plane by spring of 1941, but Stalin did not give authorization to build a prototype. However, when the German invasion began, Stalin told engineers Alexander Bereznyak and Aleksei Isayev to get the airplane ready as soon as possible. It took only 35 days to complete a working prototype. Getting just under the deadline, a bomber towed the BI-1 aloft, allowing it to glide to the ground for a first test.Rocket motor tests commenced in 1942, but powered flights quickly revealed that the BI-1 only had 15 minutes of flight time from the moment the pilot ignited the rocket on the ground. This proved a severe limitation.
2. Junkers Ju 390
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. Two prototypes were created by attaching an extra pair of inner-wing segments onto the wings of basic Junkers Ju 90 and Ju 290 airframes and adding new sections to lengthen the fuselages. The first prototype, V1, was modified from the Ju 90 V6 airframe. It made its maiden flight on 20 October 1943 and performed well, resulting in an order for 26 aircraft, to be named Ju 390 A-1. None of these had been built by the time that the project was cancelled in mid-1944. The second prototype, the V2, was longer than the V1 because it was constructed from a Ju 290 airframe.
1. Northrop N-9M
The Northrop N-9M is an approximately one-third scale, 60-ft span all-wing aircraft used for the development of the full size, 172-ft wingspan Northrop XB-35 and YB-35 flying wing long-range, heavy bomber. First flown in 1942, the N-9M (M for Model) was the third in a lineage of all-wing Northrop aircraft designs that began in 1929 when Jack Northrop succeeded in early experiments with his single pusher propeller, twin-tailed, twin-boom, all stressed metal skin Northrop Flying Wing X-216H monoplane, and a decade later, the dual-propeller N-1M of 1939–1941. Northrop’s pioneering all-wing aircraft would lead Northrop Grumman many years later to eventually develop the advanced B-2 Spirit stealth bomber
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Top 10 Rare Experimental Aircraft of WW2
If you're looking for some inspiration for your next scratch build project, here are ten unique airplane designs.
For this list, there are only three rules: 1) the aircraft had to exist, 2) it can't have gone into full production, but 3) it had to have completed at least one flight. We're also looking at planes that aren't your usual bunch, so there should be some here that you haven't seen before. Let's get started.
An image of the XB-42 (number 7 in this list).
10. Fisher XP-75 Eagle
An experimental mid-war fighter design.
First Flight: 1943
Purpose: Long-range fighter
Brief: This experimental aircraft was designed to meet the USAF requirements for a plane that could climb extremely quickly and fly over long distances. Its configuration was unusual, being similar to the Bell P-39 with a mid-engine layout. The aircraft showed promise but prototype testing was disastrous: numerous faults were found and, by the time it was ready, other more conventional fighters like the P-51 Mustang had surpassed it. The program was canceled in 1944.
9. Caproni Campini N.1
The second jet-powered aircraft to fly (briefly thought to be the first).
First Flight: 1940
Purpose: J et-powered prototype
Brief: You may know that the He-178 was the first ever jet aircraft to fly, but over in Italy the Italian Air Force had also been experimenting with jet propulsion. Before knowledge of the 178 got out of Germany, the N.1 was believed to be the first plane to fly using a jet turbine. The two prototypes built were tested until 1943 when the Allied invasion of Italy halted the operation.
8. Heinkel He 100
First Flight: January 1938
Purpose: High-performance fighter
Brief: Although the BF-109 became Germany's main fighter aircraft throughout the entirety of the war, there were other manufacturers who were vying to get the contract. Heinkel was one of these manufacturers. After failing to win with their He-112 design, they decided to go all out to produce the fastest fighter the world had yet seen. The result was this He-100. It could do a staggering 416 mph. Compare this to an early Spitfire that could do just 362mph. For multiple reasons, the Luftwaffe stuck with the BF-109 and the He-100 project was scrapped.
7. Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster
First Flight: 1944
Purpose: High-speed bomber
Brief: This plane might have been the USAF's answer to the high-speed light bomber. It started as a private venture by Douglas to match the range of a B-29 with a much smaller aircraft. The prototypes could do 410 mph. A surviving example is currently undergoing restoration work and will eventually be displayed in US National Air and Space museum.
6. Piaggio P.119
An Italian fighter with a mid-mounted radial engine.
First Flight: 1942
Purpose: Experimental fighter
Brief: The P.119 has a rather unique engine - or at least a unique positioning of the engine. Although planes like the XP-75 have been known to use mid-mounted inline engines behind the pilot's cockpit, this one had a radial mid-mounted engine. It was hoped this would allow more maneuverability, aerodynamic 'slipperiness' (for want of a better word), and more room for weaponry up front. The Italian Armistice of 1943 ended this project.
5. Blohm & Voss BV141
An asymmetrical German reconnaissance aircraft.
First Flight: 1938
Purpose: Tactical reconnaissance
Brief: Although the BV 141 performed very well (despite its irregular shape), the plane was never ordered into full production. If you want to find out more about how asymmetrical planes like this one work, check out this dedicated article.
4. Flettner FL 282
First Flight: 1941
Brief: You don't really hear about helicopters being used in WW2, but that's for good reason: most were simply not ready for war at that time. However, this German helicopter was (just about). It's a bit of an exception on this list as it was ordered into production, yet the factory only produced 24 of the 1000 units ordered before being destroyed in a bombing raid. Some of these surviving helicopters were used successfully, though, as transports and observer craft.
3. Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1
A Soviet rocket-powered plane on skis.
Purpose: Rocket-powered interceptor fighter
Brief: You've probably heard of the Me-163, but have you heard of the Russian version? The BI-1 was flown just 12 times under power and never made it into service and was retired in 1945.
2. Vultee XP-54
An unusual configuration airplane with a downward firing ejection seat.
Purpose: Fighter
Brief: This strange looking, extremely slender fighter prototype which was built to test a twin boom pusher configuration. It had a pretty futuristic entry system where the electrically powered pilot's seat would lower through the bottom of the plane.
1. Antonov A-40 Flying Tank
What it says on the tin!
Purpose: Battlefield tank transport
Brief: The above image of this crazy contraption isn't photoshopped. This was a real proposed solution to the problem of deploying vehicles to the battlefield that was first tested in 1942.
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Aviation History Book Review: British Experimental Combat Aircraft of World War II
British Experimental Combat Aircraft of World War II: Prototypes, Research Aircraft and Failed Production Designs
by Tony Buttler, Hikoki Publications, Manchester, UK, 2012, $56.95.
When Lord Beaverbrook became British minister of aircraft production in May 1940, World War II was going very badly for Britain. Consequently, one of his first acts was to restrict aircraft production, at least for the short term, to five critical types: the Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane fighters, and the Bristol Blenheim, Armstrong-Whitworth Whitley and Vickers Wellington bombers. It was a Draconian measure, but it arguably helped to increase the supply of the most critically needed aircraft types at the conflict’s most desperate stage.
Beaverbrooks’s drastic measure materially hampered the development of many aircraft, but the advancement of new planes never came to a complete halt. In fact, during 1941 many useful new types entered production, including the Hawker Typhoon, Short Stirling and de Havilland Mosquito.
British Experimental Combat Aircraft of World War II is a lavish new compendium of the projects that were being pursued in Britain in the course of the war. It demonstrates that despite the harsh restrictions imposed during 1940, the British aviation industry still managed to produce projects every bit as advanced, as imaginative and sometimes as bizarre as those created in Germany and the United States.
Not all these aircraft failed because they weren’t good. Some of them, such as the turret-armed fighters and the “cheap-and-cheerful” war emergency home-defense fighters, went nowhere because of changes in operational requirements. Among the latter was the Miles M.20, the first fighter to include a blown, single-piece bubble canopy, which was way ahead of its time in 1940. Others, such as Short’s enormous Shetland flying boat, which was intended to replace the Sunderland, were simply too large to justify mass production. A few, such as the Supermarine Spiteful, the intended successor to the immortal Spitfire, and the equally spectacular Martin-Baker MB-5, simply came too late. Another fighter, the Hawker Tornado, failed solely due to a poor choice of power plant, but was subsequently mass-produced with a different engine under another name, Typhoon.
