Focke-Wulf Flitzer Explained
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.
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.[1] It also had the air inlets still positioned on either side of the nose, just below the cockpit.[2]
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).[3]
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.[4]
See also
Bibliography
- Book: Masters, David . German Jet Genesis . 1982 . Jane's Publishing . London.
- Book: Schick, Walter . Ingolf Meyer . Luftwaffe Secret Projects: Fighters 1939–1945 . 1997 . Midland Publishing . Hinckley . 143–44 .
- Book: Smith, J. R. . Focke-Wulf: An Aircraft Album . 1973 . Ian Allan . London.
- Book: Smith, J. R. . A. Kay . German Aircraft of the Second World War . 1972 . Putnam . London.
- Book: Wagner, Wolfgang . Kurt Tank: Konstruckteur und Test Pilot bei Focke-Wulf . 1980 . Bernard and Graefe . Munich.
External links
Notes and References
- Book: Myhra, David . Secret Aircraft Designs of the Third Reich . 1998 . Schiffer . Atglen . 141–42 .
- Book: Lens, K. . H. J. Nowarra . Die Deutschen Flugzeuge . 1964 . J F Lehmans Verlag . Munich.
- Book: Nowarra, Heinz . Die deutsche Luftrüstung 1933–1945 . 1983 . Bernard and Graefe . Bonn . Teil 2, p.117 .
- Dan Sharp, 2020. Secret Projects of the Luftwaffe: Jet Fighters 1939-1945, Mortons.
