BV 40

[Njaco]

Found an interesting passage in a book and was curious as I have never heard of such a thing. Maybe I'm having a brain fart but this is new to me. Here's the passage;

KG 200: The True Story by P. W. Stahl pg 105

"This would certainly also have been the case if they resurrected the BV 40 Project that had been shelved earlier. This device was a heavily armoured and almost invulnerable combat glider armed with a fixed 30mm cannon, initially intended to be towed to high altitudes then to dive into the American bomber formations."

Wonder if anybody has more info.

 

[Milos Sijacki]

The Blohm Voss BV 40 was a German glider fighter designed to attack Allied bomber formations.

Its key features were a very narrow (and thus hard to hit) cross section as result of being a glider, a fairly heavily armored cockpit, and two MK 108 cannons with very limited ammunition. The body was constructed almost entirely of wood, a non-strategic material. During its short attack time the glider would fire its weapon, then glide back to earth, although for a time, the idea of carrying a bomb on a cable behind the glider was entertained. The first flight was in the May of 1944. Several prototypes were completed, but the project was stopped later in the year as the end of the war drew near.

 

[A4K]

There are pictures and info on the net regarding the Bv 40, for some reason the computer won't allow me to copy and send them..

Check out this site for an interesting read proned pilots

 

[Njaco]

Nice find, A4K!!!! Unaware of that little project!

 

[Wurger]

Nice find and interesting projec. THX for posting A4K.

 

[A4K]

No worries! I always liked the Bv40 design-wouldn't want to fly it though!

 

[Flyboy2]

I don't know, it would be pretty sick to fly. But it would probably be vurnerable to fighters right, I mean gliders aren't exactly the fastest planes in the sky! It seems as though the Germans did a lot of glider experiements, I heard of a flying wing bomber type recently? Does anyone know about that because it seems interesting.

 

[Njaco]

There were numerous flying wing designs from the Horten of WWII to today's B-2 bomber. Check this thread for a few pics of flying wings in the 50s.

http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/waiting-found-12093-5.html

 

[Zarathos]

I don't know, it would be pretty sick to fly. But it would probably be vurnerable to fighters right, I mean gliders aren't exactly the fastest planes in the sky!

BV 40 had max dive speed of 900 km/h (600 mph), so I do not think, that running away will be a problem. There were also ideas of fitting two small jet or rocket engines, so climbing above enemy wont be a big problem either.

 

[Njaco]

Thats pretty fast for an unpowered craft. Do you know if there were any trials to test the theory?

 

[merlin]

Some people seem to dislike him - but I'll quote WM Green nevertheless!

"Battle experience had indicated that the frontal area of an Fw 190's radial engine - some seventeen square feet - provided a target which could be hit by an average gunner at a range of more than a thousand yards"

Hence, the solution of removing the engine!

" .. provided such a small target in a head-on attack that it would be virtually invisible to the bomber's gunners before it had actually opened fire with its 30-mm cannon"

Trials?
"Nineteen prototypes and two hundred production Bv 40s were ordered, and the Bv 40V1 made its first flight at the end of May 1944 towed behind a Bf 110. After modifications, a second flight test was made on June 2, 1944 at Wenzondorf airfield, but the pilot lost control and the prototype crashed. The second prototype, the Bv 40V2, flew on June5th, the third prototype was tested to destruction, and four additional prototypes had been flown when the programme was abandoned in the autumn of 1944."

So performance figures should be valid: Max dive speed, 560 mph; max speed of Bf 109G towing one Bv 40 344 mph at 19,000 ft., towing two 315 mph. Weights: Empty 1,844lb; loaded 2,094lb.