British Experimental Combat Aircraft of World War II is a must for anyone interested in aviation, particularly those with a taste for the rare and the strange. Its price tag derives from the fact that it is large-format and lavishly illustrated, almost a “coffeetable book.” But this treasure trove of the sublime and the bizarre is meticulously researched and packed with information that is probably available nowhere else in a single volume.
Originally published in the July 2013 issue of Aviation History . To subscribe, click here .
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Imagine it’s 1945, but a different, counterfactual 1945. World War II rages on. The U.S. strategic bombing campaign is escalating in intensity as its attempts to destroy the enemy’s means of production face increasingly determined resistance. Unexpectedly, American forces are encountering radically new and dangerous foreign aircraft. Generations of exotic, high-performance propeller-driven aircraft are challenging the best the U.S. can produce. More ominously, revolutionary jet-powered and rocket-powered fighters are wreaking havoc with American bombers and fighters while sophisticated guided missiles strike hard against the Allies. These last-minute “wonder weapons” are changing the momentum of the war and threaten to prolong this deadly conflict or even overturn what was widely seen as a decided Allied victory. Is this the technologically-advanced Germany as envisioned by countless “what-if” historians? No, it’s actually Japan as it would have been if enough of its planned new weapons had successfully taken to the skies in sufficient numbers to make a difference.
Thankfully for the Allies, the scenario described above didn’t happen. In reality, Japan was running out of raw materials, skilled manpower, and time. Nonetheless, it was developing a host of advanced aircraft in the closing months of the war in hopes of stopping the relentlessly encroaching Allies. Faced with the challenge of superb American fighters and bombers, Japanese aircraft manufacturers first looked to modifying existing designs and creating new aircraft that incorporated high-powered, turbo-, and supercharged engines, comparable or superior to America’s best. Already the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force was operating the superlative Nakajima Ki-84 (Allied name Frank), a fighter that was a match for the North American P-51D, in China and the Philippines. But better aircraft were necessary if Japan was to counter the growing Allied threat, especially from the B-29s that were striking at the heart of the country.
Advanced Propeller-Driven Aircraft
To face this challenge, the Nakajima Aircraft Company turned its attention to building the Ki-87, a high-altitude, heavily armed fighter powered by a single 2,400 horsepower turbosupercharged engine. It had a 440 mile per hour top speed, but engine problems delayed production and only one prototype was produced. Meanwhile, Tachikawa built its own similar looking fighter, the Ki-94-II, that had an estimated top speed of 450 miles per hour. It seemed promising and an order was placed for 18 service test aircraft. But the first flight was scheduled for August 18, 1945, three days after Japan surrendered.
The Kyushu J7W1 Shinden (Magnificent Lightning) on the ground, circa 1945
There were many other advanced propeller-driven fighters under construction or on the drawing board from Kawasaki and Mitsubishi during this time. But perhaps the most intriguing design was the Kyushu J7W1 Shinden, a canard design driving a six-bladed pusher propeller built for the Imperial Japanese Navy. With its engine in the rear and its elevators in the nose, the J7W1 was the only canard design ordered into production by any combatant during the war. Navy Captain Masaoki Tsuruno conceived the idea with the hope that, when developed, a jet engine could replace the 2,130 horsepower Mitsubishi 18-cylinder radial. In the meantime, construction was authorized in June 1944 for this desperately-needed high-altitude fighter. The first prototype was ready 10 months later. Unfortunately for Japan, engine and propeller vibration problems delayed flight tests until early August 1945, so only two were built. With an estimated top speed of 466 miles per hour, the Shinden would have been a formidable opponent, the jet-powered version (J7W2) even more so.
