WW2 German secret project - Lippisch P13a

[yak face]

Eyup muckers, Heres a little quickie ive just finished. This is the PM models 1/72 Lippisch P13a Ramjet fighter. This fascinating aircraft was a late war german project that didnt see production.The shape was tested as an unpowered glider and the ramjet theory tested successfully in the laboratory. Wind tunnel tests showed the shape to be stable at speeds up to mach 2.6 ,although with the plain inlet the max speed would have been more like mach 1 due to shock waves building up in the inlet (a variable shock cone as on various later jets ie. mig 21,su7, would have allowed higher engine output and thus higher speed) The most amazing thing about this aircraft is that it was intended to be powered by granulated coal, burnt by gas jets in a rotating drum basket(coal being a cheap readily available fuel , other fuels suffering in their supply at this late stage of the war) the resulting hot gases would have been compressed by the forward motion of the aircraft and by doing so generated more power which was exited through the slit at the back. The minimum speed necessary to create the ramjet effect would have been provided by a small rocket motor. The p13a was intended as a limited range point interceptor in the same vein as the ME 163, but would have been quite a bit faster. The kit is very simple and has only 11 parts (count em!) ,4 of which are the ground trolley! I only added some belts, a headrest and a rudimentary instrument panel , and also had to build up the cockpit opening and create the canopy frame ,as the canopy was undersized and had a few marks round the edges from the sprue attachment. Right then , for those of you still awake , heres the pics!!! cheers tony

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[papa 695]

Thats a cute little build Tony you can see where the ufo sightings come from with things like this being tested very well done and i like the bit of history ive never seen this one before

[stona]

That's very nice Tony. Even at 1/72 it looks bloody dangerous!

I suspect there were a few test pilots glad they never had to fly one. Some of the late war designs may well have been advanced but they were also a bit hair brained and more dangerous to the German pilots than the enemy. The 'Natter' (BP 20) springs to mind.

These schemes also used up a lot of resources that would have been better used elsewhere.

Cheers

Steve

[yak face]

Cheers ian, its a really fascinating story, did you know after the war Dr alexander lippisch went to america and worked for convair ,resulting in the XF92 concept , and ultimately the F102,F106 and B58 hustler -all delta winged aircraft that can trace their ancestry to this little might have been, ! Cheers tony

[yak face]

That's very nice Tony. Even at 1/72 it looks bloody dangerous!I suspect there were a few test pilots glad they never had to fly one. Some of the late war designs may well have been advanced but they were also a bit hair brained and more dangerous to the German pilots than the enemy. The 'Natter' (BP 20) springs to mind.

These schemes also used up a lot of resources that would have been better used elsewhere.

Cheers

Steve

Yeah , the natter did look a bit nuts didnt it!!? I think the general opinion is that this one would have been quite a safe propulsion system, undoubtedly safer than the Me 163, although i suspect the pilots bum might have got a bit warm!! cheers tony

[mossiepilot]

A nice little build there Tony.

When you look at this little plane, there are many similarities to the F-117 nighthawk, the delta shape, the slit exhaust outlet, even the position of the cockpit.

I looked it up on youtube and found this, it's a bit text heavy, but there are some nice pictures and graphics -

Lippisch P.13a - YouTube

Thanks for sharing.

Tony.

[stona]

i suspect the pilots bum might have got a bit warm!! cheers tony

Yep,there's nothing like a nice coal fire!

Cheers

Steve

[yak face]

Cheers tony, thats a great link, i think theres another one somewhere with actual footage (albeit very brief) of the gliding test . Intriguing stuff though eh? cheers tony

[stona]

It is fascinating stuff. I am a bit sceptical of some of these designs. I'm not doubting the genius that went into the designs,and they obviously had a profound influence on aircraft that were developed in the post war period,but realistically they were years away from service. The war time rush to get aircraft into service resulted in types we've already mentioned like the Me163. They were mostly under developed and dangerous to fly,even the Me262 falls into this category (at least the engines do).

It's also great that Tony's little model can get the old cogs churning away between the ears! One of the fun things about Luft '46.

Cheers

Steve

[mossiepilot]

Hey Steve,

Vos is das Luft '46 bitte.

Tony.

[Guest]

you have made a great job of that, i have a revell one to do but dont think it comes with a little trailer,have not looked in the box yet.hope mine will look as good as yours.

[stona]

Hey Steve,Vos is das Luft '46 bitte.

Tony.

Just "what ifs" in the sense of what would the Germans have been flying in 1946 had the war not ended in early 1945. Given another year of development there may have been some very interesting aircraft flying over Europe.

Cheers

Steve

[mossiepilot]

Thanks Steve,

Sorta thought so, but never heard it called that before.

Cheers,

Tony.

[stona]

It's less of a mouthful than "Luftwaffe 1946"! There are some modellers who really go for it. All sorts of rocket,jet and coal fired aircrcaft,flying wings,vertically launched interceptors,Amerika bombers,nuclear bombers. Amazingly they all have some basis in fact.

Sorry for hijacking your thread Tony....errr that's the other Tony.

Cheers

Steve

[colin m]

Nice to read a bit of back ground info about this odd little beast. The German boffins during WWII certainly seemed to be a bit ahead of the opposition - I mean, powered by coal - what the......... Or where the allies just a bit quiet about what they were up to ??

Anyway, nice build. Quick I assume !!

Colin M...