Jet Engine Technology
It seems there was no area of an aircraft that Japanese engineers were not willing to tweak and change, and jet engine technology was no exception. In September 1944, design work began on the Nakajima Kikka, the only Japanese jet-powered aircraft to fly during the war. Based loosely on the outline of the Messerschmitt Me 262, the Kikka was smaller and built with folding wings to hide it in caves. When the Ne-12 turbojet engines failed to produce enough thrust, imaginative engineers designed and built the Ne-20 engine, based solely on photographs of the German BMW 003. Producing 1,047 pounds of thrust each, the Kikka was fitted with two engines that gave the aircraft the requisite top speed of 435 miles per hour. The Kikka’s first flight came on August 7, 1945, another example of “too little, too late”. A second prototype was also built but never flown with 18 others under construction. A faster version was envisioned with two Ne-130 engines, which were to produce twice the thrust, but the war ended before tests were made.
Three-quarter left rear view of Mitsubishi MXY8 Akigusa (Autumn Grass), the glider prototype of J8M Shusui, built by Dai-Ichi Kaigun Koku Gijitsusho.
Rocket-Powered Interceptors
Potentially even more dangerous to the Allies was the development of rocket-powered interceptors. In late 1943, Japanese officials became concerned about the impending threat from Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. Knowing that Japan did not have an interceptor that could attack the B-29s above 30,000 feet, the Japanese Military Attachés in Berlin acquired the manufacturing rights for the revolutionary Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket-powered interceptor and its Walter HWK 109-509 engine. The Me 163 could fly 596 miles per hour – almost 200 miles per hour faster than any Allied fighter - and could climb at an astounding rate of 10,000 feet per minute. Although hampered by its short range and 10-minute duration because of its novel engine, the Me 163 appeared to be the ideal solution to the B-29 problem.
Plans for the Me-163 were shipped on two U-boats, one of which was sunk, leaving the Japanese military with only rudimentary data. Undeterred, in July 1944 the Japanese Navy ordered Mitsubishi to develop its own version of the aircraft designated the J8M and, in a rare example of interservice cooperation, an Army variant known as the Ki-200. Engineer Mijiro Takahashi led the project, producing a glider version by December. The glide tests were successful, and the first J8M was completed in June 1945. The aircraft’s first flight ended in a fatal crash and modifications to the propulsion system were not completed before the war ended.
From October 1944, during the U.S. liberation of the Philippines, until the end of the conflict, the Allies encountered a deadly and effective new weapon: the kamikaze. Hundreds of Japanese pilots volunteered to sacrifice their lives by crashing bomb-laden aircraft into American and British naval forces. The kamikaze were essentially guided missiles controlled by a sophisticated computer – a human being. Most of the aircraft were conventional fighters and bombers, but the Japanese Navy had also developed the Ohka Model 11, a rocket-powered, human-guided, flying bomb that was designed to fly beneath a Mitsubishi G4M “Betty” bomber until close to the U.S. fleet. Dropped from the bomber, the pilot of the Ohka would glide down, ignite the rocket engine, and dive into its target. Very few Ohkas ever made it near the U.S. fleet as patrolling U.S. fighters shot down most of the “Bettys” before they could get into range to launch their Ohkas.
To address this problem, the Japanese Navy ordered the design of a longer-ranged jet-powered version, known as the Ohka Model 22. Powered by a Tsu-11 rudimentary turbojet, the Model 22 was designed to fly into battle underneath a Yokosuka P1Y1 bomber, which was much faster than the Betty. It was hoped that the speed of the P1Y1 and the extra range of the Model 22 would allow attacks to be launched outside of patrolling U.S. naval fighters. In the end, fifty Ohka Model 22s were built but none were ever launched. An improved version, the Model 33 was to have the more powerful Ne-20 turbojet for extra speed and range and was to be carried by a massive four-engine heavy bomber under development, the Nakajima G8N1 “Rita.” Neither the Model 33 nor the “Rita” were finished in time.
Right side view of a US captured Nakajima Ki-115 Tsurugi on the ground.
Desperate times require desperate measures. While the Japanese aviation industry was working hard to create new, more technologically advanced aircraft and weapons, a shortage of materials and skilled workers forced the industry and the military to attempt more elementary ideas. Accordingly, in January 1945, the Japanese Army ordered Nakajima to create a simple, easy-to-build suicide aircraft that could be mass produced in enough numbers to stop the coming Allied invasion of Japan. Built of wood and steel, and capable of using a variety of existing radial engines, the Ki 115 Tsurugi prototype was produced in only three months. It could carry a 1,700-pound bomb and jettison its landing gear for its one-way flight. Poor ground handling and difficult flying characteristics took three months to solve and, although 104 were built, none flew in combat.
The potential capabilities and success of these wonder weapons was frightening; who knows what would have happened if these aircraft had entered service? Nevertheless, the Allies’ relentless B-29 bombing and mining campaign and the extraordinarily successful naval blockade cut off Japan’s vital fuel and resources while simultaneously destroying Japanese factories and infrastructure, rendering the fate of Japan’s wonder weapons moot.
The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum is fortunate to preserve several of these fascinating aircraft. Among the many Japanese artifacts are the sole surviving Kyushu J7W1 Shinden, the last Nakajima Kikka, the only Ohka Model 22, and one of four remaining Nakajima Tsurugis.
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"British Experimental Combat Aircraft of World War II" by Tony Butler (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter vikingBerserker
- Start date Sep 26, 2012
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- Sep 26, 2012
vikingBerserker
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VB, I recently got this book and it immediately became one of my favorites! A great book by any metric! Highly recommended and for a little over $30.00 bucks at Amazon, with free shipping, it's a win/win! Three words: GET IT NOW
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AT THE SMITHSONIANWhy the experimental nazi aircraft known as the horten never took off. The unique design of the flyer, held in the collections of the Smithsonian, has infatuated aviation enthusiasts for decades Leigh Giangreco :focal(1599x971:1600x972)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/1d/08/1d0843a9-5342-4da9-be70-17666c643a7a/mar2020_b01_prologue.jpg "ww2 experimental aircraft") In the years after World War I, when aviation was all the rage in Europe and North America but the Treaty of Versailles banned the production of military aircraft in Germany, glider clubs sprang up across the country. The brothers Walter and Reimar Horten, just 13 and 10 years old, respectively, joined the Bonn glider club in 1925, and soon turned from flying kites to a far more ambitious activity—experimenting on a futuristic, tail-less aircraft known as a flying wing. The idea was not unprecedented; the German aerospace engineer Hugo Junkers had patented a flying-wing design in 1910. The concept is that an airplane’s fuselage and tail, while they provide lateral control, add a great deal of weight and drag and do not contribute to lift. A flying wing, without those appendages, would be vastly more efficient and thus travel farther, if it could be controlled. The Horten boys kept tinkering, and by 1932 had developed an all-wing glider, made largely of wood and linen, that actually got off the ground—though it had some stability problems. In 1943, when Nazi field marshal Hermann Göring demanded that the Luftwaffe’s next bomber aircraft be able to carry a 1,000-kilogram bomb load 1,000 kilometers into enemy territory at a speed of 1,000 kilometers per hour, the Horten brothers presented him with plans for a jet-powered, single-pilot flying wing. Its steel framework was covered in a plywood skin, and the wings were finished in a green protective coating. Göring awarded the brothers half a million reichsmarks to develop a long-range bomber, called the Ho 229. Their first prototype, an unpowered glider, had a successful test flight in 1944, and a second, jet engine-powered prototype took to the air the following year, establishing that a powered flying wing could be controlled in flight. In light of that feat, it’s possible the third prototype, the Ho 229 V3, would have flown farther than any aircraft of its day.  Instead, by April 1945, Gen. George Patton’s Third Army had recovered the V3 during Operation Paperclip, an effort to capture German intelligence and keep it from the Soviets. The Allies brought the Horten brothers to London for questioning. Following the war, Reimar failed to find consistent work at aerospace companies in Britain before returning to Germany, where he obtained a doctorate in mathematics; he spent the rest of his life working on aircraft in Argentina. Walter, back in Germany, joined the new, postwar Luftwaffe.  The V3 prototype, meanwhile, was shuttled from Germany to France to the United States, reaching the Smithsonian around 1952. While it sat in storage for decades, it became an object of gossip and fascination. Some aviation enthusiasts have posited that if the war had gone on longer, the Germans could have used the Hortens’ designs to achieve the first stealth bomber. That idea arose not only because the sleek V3 resembles today’s stealth aircraft in some ways but also because Reimar Horten claimed in the 1980s, implausibly, that he had wanted to add a layer of charcoal to the V3’s skin to diffuse radar beams; by all accounts, a charcoal coating would not have allowed the craft to evade radar anyway. Though the Horten Ho 229 V3 never saw combat, reincarnations have taken flight in popular culture, such as the propeller-driven, Horten-style flying wing that appears in an airport fight scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark . The V3 and its ancestral prototypes were taken seriously, though. One of America’s leading aircraft designers, Jack Northrop, showed keen interest in the Horten brothers’ flying-wing glider back in the 1930s and built flying-wing airplanes of his own in the 1940s. For three decades the corporation now known as Northrop Grumman has provided the U.S. military with stealth aircraft, which are essentially shaped like a flying wing.  Sometime after the V3 arrived in the States, American engineers studied it closely, according to Russell Lee, a curator at the National Air and Space Museum, who helped restore the aircraft in 2011. “When we took these wooden panels off of the bottom of the center section, we discovered there were burn marks there,” says Lee, “and it suggests that the engines may have been run.” But there’s no evidence this experimental jet, still strangely intriguing after all these years, ever got off the ground. Click here to see images of Smithsonian curators restoring the aircraft . Get the latest on what's happening At the Smithsonian in your inbox. Tobias Hutzler | READ MORE Tobias Hutzler is a photographer based in New York City. |
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1. Fisher XP-75 Eagle. In the realm of unique concepts, the Fisher XP-75 Eagle takes flight with its distinctive design. Born from a 1943 expectation for a high-climbing, long-range aircraft, the XP-75 was armed with a similar configuration to the single-engine Bell P-39 but fell short of expectations during testing.
8 Blohm & Voss BV 238. Blohm & Voss BV238 Flying Boat. Watch this video on YouTube. The aerospace company Blohm & Voss designed most of the Luftwaffe's flying boats during World War II. As the war progressed, the company's engineers designed even more complex and large flying boats.
Caproni Campini N.1. Italy's foray into jet-powered flight resulted in the Caproni Campini N.1. Before the wider recognition of Germany's He-178 as the first jet aircraft, there was a moment when the N.1 was considered the forefront of jet propulsion. Despite this, the two prototypes saw limited action due to the Allied invasion of Italy in ...
The XP-56. XP-56 Black Bullet was a stubby, delta-winged experimental American fighter plane first tested in 1943. With aluminum in short supply, developers built the two prototypes using magnesium. While the Black Bullet could reach speeds of up to 460 mph (740 km/h), the military rejected the space-aged design in favour of emerging jet aircraft.
The Kyūshū J7W Shinden (震電, "Magnificent Lightning") is a World War II Japanese propeller-driven prototype fighter plane with wings at the rear of the fuselage, a nose-mounted canard, and a pusher engine.. Developed by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) as a short-range, land-based interceptor, the J7W was a response to Boeing B-29 Superfortress raids on the Japanese home islands.
The aircraft in this list include prototype versions of aircraft used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II and unfinished wartime experimental programmes. In the former, development can stretch back to the 1920s and in the latter the project must have started between 1939-1945.
Top 10 Experimental Aircraft Of World War II. 10. Blackburn B-20. The B-20 was an attempt to combine the best features of both the flying boat and the floatplane. While on the water, the B-20 was essentially a floatplane, using a large float under the fuselage for buoyancy, and two smaller floats near the wingtips for stability.
An image of the XB-42 (number 7 in this list). 10. Fisher XP-75 Eagle. An experimental mid-war fighter design. First Flight: 1943. Purpose: Long-range fighter. Brief: This experimental aircraft was designed to meet the USAF requirements for a plane that could climb extremely quickly and fly over long distances.
The WW2 flying wing decades ahead of its time. (Credit: Michael Jorgensen) In the last months of World War Two, Nazi Germany tested an experimental fighter more spaceship than aircraft. Only now ...
At best, it was an experimental aircraft that needed more conceptual consideration before it was pressed into service. All told, only a few hundred Ar 234 B-2s were produced with several dozen ...
During World War II, the United States put all its effort into strengthening its air forces, prioritizing the strangest ideas and proposals for fighters that...
Many World War II aircraft are closer than you think. ... Vought's chief experimental pilot. The Navy, however, cancelled the project because of its decision to switch to turbojet engines. The National Air and Space Museum accepted the aircraft from the U. S. Navy Bureau of Weapons in 1960. In 2004, the V-173 was loaned to the Vought Aircraft ...
The U.S. Army Air Forces had captured the flying wing prototype—along with hundreds of other German aircraft—near the end of World War II. In April 1945, George Patton's Third Army found ...
Caproni-Campini N.1/CC.2 experimental motorjet and second jet aircraft to fly. Ambrosini Sagittario 1953 - Swept wing research aircraft. Bossi-Bonomi Pedaliante 1936 - Human-powered aircraft. Caproni Campini N.1 1940 - Jet engine research. Jona J-6 - Tilting wing stabilisation system.
British Experimental Combat Aircraft of World War II is a lavish new compendium of the projects that were being pursued in Britain in the course of the war. It demonstrates that despite the harsh restrictions imposed during 1940, the British aviation industry still managed to produce projects every bit as advanced, as imaginative and sometimes ...
Imagine it's 1945, but a different, counterfactual 1945. World War II rages on. The U.S. strategic bombing campaign is escalating in intensity as its attempts to destroy the enemy's means of production face increasingly determined resistance. Unexpectedly, American forces are encountering radically new and dangerous foreign aircraft.
According to David Myhra, author of a series of books on Germany's World War II experimental aircraft, the staff of the air ministry's technical division reviewed Bachem's uninvited ...
"British Experimental Combat Aircraft of World War II - Prototypes, Research Aircraft and Failed Production Designs" By Tony Buttler Hikoki Publications - 2012 ISBN 9 781902 109244. I've always loved the various prototypes produced, especially during times of war. Some data is fairly easy to find such as those for the Luftwaffe, however ...
WWII German Luftwaffe experimental aircraft projects ... During WWII, German aircraft designers put forth many aircraft project ideas, which ranged from the practical to the bizarre. ... Within the pages of Luft '46 you will find descriptions of these aircraft projects, illustrated with three-view drawings, model photos and custom color artwork
M. Messerschmitt Me 261. Categories: World War II experimental aircraft. World War II aircraft of Germany. Research and development in Nazi Germany.
In 1943, when Nazi field marshal Hermann Göring demanded that the Luftwaffe's next bomber aircraft be able to carry a 1,000-kilogram bomb load 1,000 kilometers into enemy territory at a speed ...
World War II experimental aircraft of Germany (10 P) I. World War II Italian experimental aircraft (2 P) This page was last edited on 11 May 2021, at 00:18 (UTC). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0; additional ...
The list of aircraft of World War II includes all the aircraft used by those countries which were at war during World War from the period between their joining the conflict and the conflict ending for them. Aircraft developed but not used operationally in the war are in the prototypes section at the end. Prototypes for aircraft that entered service under a different design number are ignored ...